Paying down $43K in cc debt

[lshwn]

Hey! I am paying off $43K in cc debt via the avalanche method of paying down high interest cards first and transferring those payments to the next balance. Is this a good way to handle this debt OR should I try to consolidate cc balances and make one payment per month. Any recommendations on services or tools to use is greatly appreciated.

[chiefone4u]

The Avalanche method is a great way to go.

Not knowing more about your profile we would be unable to suggest any alternative options. To have anyone be able to offer alternative options you'd need to provide:
FICO scores:
AAoA (average age of accounts):
AoYA (age of youngest account):
Creditor / amount owed / limit / apr:
Any derogatory items (charge off, late payment, repo) .

With the above information others may be able to chime in on other options available to you.

[FireMedic1]

Congrats on getting things back in order. You'll be rewarded in the end. As @chiefone4u stated. list out your creditors. Especially the credit lines with balance. The util on each account be be used with your method to gain more points.

[Anonymous]

Are you current on all of them?  Are you making more than the minimum payments?

I only ask because I got to the point where I was simply unable to keep up with them all.  Some went to credit settlement agencies and later I discovered some non-profit credit management companies, who were able to get me 2%-3% payment plans -- with this the accounts are closed and you do have to pay it all back.  However, I later found out that two of my biggest accounts with the bank were re-aged and now they are showing on my credit reports as PAA, even though the accounts are all closed.   Credit scores already creeping back up and still don't even have it all sorted out yet. 

Obviously, you don't want to do either of these if you can keep everybody paid and current.  It sounds like you are still in control of it, which is great.

But if I had it to do it over, I would not have done the settlement thing, and instead I'd have shifted as much as possible over to those non-profit management guys.

[lshwn]

FICO scores are 550-560 for all credit bureaus

Average age of accounts is about 3 years

Age of youngest account is 1 year

Creditors: I have a mix of retail and bank cards.  Largest amount owed is $3900 to American Airlines cc.

I have some NEW late payments (4-5) in the last 9 months

I pay about $1800 per month in cc debit.  I added another $700 and payments that are $100 I increased to $200 per month. I am tackling the cards with the highest interest rate first - no matter than balance.  

[lshwn]

My utilization is high--on average 85 percent.