Which is better?

[OmarGB9]

So, I have some balances across a few different cards, and I was thinking of doing a balance transfer and consolidating these balances onto my Barclays card that should be arriving shortly. That card will have a $2k limit, and my balances total around $1,400. I realize this would increase my UTIL tremendously on this one card, but it would leave all my other cards reporting a zero balance. I read that having balances across multiple cards is bad too.

So I guess my question is, should I leave everything as is and leave the balances on their respective cards or should I combine them all into one card and take advantage of 0% APR on BT on my Barclays card? My total available credit across all my accounts is $7,300 as of now, but as soon as my recent Cap1 CLI reports it'll go up to $7,800.

Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

If you want to save money, go for it.  If you need a higher score right.  Be careful.  I know they freak out with high ut on one card.   I did it but with no interest, I didn't care.  You'll pay it down quicker.

[Anonymous]

Both of my auto cli with Barclays were 2 months after a large transfer. I say go for it.

[Anonymous]

You'll save money by doing the transfer. Unless you're applying for a mortgage or new car before you can get that util under control, you should go for the BT. 

[Anonymous]

I agree with everyone else. Go for it then recover your scores. 

In my wallet: Quicksilver 5000; Venture 15,000; Barclay Apple Rewards 2000; CareCredit 3300; Bank of America Platinum Visa 2000; Bank of America Travel Rewards 3500; Bank of America Travel Rewards 3500; Amazon Store Card 5000; Discover 10,000; Barclay Ring Platinum MasterCard. 12,500. Total Credit: 61,800.
6/27-FICO: EQ - 789; TU - 776; EX - 681; GOAL: 780 across the board then 800 across the board. Chapter 13 seven years May, 2015. Reset my garden date to 6/27. Gardening until further notice.

[UncleB]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Both of my auto cli with Barclays were 2 months after a large transfer. I say go for it.

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I don't have any experience with Barclay's but IMHO when I get a card - regardless of the bank - I do so with the expectation that I will be able to put it to work.  When I've had 0% promos (I have two right now with different banks) I always shift everything I can to those cards to take advantage of those promos, which allows me to pay down the balances quicker, which in turn saves money.  Some folks worry about their 'status' with their accounts to the point of not using certain cards at certain merchants, etc.; that is not me.  My cards are tools, to assist me in my day-to-day endeavors and in meeting my long-term goals... I don't make a habit of changing my behavior for them.

That being said, I've never pushed a card to 95% utilization the first few months (or generally any month) since that's undisputedly begging for somebody to take a closer look, and nobody wants adverse action.  The OP is considering using approx. 75% of the credit line, which is a bit over the "goal" many people speak of as 30% but it's certainly not "maxed" either.  I'm with fordguy89, if I knew I would be able to immediately make sizable payments, I personally wouldn't hesitate.  On the other hand, if you are only able to make minimum payments, or slightly higher than minimum, I would consider (again, if it were me) limiting my BTs to around 50% of the credit line, give or take.  I believe the key here is since the account is new, I would want to clearly demonstrate to the bank's computers that I was not in financial duress, and that I was actually able to handle a larger limit than they had originally established.

Just my 2¢.

[OmarGB9]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone. Yes the main reason I want to do this is to save money and in general just to make it a bit easier to keep track of my debt. Rather than having to worry about 3 different statement and 3 different payment dates, I'll only have to remember 1. And yes, I plan on getting that balance paid off quickly; I'm anticipating some bonuses at work along with some other supplemental income, so I shouldn't be carrying that balance for more than a couple of months.

[Anonymous]

Also keep in mind you don't have to slam all your transfers at once you can request balance transfer checks and they will send them to you to stagger it for your UTIL. Also the 3% balance transfer fee is almost 40 bucks on the amount you are considering. is that how much interest you are paying on that debt already?

[OmarGB9]

I'm paying around $17 interest every month on just one of my balances from another card. The $40 one time is worth it lol.

So how exactly does a BT work then? I get like a paper check to pay off my other cards? Or does Barclays pay off my other cards directly? For example, one of my highest balances is with WF (around $900 of those $1400 is WF).

[securingourfuture]

I've done BTs with Barclays in the past. I entered my cc account number and amount I wanted paid on the Barclays site (within the BT screen), and a few days later, Barclays electronically paid the cc company. My first round of BTs used up 42% of my utilization. My add on BT, which was within 45 days of opening the Barclays card, took my utilization up to 82%. I made sure to pay about 8x the minimum, each month, and my total revolving account utilization was <10%.