Need help with a plan to pay down high utilization

[MyLoFICO]

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@IgnatiusReilly wrote:

I was absolutely living beyond my means. No question about that at all. After 3 years of the single life doing nothing but living to work I got a lot of credit and did not tend to it properly. I had fun and bought some new toys, which are up for auction as I type this and thankfully, they retain their value so I am getting near face value for most.

Now it's time to pay the piper.

This attitude alone will ensure your success.  You are taking responsibility and have gotten great advice here.  I wish you the best of luck.  It isn't going to be easy but you do this and look back with pride on facing and conquering adversity.  This is a great group here who will root for you all the way.  

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Thank you. It hurts to admit its my own doing but lying to myself doesn't make it go away, right? Might as well face the music and get going. I'm sure there will be trying times and tests of my spending but I promised myself a gift worth no more than $500 when these are all PIF. That is my reward. It will likely be a good bottle of scotch. lol

[MyLoFICO]

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@sarge12 wrote:

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@MyLoFICO wrote:

I almost forgot. I have had some of these cards for almost a year now with no activity. I am getting letters to use it or lose it. I don't mind letting them go but my UTIL and scores can't afford the hit right now. Here are the ones I have now that have less than 60 days till auto-close and what I plan to use them for to keep them open. 

Target $800 CL : My mom loves Target and will use it and give me the money to pay it off. Probably $50 or so. 

Kohls $1500 CL : I need a set of pillow cases and I will buy them and pay them off. About $20. 

BP Gas store card $3500 CL : I have no idea how to keep this open. I don't have a BP anywhere near me. They closed the one near me 2 days after I got the card. Closest one now is 452.02 miles away. Any ideas? I can't locate an online sotore or anything either. 

Would this be enough to keep these open for another year? 

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I would say the BP card is untennable...you might check if it is a synchrony card if they will close it and transfer the limit to another synchrony co branded card since this would keep your synchrony exposure the same. I would worry a little about that causing a blue envelope though.

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This is in my mind everytime I check the mail, especially with where I am right now. I hope they don't. I think I will let the BP card go.  My Kohls got a CLI and I think I will get others once this 10k hits te balances. 

[redpat]

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@MyLoFICO wrote:

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@IgnatiusReilly wrote:

I was absolutely living beyond my means. No question about that at all. After 3 years of the single life doing nothing but living to work I got a lot of credit and did not tend to it properly. I had fun and bought some new toys, which are up for auction as I type this and thankfully, they retain their value so I am getting near face value for most.

Now it's time to pay the piper.

This attitude alone will ensure your success.  You are taking responsibility and have gotten great advice here.  I wish you the best of luck.  It isn't going to be easy but you do this and look back with pride on facing and conquering adversity.  This is a great group here who will root for you all the way.  

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Thank you. It hurts to admit its my own doing but lying to myself doesn't make it go away, right? Might as well face the music and get going. I'm sure there will be trying times and tests of my spending but I promised myself a gift worth no more than $500 when these are all PIF. That is my reward. It will likely be a good bottle of scotch. lol

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I suggest Macallan 12yr, that will ease a lot of pain but leave you in a fog.......

[AverageJoesCredit]

MyLo, most of the time i hit the button on sync all i get is that lovely denial letter but calling CS gives you a better shot always, even if they dont give it at least you tried. By the way whats hour current TU?

[Anonymous]

Not even bad shape the card with worst util you don't even owe that much on it… 1750.consider taking out a high-interest loan which will still probably be lower interest than your credit cards. Kill and close a bunch of them off. As your credit score improve you then take out another personal loan in the 10% or Lower range and that will open up budget. Aside from that, when all of your cards are charging interest now it is dumb to pay one with the highest interest if it is only a point higher. The more balances go zero, it is more money you throw at the next bill.

Time and time again so many people chime in when people say they need help are told apply to PenFed or other credit unions with confirmed high opening limits. That's the worst thing you can do when the habit of opening cards with 0% bait started the mess.

[CreditInspired]

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@MyLoFICO wrote:

I almost forgot. I have had some of these cards for almost a year now with no activity. I am getting letters to use it or lose it. I don't mind letting them go but my UTIL and scores can't afford the hit right now. Here are the ones I have now that have less than 60 days till auto-close and what I plan to use them for to keep them open. 

Target $800 CL : My mom loves Target and will use it and give me the money to pay it off. Probably $50 or so. 

Kohls $1500 CL : I need a set of pillow cases and I will buy them and pay them off. About $20. 

BP Gas store card $3500 CL : I have no idea how to keep this open. I don't have a BP anywhere near me. They closed the one near me 2 days after I got the card. Closest one now is 452.02 miles away. Any ideas? I can't locate an online sotore or anything either. 

Would this be enough to keep these open for another year? 

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Two questions in order to keep that BP CL:

1.  Could you buy a BP gift card online? Would that count toward usage? https://www.svmcards.com/bp-gift-cards/ShowDetails.cfm?ProdID=132

2.  It may be worth a day drive with mom and son to get a tank of gas and sightsee just to hold BP at bay a few months.

[Anonymous]

I'd forget the BP card and close it if you don't live close to a BP. It's not worth keeping cards that are not useful to you. You have plenty of other cards and streamlining would be best at this juncture. Good luck and sorry you are in this situation.

[Anonymous]

Dont close any cards that are paid down to zero until you are making some progress. that is like instant voluntary adverse action and worse utilization average

[HeavenOhio]

I woudn't close any other cards right now for all the reasons mentioned, but BP is a valid exception because it's next to impossible to use. As mentioned, cancelling it won't hurt utilization significantly enough to matter.

[Discover2016]

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@MyLoFICO wrote:

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@taxdoc wrote:
OP - You've received a lot of great advice. Consider cutting up all the store cards and the cards you bring down to a zero balance (i.e., don't add any new debt to balances you paid off). In case of an emergency, you'll still have open cards that still have a balance. Once you've finished your pay down plan, reassess your portfolio and close out the unnecessary accounts and order placements for the cards you want to keep.

Unsubscribe from all solicitation email from stores until pay down plan is complete.

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Yep, this is part of my plan. The cards are still in one piece but I have no desire to use them at all. I really just like to go through them from time to time separating them into  keep/close piles. Now that I have put it in writing how bad my rates are and seeing no real advantage to most of them, my Close pile is huge. Obviously I will wait to close until my UTIL can withstand the hit. I would say all but 2 are as good as gone if I am being honest here, and why not be? lol I plan to keep my Chase FU and my perpetually secured Discover. I plan to get a Chase Ink and maybe an AMEX for my business once this is in the rearview mirror.  Other than that, I am done with the lesser cards and amassing large numbers of them. 

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Great advice on how to pay down your debt, that being said, I never recommend cutting up cards. If you cut up a card, you can end up forgetting about, what of there is fraud on the card or deferred interest for example, it can cause a 30/60/90 late to appear on your reports.