Im not good with the numbers but id be trying to get the utilization down on some of the cards that are in maxxed out territory....
Also do you have a totals for what your paying for minimums and the total due?
Somewhat of a mix of paying off and trying to get things below the thresholds for maxxed out would be my goal....
You might have to find a bit more to throw at these accounts ... at least trying to get things out of maxxed out land.. which some of these cards are.... How much are you putting aside for saving... Your right not to stop saving, but might be in your better interest to shave a little bit off temporarily.... just to get some of these cards off in a safer place ...
Know folks who are better with the numbers will chime in.. but thats what I see so far... Hey. you acknowledge theres an issue and you are working to resolve it.. It may take some short term sacrifices and juggling, but you can likely do this.....
Good luck and know there are folks here for you
-J
Edit: theres actually a great google sheet you might want to look at.. youll have to copy it to yourself to edit/use it.. but it will do some of the math for you with percentages and calculating stuff.... esp good when trying to tackle debt... Made by one of the forum members...
ABCD2199
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1E-bRrVpw0UrQfOsLdox4ocwFQBbuvgXjX-KW5NKgiiI/edit?usp=sharing
@cet2062 wrote:Hello Everyone,
My husband and I have gotten ourselves in quite the predicament as it pertains to credit card debt. We both realize we were living beyond our means and really overextending ourselves for the past 3 years. I've been trying to help my parents as my dad hasn't been able to work, we financed our wedding, and just everything else that occurs with being young and moving has gotten us to this point. We both are working at great jobs and able to make a good income, which looks to be growing this year, but I wanted some advice on what the forum would recommend in terms of where to start and impacts that you might see to credit scores. Some information:
1. Income (Joint) - $123,000
2. Credit Cards (All)
Account Balance (Current) Min Payment Credit Limit Chase Disney (1) $4,895.20 $120 $5,000 Citi Costco (0%) $3,835.99 $58 $4,000 Chase Disney (2) $4,831.66 $119 $5,000 Navy Federal (1) $19,243.33 $385 $20,000 Navy Federal (2) $13,697.00 $267 $14,400 American Express (0%) $9,936.72 $99 $11,000 Bank of America (0%) $3,151.14 $32 $3,500 Chase Freedom $7,805.20 $210 $9,000 Hilton Honors $1,682.78 $45 $2,000 Capital One (1) $2,374.59 $63 $3,000 Capital One (2) $1,615.52 $53 $2,050 Jetblue $2,149.25 $70 $3,000 Discover (1) $1,345.31 $40 $2,000 Macy's $685.28 $27 $2,000 Old Navy $767.53 $26 $3,500
Our current plan involves paying off the Old Navy, Macy's & Jetblue (highest interest rates) in the next 3-4 months. We have about $2,750 a month we can throw at credit cards right now as we are saving concurrently to move towards a mortgage. As you can see our current minimums as it stands is $1,614. If anyone has advice past the plan mentioned above, or if you thing we should put our funds elsewhere, please let me know. Our hope would be to get these balances to a point where we could either be granted a personal loan to consolidate all (or at least portions of these debts).
Also - would love to not hear - go file bankruptcy. We got ourselves into this mess and we are determined to get out. We know it won't happen overnight, so we are just looking for some guidance into what would have the biggest impact on our credit scores (to improve our chances of qualifying for a personal loan) and/or advice from people who have ate into this kind of debt and what their plans of attack were. We've set our amount at $2,750 a month because that's where we feel comfortable because we want to refrain from using cards from now until we get this back to manageable territory and if we go higher I know me, I'll use the card. As our income grows, we will continue to add to this monthly amount which should help. AGAIN - IF YOU ARE GOING TO PASS JUDGEMENT, I WOULD APPRECIATE YOU NOT RESPOND. BELIEVE ME WHEN I SAY THAT WE ARE BOTH VERY DISAPPOINTED IN THESE DEBT LEVELS AND IT'S NOT LOST ON US THAT IT WAS IRRESPONSIBLE.
Thanks in advance for all your thoughts and advice.
My recommendation is that you follow the snowball method, which is to (a) stop making credit card purchases, and (b) pay off lowest balance first, then next lowest, and so on.
The genius in the snowball method is that each time you stop making monthly payments on a paid off account, you have the money you saved from that to apply to the next account you're tackling.
Poster ABCD2199 Has a great link in his signature “FICO Score what Debts to Pay First”. If you search on his name his post should come up. Good job making the decision to change your life!🙂
You can either go the snowball route, or the high interest route. The snowball route tends to be more motivational.
Snowball - Pay the minimum on all except the smallest balance. Once it's paid off, carry the payment on to the next smallest, etc.
High Interest - Pay the minimum on all except for the card with the highest interest rate. Depending on balances owed, it may seem like forever to pay them off, but you will save more money in the long run.
