+1 for the most part. I think the only thing I'd do different is instead of throwing the extra at Citi, I'd pay off the Cap1. You've then eliminated one more card you carried a balance on and have one less card to pay by a certain date or incurr the wrath of the interest Gods. You can then also throw more money at the Citi card at that point to pay it off before the 0% ends.
Now you've asked two questions, what's the smartest thing to do with $3200 and how to get your score up. There are different answers to both questions. The smartest thing to do is the advice that's already been given, pay off the two higest interest cards. Utilization is a huge factor in scoring and it's scored on overall util and individual card util. You're current util is 61%. Paying off Amex and Chase will bring you to 50% util. Might see a score bump there. Your Best Buy card is essentially maxed out at 84%. That is killing your score yet, it is the card you should pay off last. So what is your goal? To do the smart thing or raise your score, because they aren't always the same answer.
@kjm79 wrote:+1 for the most part. I think the only thing I'd do different is instead of throwing the extra at Citi, I'd pay off the Cap1. You've then eliminated one more card you carried a balance on and have one less card to pay by a certain date or incurr the wrath of the interest Gods. You can then also throw more money at the Citi card at that point to pay it off before the 0% ends.
Now you've asked two questions, what's the smartest thing to do with $3200 and how to get your score up. There are different answers to both questions. The smartest thing to do is the advice that's already been given, pay off the two higest interest cards. Utilization is a huge factor in scoring and it's scored on overall util and individual card util. You're current util is 61%. Paying off Amex and Chase will bring you to 50% util. Might see a score bump there. Your Best Buy card is essentially maxed out at 84%. That is killing your score yet, it is the card you should pay off last. So what is your goal? To do the smart thing or raise your score, because they aren't always the same answer.
+1
You can pay off 3 cards and put a serious dent in the 4th. Paying less interest trumps raising your score a few points.
Starting Score: 690
Paying of Amex, Chase and Best Buy/Capital One would have 3 cards reporting $0 balance. That would be ~$2700, leaving you with just under $500 to put a dent in another card. Again, this is just if you are looking for a score bump. Utilization is factored not just by overall utilization but also how many cards are carrying a balance.
@Anonymous wrote:
Balances right now
@Anonymous- 696.80 @ 16.24% with a credit limit of $1600-43%
@Cap1- $1145.02 @ 0% until Sept 2012, 29.99% after that, with a credit limit of $1750-65%
@Anonymous- $2829.97 @ 0% until June 2012, then 29.99% after that, with a credit limit of $4410-64%
@Anonymous- $872.67 @ 17.24 with a credit limit of $1800-48%
@Anonymous Buy- $1145.02 @ 0% until June 2013 with a credit limit of $1350-84%
If your goal is to use the money to get a higher score now then you want to pay off Best Buy, Cap1, and Chase. Which takes your current until of 64% down to ~32% while paying off three cards, including your highest utilized card. You should see a bump from this, but might not be as high as you are wanting.
Paying off the higher interest cards of Amex and Chase, and then the Cap1 card would bring your util to ~36%. Again, you should see a bump from this but not a huge score increase.
Seeing as either possible pay downs will get you in the 32%-36% range and would be similiar in score increases opting to pay the higher interest cards initially still sounds like the more sound choice. Helps acheive both goals. Feel free to check my math, it has been a long day. 