chase credit limit decrease

[calihlove75]

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@s_rob7488 wrote:
I would use the savings but like to keep some money to my name if worst case scenario I was to lose my job or something crazy

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Credit is important but I agree that planning for the unknown and the future is far more important. Don't touch savings or any retirement plans. I am not sure I agree with paying just the minimum (unless that is what you have been doing) to Chase to prolong the process of them balance chasing you (if that is their intent). In the long run you pay more interest and that takes from your family. I would want to get them paid as soon as possible.

Have you called them? I know people are saying not to call, but really what do you have to lose. I personally would be on the phone with the executive office trying to fix it. And yes if your wife is an AU, I would remove her (no point in her being negatively affected).

[crunching_numbers]

OP- we have been Balanced chased by Chase before. First, calling may halt the chase, it has worked for us in the past.
Second, follow this method, and maybe others will not chase you:
The strategy is to not be too high in utility on any one card. Start by bringing all cards below 80%. Then one at a time, bring them all below 50%. Once everything is below 50%, start paying stuff off, one card at a time, while making payments on everything else that exceed the minimum amounts. Then attack them to zero one at a time, either snowballing with the lowest balance or the highest APR.
Getting each card out of the danger zone first is critical to avoiding AA from them. To keep Chase at bay, and prevent further balance chasing, you might need to keep giving them just a bit above the minimum payments, and no big slugs.

[s_rob7488]

If I were to get a loan for all and pay chase what would they think?

[score_building]

A balance chase (prompted by high UTI) was aborted by calling Chase and saying..."hey, hi! perhaps got in over my head a bit, sorry, may take out a loan or use savings to pay down balance, could you please stop balance chasing me in the meantime, thanks"? Really? If unable to provide more complete info the utility of the suggestion appears to be self limiting (but for sure, OP doesn't have to take my word for it.)

[score_building]

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@s_rob7488 wrote:
If I were to get a loan for all and pay chase what would they think?

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Pyramiding.  You have a solid income and will presumably make strides to eradicate the accumulated debt, whether you transfer it (by taking out another loan) or not, that is the idea, so regardless of what they think, finding a way to pay down the debt as inexpensively as possible is your goal. Bottom line.

Once they see are making progress reducing debt load, things will no doubt seem different, more positive from their perspective.

[oscar_actuary]

Cheers to whomever mentioned the need for a budget.

How much do you have left over at the end of the month? (and presumably, it's negative, otherwise, you'd have much less CC debt)  But clearly, we hope you have been spending more than the essentials - hence this is not a permanent or bankruptable scenario.

Do you have a car payment?  Can you sell a car?

Can you deliver pizza on weekends? 

Sell stuff and get more $$$ into the house.  Moving money or more loans or spending your enrgy trying to predict banks reaction is less fruitful

If filing a Bankruptcy would not impact your credit score (hypothetically), would you do it?

[enharu]

If you have savings..... Why not use those savings to pay this down as well. I do understand you want to have some money to your name, but those credit card debt are money that you had spent. Those interest fees are just not worthwhile at all. Pay it down, and use your credit cards if emergencies do happen. After you are done paying them, it's never too late to start saving up again.

[s_rob7488]

I called chase and spoke to a representative from CSP customer service. I took my wife off of both of the accounts so she wont be effected by high utilization. She then transferred me to a lending specialist who stated that they reason(s) for the decrease was due to using too many cards. They showed that I was using 11 cards when they pulled the CR last. I assume that was on 6/11/13, the date that the CL was reduced. She said that even tho the balances were high, it wasn't necessarily due to that but over use of too many cards. My thought initially, I had small charges here and there that I paid on sunday since I looked at my last experian statement and thought to myself of course they arent going to like that. Point being anything less than $1000 (most being less than $100 except amex delta that I usually use daily and PIF each month always) was paid. I transferred a balance from Best Buy to Citi diamond card which was $888. So there should be 3 accounts that will report $0 if they were to pull again. The lending lady states that Chase will not cat and mouse me down, I stated that I have heard of it happening before and would like to do whatever I can reasonably do to make sure that I keep my accounts in good eyes with them as I do prefer them over any other lender period. She recommended me to visit myfico.com oddly enough to seek advise along with another chase specific website. 

She sort of put me at ease a little bit saying that they weren't going to do that even though she couldn't make any promises but as long as I make progress on the debt that they wouldn't likely do that. I did find out this afternoon that I will be moving to a different area within my current employer. This will be good as I will not have crazy retail hours like I do now until november since the position is temporary, but I still dont have any idea what I will be getting paid which concerns me somewhat. I know I will have to travel and more than likely have to file an expense report once I return for daily expenses (not airfare, hotel or rental car). My W2 from last year was including my wife only being at her job for half of the year since she started there mid june last year. She has since got a couple raises and I hope this next year the annual income is more, thus we shouldn't be in over our heads with repaying what we (I) owe. I calculate between minimum payments and monthly expenses we may be tapped close to our income. Basically our expenses plus minimum payments is close to take home pay. I had posted what the minimum payments were earlier today and if I were to get a loan and made payments for that amount, or slightly more with the proper budgeting, I could have it all paid off in roughly 14-16 months. That is maybe a stretch but we will see. my wife did make the comment she could go work as a waitress like she did throughout college but I told her not to jump to conclusions right away and we will see what we need to do very soon. I would get a 2nd job rather than her but with my hours is isn't really possible. 

The savings is really there to cover expenses for a month + some so I don't feel right draining all of my accounts right now. I know that may seem like the wrong approach but leaving me with $0 isn't quite what I want. We have 2 vehicles both new and both a lease (don't think I am crazy for doing them both a lease there is logical thought behind that). Short of turning mine in early and getting something cheaper (paying $242 + $60 insurance) not sure how we could save there. I won't do anything with hers as it is more expensive but is needed for driving in bad weather since Nebraska does suck 6-8 months out of the year. I am not opposed to doing something with mine but I don't know that it'd make a difference. Those are my thoughts for now, again, really do feel like I am getting a lot of feedback, much more than expected, and it is all appreciated. now, back to work...  :-(

[oscar_actuary]

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@s_rob7488 wrote:

 We have 2 vehicles both new and both a lease (don't think I am crazy for doing them both a lease there is logical thought behind that). Short of turning mine in early and getting something cheaper (paying $242 + $60 insurance) not sure how we could save there. I won't do anything with hers as it is more expensive but is needed for driving in bad weather since Nebraska does suck 6-8 months out of the year. I am not opposed to doing something with mine but I don't know that it'd make a difference.

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Nebraska has bad weather 6-8 months ??  Please. 
I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest your reason to lease two new automobiles is a lousy one

You're not taking this seriously.

on a unrelated note, I use 10-12 cards each month now. I do PIF on all but 2 which are at 10% and 30% (0% APR) But, since I don't pay before the statement cuts, it could look like I carry balances on all.   I had gone through the trouble of putting some automated bill on each one to keep it active (gas bill, March of Dimes donation, etc).  Maybe bad plan.

[score_building]

It sounds like she basically confirmed that talking to her is unlikely to change the situation but the accelerating risk that scores and profile has shown have now been confirmed by card holder, in case there was any benefit of the doubt to be afforded. Don't see an upside there but taking action may still turn the chase around. Be prepared for unintended consequences if they remain concerned about account performance.