Does This Approach Make Sense?

[Woofuls_Mom]

I am back after a long hiatus and some major life changing personal issues.  I'm trying to tackle my final debt with the goal to be debt free as soon as possible.  I'm living on cash only and putting every last penny I have towards my bills with a small amount in my savings for an emergency.  

Wanting to see if this approach to the last of my debt makes sense or if there is a better idea.  A personal loan is not possible at this time, I recently did a consolidation at 12.99% with Lending Club to consolidate everything I could into one payment for all the odds/ends and smaller boulders.  I'm waiting on my scores to stabilize after some SP CLI's, balance payoffs and loan reporting.  

This is what I have left in play to get the interest lowered as much as possible:
Cap1 QS (22.65%) - $20,520/$33,000

PenFed (17.99%) - $36,204/$37,000 - I know that this is the last one killing my scores

NFCU CashRewards (18%) - $0/$12,000

NFCU Platinum Visa (17.74%) - $0/15,000

Overall utilization - 41.63% (hasn't fully been reflected on my CR's or scores after my CLI's)

Thoughts on the following:

1.  Ask NFCU to roll my $15K Platinum Visa (17.74%) into my $12K CashRewards (18%) via secure mail and tell them I want to do a large BT

2.  BT $23,000 off of my PenFed PCR and to NFCU with no BT Fees (I could still transfer even if NFCU won't consolidate)

3.  Wait for a 0% off from PenFed and transfer my Cap1 balance plus some to them - how often do they offer 0% or super low % offers?

Or do I just BT Cap1 to NFCU and cross my fingers for a BT from them?  I don't know if I'm more likely to get an offer from Cap1 or PenFed.  I don't think I've ever seen any of the targeted NFCU offers at the beginning of the year or do I wait to see if I get targeted?

I just want to figure out an immediate plan to get my interest as low a possible on the remaining balances and then avalanche it with every penny extra I have available.

Thanks!

[SouthJamaica]

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@Woofuls_Mom wrote:

I am back after a long hiatus and some major life changing personal issues.  I'm trying to tackle my final debt with the goal to be debt free as soon as possible.  I'm living on cash only and putting every last penny I have towards my bills with a small amount in my savings for an emergency.  

Wanting to see if this approach to the last of my debt makes sense or if there is a better idea.  A personal loan is not possible at this time, I recently did a consolidation at 12.99% with Lending Club to consolidate everything I could into one payment for all the odds/ends and smaller boulders.  I'm waiting on my scores to stabilize after some SP CLI's, balance payoffs and loan reporting.  

This is what I have left in play to get the interest lowered as much as possible:
Cap1 QS (22.65%) - $20,520/$33,000

PenFed (17.99%) - $36,204/$37,000 - I know that this is the last one killing my scores

NFCU CashRewards (18%) - $0/$12,000

NFCU Platinum Visa (17.74%) - $0/15,000

Overall utilization - 41.63% (hasn't fully been reflected on my CR's or scores after my CLI's)

Thoughts on the following:

1.  Ask NFCU to roll my $15K Platinum Visa (17.74%) into my $12K CashRewards (18%) via secure mail and tell them I want to do a large BT

2.  BT $23,000 off of my PenFed PCR and to NFCU with no BT Fees (I could still transfer even if NFCU won't consolidate)

3.  Wait for a 0% off from PenFed and transfer my Cap1 balance plus some to them - how often do they offer 0% or super low % offers?

Or do I just BT Cap1 to NFCU and cross my fingers for a BT from them?  I don't know if I'm more likely to get an offer from Cap1 or PenFed.  I don't think I've ever seen any of the targeted NFCU offers at the beginning of the year or do I wait to see if I get targeted?

I just want to figure out an immediate plan to get my interest as low a possible on the remaining balances and then avalanche it with every penny extra I have available.

Thanks!

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I would just do NFCU balance transfer payments of $8k to PenFed, and $10k to Capital One.

[GreatLife]

Applaud what you're doing and continued financial progress 👏. Only 2 beasts left to tackle so kudos to you for a job well done! I wouldn't touch those $0 balance wins and leave them exactly as they are. APR's across your accounts aren't substantial. My approach would start by getting highest balance to 88% or 68% utilization - then pay only a little more than monthly minimum, while pivoting to getting the 2nd highest balance down to 28% utilization. Then swap back to putting the most money on #1. Once both are below 28%..that's when I would focus on getting the higher APR card paid to $0.

