Hi all. Could use a bit of advice on consolidating debt. I recently got a good promotion and would really like to start paying down my credit card debt. (No, the raise is not good enough to axe the debt out that easily 
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I've been in a pretty untenable situation for the last couple years, racking up interest on high-rate cards that I figured would have been paid off much sooner.
As of earlier this month, I had $18k in revolving debt. Maxed out. $20k in installment loans (student loans), at 95% balance vs. original principals. EQ score = 671, TU score = 640.
About $5k of the CC debt was at a usurious 25-27% range. This week, I opened a 3-year unsecured personal loan with Upstart for $7k at 16.5%. I paid off the $5k of really bad CC debt and $2k that was accruing interest at 17-18%. About $700 of the paid CC debt was never reported on credit reports (Newegg/Paypal), so next month, my revolving debt utilization should drop to about $11,200/17450 = 64% (down from ~99%).
My installment loan balances will still be between 95-100% of the original principal. Not sure how that debt utilization affects my score (vs. revolving debt).
I opened a Citi Double Cash card 2 months ago to transfer a balance, and the Upstart loan this week. No other new accounts for some years now. Not sure on inquiries -- I did apply and got rejected for a couple other 0% intro cards, moved apartments recently and started new utility services, so I would guess (without pulling them) that there are 4-6 inquries on my reports.
Could anyone give me a rough idea of how the above scenario will affect my FICO scores? Over the near term (say, 3 months) and also over the long term (1 year+)?
The brunt of my student loans are at 5.75% -- I would love to look into refinancing at 3-4.5% fixed if possible. But I don't want to waste the hard pulls if the new accounts/inquiries will squash my chances, and I obviously want to wait until my reports reflect lower utilization.
I'm also at my wit's end with Bank of America -- banked with them for 15 years and they won't even give me a $100 CLI on my card with them (ever), and the idea of saving money with them is just laughable. So I'm looking into credit unions -- Alliant seems very attractive. I would like to move my checking and direct deposit to them (or another CU), and possibly refinance my student loans and/or open a balance transfer card if possible.
Could anyone shed any light on 1) how recently consolidating some of my CC debt will affect my FICO scores, and 2) if my score will improve, how long I should wait to apply to Alliant (or elsewhere)?
Any advice is much appreciated.
Thanks so much in advance!
Agree. I can't say for sure how this will play out on your scores, but there should be a positive effect from dropping that utilization. If you hadn't already got a secured loan, I would have recommended looking in to a credit union for better rates.
