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Which card to pay off? 24% on both

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Which card to pay off? 24% on both

Hi all,

 

I'm catching up and paying off my debt but I want to be smart about it.

 

I have an option of paying off at least $4k so I'm looking at my two highest:

 

1. Capital One Venture at 23.99 - $4.3

2. Discover It at 23.99 - $3.8

 

Now, I'm in a pickle of paying off the Capital One Venture, & combining with my Capital One Venture One

What would be the best approach?

Message 1 of 15
14 REPLIES 14
HeavenOhio
Senior Contributor

Re: Which card to pay off? 24% on both

If you combine your Capital One cards, which one do you want to end up with? If it's the Venture One, you'll need to bring the Venture's balance down to zero. If you want to combine into the Venture, that won't matter.

 

If you're concerned about scoring, we'd need a complete list of your cards and balances in order to come up with the best possible response. Without that information, my gut says that one more card reporting a zero balance might help you more than reducing the balances somewhat equally.

 

If you're concerned about your mental well-being, pay off one card entirely and get it out of your hair. Smiley Happy

Message 2 of 15
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Which card to pay off? 24% on both

I would take individual UTIs into consideration.
Message 3 of 15
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Which card to pay off? 24% on both

Depends what your goal is, I suppose.  For me, I'd want to optimize my credit score while eliminating interest, so I'd pay down each card equally as much as possible to lower your utilization.  I also would not be charging anything on credit until I'm at a point I can pay in full each month.

Message 4 of 15
HeavenOhio
Senior Contributor

Re: Which card to pay off? 24% on both


@Anonymous wrote:
I would take individual UTIs into consideration.

Both cards are below the 28.9% individual card threshold that would optimize one's score. And both cards have equal interest rates. And however you slice up the payment, overall utilization is going to end up the same. That leaves the number of cards reporting balances, unless further information from the OP suggests that there is something else to consider.

Message 5 of 15
K-in-Boston
Credit Mentor

Re: Which card to pay off? 24% on both

Does your Discover it have any balance transfer options available on your online account? If so, pay it off completely and then transfer your CapOne balance to that at 0% with 3% fee or 4.99% with no fee depending on how long you think it will take to pay off. If you’re paying 20+% interest, saving all that money is a lot more important than any couple of points gained in a credit score for optimizing your balances reporting. 

Message 6 of 15
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Which card to pay off? 24% on both


@HeavenOhio wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:
I would take individual UTIs into consideration.

Both cards are below the 28.9% individual card threshold that would optimize one's score. And both cards have equal interest rates. And however you slice up the payment, overall utilization is going to end up the same. That leaves the number of cards reporting balances, unless further information from the OP suggests that there is something else to consider.


We have no idea what each uti is from the original post since no CLs were given.  If for example his CLs were 10k for Cap One and 5k for Discover, he would obviously want to pay the Discover first down to a lower UTI.
Message 7 of 15
HeavenOhio
Senior Contributor

Re: Which card to pay off? 24% on both

The subject line says "24% on both." Smiley Happy

Message 8 of 15
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Which card to pay off? 24% on both


@HeavenOhio wrote:

The subject line says "24% on both." Smiley Happy


I could be wrong but I think that is in reference to both being at 23.99% APR, not UTI.
Message 9 of 15
HeavenOhio
Senior Contributor

Re: Which card to pay off? 24% on both

Could be. Smiley Happy

 

Either way, it appears that the OP has the budget to bring either card to zero if he'd like to.

 

By the way, I like K-in-Boston's balance transfer suggestion.

Message 10 of 15
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