@Anonymous wrote:
@K-in-Boston wrote:Do either your Travel Rewards or Cash Rewards cards have balance transfer offers? My BoA cards have perpetual long-term 0% or 1.99% APR offers. You did self-imposed CLDs, it wasn't AA. You could likely easily make either of those limits much larger just by clicking a few buttons. There would be a cost of doing a balance transfer deposit to checking of course, so make sure that would be an option you would want to pursue as it would be $150 on $5,000.
I hate to push you out of the garden, but yeah I'd probably go with the 0% introductory APR offer. You'd earn some rewards on the purchase and some for the signup bonus. It's too bad that the CSP doesn't have a 0% introductory rate; with its waived 1st year AF, 50k bonus (which worst case is $500 cash), and typically higher starting lines it would be a good way to have options. If you knew that you could pay the $5k off in a few months, it may still be more worthwhile than a FU, though, but you'd have to do some math.
There are no 0% BT offers on either of my BoA cards. The Travel Rewards has a fixed 9.9% APR (this was originally a MBNA card I got in 2005 with a fixed APR, which is still in effect now). My HELOC has a lower rate still.
I'm not interested in a Sapphire anything... no cards with AFs for me; besides, there's no 0% on that one. I don't travel enough to benefit from a travel rewards card. Even the BoA one is worthless to me now.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll sleep on it for a week or two before deciding. With my highly constrained spending the past few months, I've been able to save some cash beyond my emergency (and 40k garden goal) savings account, which will at least partially offset these bills. No Xmas gifts for me this year.
I might have to see what payment plans are available as well.
CSP was a suggestion based on worst-case value of the signup bonus ($500 cash instead of much more for travel) and the fact that you would need a decent starting line if a new card was the way you wanted to go. Just pretend that the C stands for Cash instead of Chase. If the $500 SUB with no annual fee minus interest paid on the purchase outweighs what you would get with the Freedom Unlimited with no interest you’re still net positive and can PC it to FU when the AF comes up in year 2.
Sometimes a travel card isn’t just a travel card, and sometimes paying 17% interest is actually cheaper than 0%.
If you decide to app for a card and are worried about an insufficient limit, you could go for anything that is branded as a visa signature, as I believe those cards have a minimum credit limit of 5k. Theres plenty out there some with 0% intro apr. Cash wise, Flagship, Usaa, etc..
I’d do a combination. Don’t like the idea of completely emptying your emergency fund and liquid assets. Idea might be put te smaller one on home equity and pay it off in 2 or so payments taking funding from ec if necessary. a month or two interest is worth not emptying your checking and savings . As to the larger bill. I’d app for a card either with a big enough sub to be worth your while and possibly absorb the interest....And/or a long 0 offer. Worst case is you pull from emergency if your having issues but otherwise just keep up with the payments and throw more at it when you can.
Saw someone suggested my ditzy friend Miss Disco.... Im pretty sure with those scores you should be able to get something out of the gate... and least for me it was 0 apr for 15mo... on new purchases and supposedly even a BT if i did it shortly after opening... Also.. it can likely grow in a little over 3 mo.. but its pretty easy to CLD and you still can get them to CLI after a CLD (some folks have done that for mortgages) but that part is based on old information...
the advantage is you may get a CL enough to handle both your issues... and discover is pretty good on long term 0% offers. not phasing them at all.. If you want to go that route.. id get it sooner not later.. its very likely youll get the autoCLI in 3mo with those scores if they dont give you a good starting limit... if you choose that route... Its also an easy card to make multiple payments on.. unlike some others as well..