I've learned from the forum that odd numbered % utilizations won't cross thresholds that result in CR score gains (i.e. 78%, 58%, 38%, 18%), so I tend to consider throwing more money toward accounts capable of reaching an even numbered threshold (i.e. 88%, 68%, 48%, 28%, 8%). 

[Woofuls_Mom]

Both of these are really good ways to look at it.  

After running some numbers, I think I'm going to see if NFCU will consolidate my two cards for a BT and then transfer off the Cap1. I would get way more satisfaction from seeing that $0 Cap1 balance plus saving a few hundred dollars in interest.  In that scenario, I'd still only have two cards with a balance (or 3 if they won't combine limits for a BT).

I'll also focus on getting PenFed to under 88% utilization and then put everything extra towards the smaller balance for the next 6 months and see where I'm at from a FICO perspective and what possibilities I have then.  

[SouthJamaica]

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@Woofuls_Mom wrote:

Both of these are really good ways to look at it.  

After running some numbers, I think I'm going to see if NFCU will consolidate my two cards for a BT and then transfer off the Cap1. I would get way more satisfaction from seeing that $0 Cap1 balance plus saving a few hundred dollars in interest.  In that scenario, I'd still only have two cards with a balance (or 3 if they won't combine limits for a BT).

I'll also focus on getting PenFed to under 88% utilization and then put everything extra towards the smaller balance for the next 6 months and see where I'm at from a FICO perspective and what possibilities I have then.  

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I don't see why you need to consolidate the NFCU cards just to do the balance transfers.

[Woofuls_Mom]

I don't have to combine but if they will do it for a large BT (which seems to be the only excuse they'll consider now) then it would be a double win for me getting rid of the Platinum but still having the available balance rolled into something I would use after payoff.  And then it's two total cards to manage instead of three, so I can simplify there.  And it would be another card over a $25 limit.  So just some little things things I find to be a "bonus".   

If I get a big fat no then I'll initiate a BT from the two cards.  No harm no foul asking. 

[Woofuls_Mom]

Quick update:

NFCU consolidated my card limits so I did the following.  Just waiting to see how impacts my FICO scores after everything updates this month.  

Capital One - $14,250/$33,000 (44%)

NFCU - $18,000/$27,000 (67%)

PenFed - $24,706/$37,000 (67%)

I decided to get all individual cards under 68% and total utilization is down to 40.52%.  After crunching the numbers all possible ways in excel, seeing all three cards under that threshold is a big mental win for me so I chose this approach. 

All extra funds are going towards the Cap1 to get it paid off first it's both the highest interest rate and smallest balance.  Also working on selling anything that is sitting in boxes collecting dust after I moved to throw at the balances (lots of $10 and $20 sales add up after a while).  

[SlideOrInsert]

You are showing 57k balances/97k limits and say that total util is 40%. So you have 147k total limits, ~45k in available credit? Do none of the other credit card accounts within that 45k offer low apr balance transfers?

You went from 19.68% blended interest rate to 19.16% and saving about ~$20 in monthly interest.

BEFORE	apr	balance	limit	mo int $
Cap1 QS	22.65	20520	33000	387
PenFed	17.99	36204	37000	543
Rewards	18.00	0	12000	0
Platinum	17.74	0	15000	0
	19.68	56724	97000	930

AFTER	apr	balance	limit	mo int $
Cap1 QS	22.65	14250	33000	269
PenFed	17.99	24706	37000	370
Rewards	18.00	18000	27000	270
	19.16	56956	97000	909

If it were me, after the credit report stabilizes, I would seek out other personal loans, new cc intro offers to get that apr down. The 13% you got from LC doesn't seem that bad in the context of things. You seem to have good relationships with Penfed/NFCU given the large limits. Discover and others will give an offer with a soft pull. You already took a hard pull with the Lending Club, I would personally take another one or two now where in a year the points will return vs waiting a year and then taking another one or two.

tl;dr: good work with the consolidation so far, keep trying to get lower aprs.

[Woofuls_Mom]

Yes, I have other cards that have been paid down and are at $0 but none of them have a BT offer on them and their interest rates are higher (limits in the $5k to $12k range)

I'm waiting on the scores to stabilize this month after bringing these last three under 68% utilization.  Then I planned to look for a BT card or a lower rate personal loan.  With my current scores suppressed by the maxed out PenFed and Cap1 reporting until mid month, all I get are higher rate offers.  I do keep checking monthly for any offers for lower rate personal loans with soft pulls.  

Between my year end bonus and the extra I have to throw at the cards, it look like I can get the Cap1 paid off by February if I do nothing else.  But also hoping that the beginning of the year turns up a BT offer from an existing card. I am going to keep chasing lower APR's when they become available.