@Anonymous wrote:Hi,
I'm looking for some advice from you guys regarding the best strategy to pay down some balances. My situation is completely manageable but I want to eliminate this CC debt as fast as possible. I opened a few 0% & travel cards last year to payoff some medical expenses and items that had gone into collections while getting either no interest or points to use for future travel. In doing so I cleaned up my report and had family members add me as an AU on their cards (no harm done doing so for either party) to help raise my limits and lower untilization. However, in the process I ended up carrying a balance across 3 cards since at the time I didn't have a score good enough to open 1 card with a high starting limit.
Recently, I got a new job making more money than I was before and just paid my car off a few days ago. Between those two events I have plenty of extra money to chip away at this debt while saving still. I've planned out a budget from my takehome pay each check (2 checks/mo) taking into account all my fixed expenses and a few variable ones that I anticipate. I've deferred my student loans for a few months to allocate that money for this plan to work as well.
So here it goes:
Wells Fargo Platinum Visa | $3,415 @ 0% until 1/25/20 | Min. Payment $35
Chase Unlimited | $2,000 @ 25% | Min. Payment $59/mo | $39.94 interest/mo
Venture One | $1,846 @ 24.24% | Min. Payment $56/mo | $38.68 interest/mo
AMEX Blue | $1,740 @ 26.24% | Min. Payment $57/mo | $40/17 interest/mo | $57
Based on my budgeting I'll have $800-970/mo (leaving some room for flexibility) to put towards getting this **bleep** paid off.
1) Should I tackle the Wells Fargo @ 0% first and have that paid off in ~3.5months?
2) Or focus this money and pay off the other cards individually and wait out the 0% until January '20 on the WF...at which point I'd have to Balance Transfer but with minimal utilization and recovering score. I've seen cards at 15-21mo but opening another card is terrifying at this point and I'd like to avoid the hard pull.
If I tackle the WF first it would mean I'd be accruing in total $118.79/mo in interest on othe cards over the course of those 3.5 mo I'm paying it off. I definitely think this plan is workable but would like some feedback on the smartest way to do it. I want this paid off so I can get myself back into the good credit graces! Thank you!
Could you place what the credit card limit is also? Need to know util on each card. You'd want to tackle the highest interest card first and work your way down.
Ex: Wells Fargo CL; xxxx Balance: xxxx APr:xxx (Monthly payment we dont neeed)
Wells Fargo Platinum Visa | $3,415 @ 0% until 1/25/20 | Min. Payment $35
Chase Unlimited | $2,000 @ 25% | Min. Payment $59/mo | $39.94 interest/mo
Venture One | $1,846 @ 24.24% | Min. Payment $56/mo | $38.68 interest/mo
AMEX Blue | $1,740 @ 26.24% | Min. Payment $57/mo | $40/17 interest/mo | $57
Ok I broke it down to the basics. Which to pay first and with util % considered. And in order to pay to the most and tackle the others at the same time.
Wells Fargo Platinum Visa $3,415/ $3,700 limit 0% until 1/25/20 I would tackle this one the most before the interest kicks in. Also it is considered maxed out over 89% and killing your score.
AMEX Blue $1,740/$3,000 limit @ 26.24% 2cd pay off
Chase Unlimited $2,000/ $5,500 limit @ 25% 3rd payoff
Venture One $1,846/$2,900 limit @ 24.24% last one
As they all pass util % thresholds in your way down to paying them off. You'd be helping your score at the same time. Only reason i say is go after the 0% first is like I said maxed. You dont want any AA against you if its been a high balance for a long period of time. Then move on down the list until its done. The others are around 50+% but thats not a danger zone really. Hope this helps. Good Luck!
Here's a paycheck by paycheck plan to pay everything down ASAP, based off of $970/mo available. GL!