What to Payy Down with $2500

[nyancat]

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@Anonymous wrote:

It depends on the goal of the OP.  If it's to lower interest paid, obviously paying down the highest interest cards first is most important.  The OP however suggested (at least I took it) that they were looking for a score increase, which would mean paying down some small balances to 0, regardless of the differing interest rates. 

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Yeah, I saw that... but until they pay off all their current debt, they shouldn't really be seeking more credit anyway. So the best is to pay off highest APR first so they can pay off everything in the shortest time possible, then they'll have a much higher score and can start looking at new credit options with a clean slate.

[Anonymous]

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@nyancat wrote:

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Yeah, I saw that... but until they pay off all their current debt, they shouldn't really be seeking more credit anyway. So the best is to pay off highest APR first so they can pay off everything in the shortest time possible, then they'll have a much higher score and can start looking at new credit options with a clean slate.

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I agree with that 100%, but unfortunately the viewpoint that you and I both possess on this may not be the same as everyone, most important the OP. 

[kristin93]

Yes, of course my ultimate goal is to pay down all of my current debt. I am not seeking more credit in order to spend (obviously, I've already had enough of that.)

I am seeking a balance transfer card in order to cut down on the cost I would be paying in interest, hence the reason I asked about what would give me the score bump the fastest (in hopes of qualifying for a BT card sooner rather than later to alleviate at least some of the costs.) 

Thank you for the suggestions thus far! I am going through APR rates on all of my credit cards as we speak!

[nyancat]

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@kristin93 wrote:

Yes, of course my ultimate goal is to pay down all of my current debt. I am not seeking more credit in order to spend (obviously, I've already had enough of that.)

I am seeking a balance transfer card in order to cut down on the cost I would be paying in interest, hence the reason I asked about what would give me the score bump the fastest (in hopes of qualifying for a BT card sooner rather than later to alleviate at least some of the costs.) 

Thank you for the suggestions thus far! I am going through APR rates on all of my credit cards as we speak!

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Okay, definitely fair. Focus on APR, but if you have a high APR small balance, cut that down too. Two things are considered - % utilisation and numbers of cards with a balance. Both should be as low as possible. So, if you have, say, two 25% APR cards, and can pay off the small balance one, do it. If you have a 12% and a 25%, always pay off the 25%. In your case, the iffy thing is if they're close. Is it better to pay off a small balance 23% in full than part of a 25%, so that you can benefit from a score bump? MAYYYBEEEE

[Simply827]

I'm in a similar situation, so I'm gonna tell you what I would do. You probably already have a number of BT cards already. Go to each of your accounts and see what offers you may have for a BT on your account. Barclays, Chase Freedom, Citi, and Discover send them to me often. Go through all your accounts and find all the offers you're eligible for. If you can get a soft pull CLI for any of them do so. You'll want to zero out a card before you BT to it, otherwise things can get tricky with the payment allocation. 

Since you only have $2500, let's say you pay off the Arrival + because you have an offer on it. I try to only use 40% of a card's limit for BT so as to not spook lenders. Now you have about $2600 you can use to BT. You can pay off your Freedom and Slate with that. Now if you have offers on your Freedom and Slate, you can BT from other cards to those and so forth and so on. 

This is known as a debt shuffle and it can help you avoid paying the regular interest on your account. You want all of your interest rates to be as close to zero as possible. You shouldn't make a habit of it, but this is the situation you're in and this will help you pay down the debt faster. 

Also I don't think your score is considered when you PC, correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought you just call up the lender and say you want to PC. Also if you PC, you won't get the introductory offers, so if there's a 0% interest rate and your current card is higher, your new card would have your old interest rate. 

Good luck

[stellar]

I would pay off Disco and ask for a cli after payment clears.  They usually have 0% balance transfer offers.

Also, pay off store cards that have high interest rates.