Ok I need serious advice

icyhot · ‎04-06-2016

So I've said a few times on here that my mom has been an AU on a few of my cards and I've had to clean up her mess. Well I still haven't learned my lesson apparently. I gave her my Gold AA card to pay bills with then pay off with her child support and she does every thing but that. Now that I've PC'd to the Double Cash they're going to give me a new card number and the card she has now will be useless. I don't feel comfortable letting her keep my card so I'm not going to give it to her, but she's ran the balance to $3500 of a $5000 CL. I want to just BT the balance to my CU card and take over paying it off. My problem is, I'm also carrying a balance on my Spark card that's currently on a 0% promo that ends in May. That balance is $3000 out of a $4000. I had to pay a hefty tuition bill. I wanted to BT THAT balance to my CU card but the limit is only $5K. I've already tried for a CLI. The APR on the card my mom has is 16.24 while the Spark APR will be 20.24. I'm honestly not sure which direction to take. I considered BTing all of one balance to the CU and part of the other, but then I'd still be paying double digit interest. I do also have a Discover It which is at 0% for 12 mos. while I would like to take advantage of the 5% categories and double cash back of course paying off this debt is far more important. The rest of my cards are at a 0 balance, and I have less than 9% overall UTL. So does anyone have any advice to tackle this. I have a part time job which I am willing to dedicate use to paying this off

Anonymous · ‎04-06-2016

@icyhot wrote:
So I've said a few times on here that my mom has been an AU on a few of my cards and I've had to clean up her mess. Well I still haven't learned my lesson apparently. I gave her my Gold AA card to pay bills with then pay off with her child support and she does every thing but that. Now that I've PC'd to the Double Cash they're going to give me a new card number and the card she has now will be useless. I don't feel comfortable letting her keep my card so I'm not going to give it to her, but she's ran the balance to $3500 of a $5000 CL. I want to just BT the balance to my CU card and take over paying it off. My problem is, I'm also carrying a balance on my Spark card that's currently on a 0% promo that ends in May. That balance is $3000 out of a $4000. I had to pay a hefty tuition bill. I wanted to BT THAT balance to my CU card but the limit is only $5K. I've already tried for a CLI. The APR on the card my mom has is 16.24 while the Spark APR will be 20.24. I'm honestly not sure which direction to take. I considered BTing all of one balance to the CU and part of the other, but then I'd still be paying double digit interest. I do also have a Discover It which is at 0% for 12 mos. while I would like to take advantage of the 5% categories and double cash back of course paying off this debt is far more important. The rest of my cards are at a 0 balance, and I have less than 9% overall UTL. So does anyone have any advice to tackle this. I have a part time job which I am willing to dedicate use to paying this off

Sorry to hear of your problems. First, you're doing the right thing in not giving your mom another card. You were kind enough to help her out and from the sounds of it she took advantage of your generosity. If your Discover has a high enough limit to BT then I would make use of that card's promotional period. That's far better than transferring it to a high apr CU card. Your other option, if at possible, would be to look ar another BT card like the Simplicity with it's 21 month % for BTs. Just not sure what limit you might get on a new card. Good luck and I'm sure with your extra PT jobyou'll be able to recover before too long.

icyhot · ‎04-06-2016

My CU APR is 8%, so it's lower than both cards. I'm thinking I will wait for 90 days and try to CLI my Discover and hope that I get a high increase limit to BT both, since right now it's only $4K

Anonymous · ‎04-06-2016

@icyhot wrote:
My CU APR is 8%, so it's lower than both cards. I'm thinking I will wait for 90 days and try to CLI my Discover and hope that I get a high increase limit to BT both, since right now it's only $4K

That's a very good idea

Anonymous · ‎04-06-2016

@icyhot wrote:
My CU APR is 8%, so it's lower than both cards. I'm thinking I will wait for 90 days and try to CLI my Discover and hope that I get a high increase limit to BT both, since right now it's only $4K

You might want to try your credit union for a loan consolidation. The one I bank with does a 9.5% APR uncollateralized loan for up to $5k during the summer and again close to Christmas. My credit union CC also does not charge to do cash advances or BT's - which is nice if I ever charge a balance too high to handle. The only downside is that they don't give any rewards for spend, so I really never use that card. There are a lot of cards right now that are offering 12 months or more 0% interest.

Anonymous · ‎04-06-2016

Sorry to hear the issues with family and money.... the 2 never go well together.

They gave good advice on here, but i might add.... in the future if your going yo help your mom or other family & friends out, have them bring the bills directly to you and pay it yourself. Or if you put someone on as a AU, dont give them a card.... this way your still helping them with their credit and your helping yourself by staying out of unnecessary debt.

Good luck and I feel for you.

tacpoly · ‎04-06-2016

She has done this before; please learn the lesson she's been trying to teach you and stop tying your finances down with her. Do Not even assign her as an AU on your accounts -- even if you don't give her the card -- because it will not help. It will not improve her credit because she keeps destroying it and it won't help yours either.

Do what you have to to pay off those cards. Your ideas sound good. After that, if you want to help your mother financially, give her cash. If you don't have cash, then you're in no position to help.

CountryLivin · ‎04-06-2016

Congratulations on realizing you had better do something. Families will do it faster to you than a stranger...don't feel bad about not giving her another card.

Anonymous · ‎04-06-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
@icyhot wrote:
My CU APR is 8%, so it's lower than both cards. I'm thinking I will wait for 90 days and try to CLI my Discover and hope that I get a high increase limit to BT both, since right now it's only $4K
You might want to try your credit union for a loan consolidation. The one I bank with does a 9.5% APR uncollateralized loan for up to $5k during the summer and again close to Christmas. My credit union CC also does not charge to do cash advances or BT's - which is nice if I ever charge a balance too high to handle. The only downside is that they don't give any rewards for spend, so I really never use that card. There are a lot of cards right now that are offering 12 months or more 0% interest.

I was going to suggest a consolidation loan. Definitely try your CU, but if they won't work, Lending Tree and Prosper are both pretty reliable compaines.

Another idea is Cap 1. Kind of ironically, their starter card, with a 25% APR, has some good BT offers, and it's really easy to quailfy for.

Discover also has consolidation loans, worth looking into, as well.

jsucool76 · ‎04-06-2016

Also, not sure about your inq situation, but you could try going for a chase slate, and if they give you a crappy limit you could potentially transfer a chunk of your marriott limit over to slate, depending on how the balance is on marriott.