Best way to pay down CC debt, curious what other members would do

[williamachamberlain]

I'm sure its been discussed a million times, snowball or avalanche. Both work for certain scenarios and income levels.

Bottom line, I have about 65K in CC debt, and 1 personal loan. Scores are 730ish and up, no lates, or derogatory remarks. Me and the Mrs make good money, have over 12K in savings, both contributing well to our 401k's. I'm retired military/disabled vet, and I'm still able to work, thank goodness.

What is the best scenario for my situation, avalanche or snowball?

Highest APR card is 13%

Other cards range from 6-11%

Highest balance is 13K, lowest is 8K

Overall available credit line is around 200K

Carrying 0 balance on several cards

Debt is across 6 cards

Utilization across the board is around 28-30%

I'm just wanting opinions on what members would do in my scenario.

[FinStar]

The community is likely to point you in the right direction if you can share a list of the specific accounts, their current balances, including their respective APRs, and their limits. What is the current balance on your personal loan?

[SouthJamaica]

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@williamachamberlain wrote:

I'm sure its been discussed a million times, snowball or avalanche. Both work for certain scenarios and income levels.

Bottom line, I have about 65K in CC debt, and 1 personal loan. Scores are 730ish and up, no lates, or derogatory remarks. Me and the Mrs make good money, have over 12K in savings, both contributing well to our 401k's. I'm retired military/disabled vet, and I'm still able to work, thank goodness.

What is the best scenario for my situation, avalanche or snowball?

Highest APR card is 13%

Other cards range from 6-11%

Highest balance is 13K, lowest is 8K

Overall available credit line is around 200K

Carrying 0 balance on several cards

Debt is across 6 cards

Utilization across the board is around 28-30%

I'm just wanting opinions on what members would do in my scenario.

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What is your goal?

If your goal is to get out of debt my recommendation is the snowball method:

1. Stop using cards.
2. Pay off smallest balance first, then next smallest, and so on.
3. On other cards pay minimum + something each month.
As each balance turns to zero, that will free up your remaining monthly cash to apply to the next smallest balance.

[CYBERSAM]

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@williamachamberlain wrote:

I'm sure its been discussed a million times, snowball or avalanche. Both work for certain scenarios and income levels.

Bottom line, I have about 65K in CC debt, and 1 personal loan. Scores are 730ish and up, no lates, or derogatory remarks. Me and the Mrs make good money, have over 12K in savings, both contributing well to our 401k's. I'm retired military/disabled vet, and I'm still able to work, thank goodness.

What is the best scenario for my situation, avalanche or snowball?

Highest APR card is 13%

Other cards range from 6-11%

Highest balance is 13K, lowest is 8K

Overall available credit line is around 200K

Carrying 0 balance on several cards

Debt is across 6 cards

Utilization across the board is around 28-30%

I'm just wanting opinions on what members would do in my scenario.

---

Your interest rate is not that high and personal loans can be around what you are paying now!

I would set auto payment on balance to be paid in 3 years! All the credit cards must have that already calculated in your statement. While you doing that you can snowball or avalanche as you see fit. But before you know it 3 years has gone by.

I did that and worked out much easier than I thought. For me it took less then 3 years to have everything under control.

[LawStudentCivilis]

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@CYBERSAM wrote:

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@williamachamberlain wrote:

I'm sure its been discussed a million times, snowball or avalanche. Both work for certain scenarios and income levels.

Bottom line, I have about 65K in CC debt, and 1 personal loan. Scores are 730ish and up, no lates, or derogatory remarks. Me and the Mrs make good money, have over 12K in savings, both contributing well to our 401k's. I'm retired military/disabled vet, and I'm still able to work, thank goodness.

What is the best scenario for my situation, avalanche or snowball?

Highest APR card is 13%

Other cards range from 6-11%

Highest balance is 13K, lowest is 8K

Overall available credit line is around 200K

Carrying 0 balance on several cards

Debt is across 6 cards

Utilization across the board is around 28-30%

I'm just wanting opinions on what members would do in my scenario.

---

Your interest rate is not that high and personal loans can be around what you are paying now!

I would set auto payment on balance to be paid in 3 years! All the credit cards must have that already calculated in your statement. While you doing that you can snowball or avalanche as you see fit. But before you know it 3 years has gone by.

I did that and worked out much easier than I thought. For me it took less then 3 years to have everything under control.

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Without more information on balances vs limits for each card/account I believe this is a solid starting point until you strategize and decide on what type of pay off method you would like to choose.  I am in the camp of strategically raising one's FICO score with the goal of consolidating onto 0% APR BT card, then aggressively or at reasonably pay off by a goal date.