Will carrying a balance hurt me?

[Madyun1982]

I have 3 cards.. That I'm carrying a balance on.. All have 0%apr..

Each offered something different according to my needs,  and my holiday shopping.. I'm just a lil nervous because I rarely carry an balance.. I normally AZEO.. I'm gonna pay the balances down come next week.. But I'm just wondering how bad it looks to the creditors that I'm carrying a balance..

Amex Cash magnet 600 /20,000

Navy plat balance transfer 400/25000

Citi Rewards 1,373/ 6100 in which 550 is in the Citi flex pay.. 

My TCL is 127,750

In which order should I tackle bringing down the balance on my cards?

Thanks in advance 

[fatcomic]

If I'm reading that correct, you're carrying a balance of $2,373 across your cards, with a total credit limit of $127,000.  That is less than 2% utilitization, I think you'll be fine.   

If they are all 0%, I'd pay the Citi down first because it's the highest utilitzation.  

[addicted_to_credit]

The only one that's wonky is the citi, it's over 10%(it doesn't matter unless you are trying to continuously maximize your score)with that said I definitely would NOT worry, agg utli is fine.

[Madyun1982]

Thanks for the replies

I was thinking of paying Citi down first.. I think I'm just nervous because I normally don't carry a balance. And wondered how that would look to creditors..

I'm gonna pay Citi down as suggested

I'm not worried about my scores, because I know they will bounce back as I pay the balances down. 

I don't plan to App for anything anytime soon..

[Anonymous]

The balances are reasonably small compared to your available credit.

I would pay off the Citi Rewards because the balance used is the highest percent of credit available of the cards listed, however someone else may choose to argue that for AZEO the amount owed on Citi Rewards would pay off both the other cards.

My reply to that is that unless you are prepping for an important credit application, it may not be worth stressing over AZEO.

Unless you have one or more typos that would reveal greater debt if corrected, you are in much better shape than a very large percent of the population.

Also, if one of the cards has a zero balance transfer offer but interest IS charged for new balances, try to avoid putting new purchases on that card.

[fatcomic]

---

@Madyun1982 wrote:

Thanks for the replies

I was thinking of paying Citi down first.. I think I'm just nervous because I normally don't carry a balance. And wondered how that would look to creditors..

I'm gonna pay Citi down as suggested

I'm not worried about my scores, because I know they will bounce back as I pay the balances down. 

I don't plan to App for anything anytime soon..

---

You're not going to pose any type of risk or red flag with your creditors with that low of a balance being carried over a couple of months.  My theory is, if they offer you 0% they have to expect that you're going to use their money.   

I have a Toro (lawn equipment) account that I'm at 48% utilization on, granted the balance is at 0% for 36 months.  I just divided the original balance and divided by 35 and I have it set to auto-pay that amount each month.  I could pay it off but the FICO simulator only shows a 3-6 point increase if I paid it off, that isn't going to bump me into any new credit tier so I continue to use their money at 0%. 

[Madyun1982]

@Anonymous 

I have no other debt.. don't plan on apping or spending anything else on the cards.. My FICO scores are 799-804 between the 3 bureaus 

Oh I almost forgot.. I have a $84.00 dollar balance on a loan.. That I keep to keep some sort of loan open.. My next payment isn't until 4/2021

But I still put 10 dollars on it a month.. 

[Madyun1982]

@fatcomic 

I planned on having this balance paid off by Feb..

I  decided to put my Christmas shopping on these cards.. To get the rewards.. And to take advantage of the 0%apr 

I just didn't want them to slash my credit limit for carrying a balance

Like I've read they have done to others. I know it all goes back to individual profiles..

[KJinNC]

Will it theoretically hurt - yeah, maybe slightly. Or maybe not, it's pretty minor anyway. I wouldn't worry about it. If they are all 0%, I'd pay the one with the highest utilization first, but, no big deal in this case. JMO.

[thornback]

---

@Madyun1982 wrote:

@Anonymous 

I have no other debt.. don't plan on apping or spending anything else on the cards.. My FICO scores are 799-804 between the 3 bureaus 

Oh I almost forgot.. I have a $84.00 dollar balance on a loan.. That I keep to keep some sort of loan open.. My next payment isn't until 4/2021

But I still put 10 dollars on it a month.. 

---

If you're not applying for anything then don't stress it and enjoy your 0%.  You don't have to be AZEO all the time. You're not over-extended, overall util is still extremely low and even the balance on Citi is fine.  Let your credit work for you.  

You may see a small dip in scores due to no longer being azeo - maybe 10 points, if that much - but it's temporary.