Considering Debt Consolidation loan

[EAJuggalo]

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@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:

I'm curious where you got the loan from and the specifics. Many loans require the cards being consolidated to be closed, which depending on where the balances are, could possibly not help with utilization at all.

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Loan was a 20k personal loan from PenFed, so not a true consolidation loan, but a loan used for consolidation purposes.

Amex Hilton reported $7 today, bringing utilization on that card from 54% to 1%.  Moved total Utilization to 51% and my EX score to 692.  One high percentage balance to report much lower, probably Monday.

[ridgebackpilot]

Thanks for reporting the effect on your scores, @EAJuggalo. For those of us considering the doing the same thing, it's very helpful to follow your journey. Curious what APR you got on your PenFed personal loan?

[EAJuggalo]

11.99 is the APR.

Victoria's Secret updated today with a 0 balance.  Brought my score up to 700 with overall UTI at 53%.  First time I've had a FICO 8 that high since 2016.

[expatCanuck]

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@JFox418 wrote:

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@FireMedic1 wrote:

Revolving credit util %'s hurts more than loan util %'s. In the begining of a loan yeah you'll take the usual new account and ect hits as we know. But the main reason. Interest is always lower if you get the right lender. So money is saved in the long run. Finances over FICO. But dont use the cards like it was before. Seen many here get the loan and charge things up again. JMO.

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%100 this and was my issue as well. $25k to pay everything off 4-5 years ago and still managed to rack up debt, horrible timing with a few things out of my control but it is what it is. Then you'll have CC payments AND a loan. Not fun. 

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^^ This is a great cautionary tale.

If one is able to obtain a loan for consolidation, one must maintain a laser focus on paying down that loan without incurring additional CC debt.

[EAJuggalo]

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@expatCanuck wrote:

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@JFox418 wrote:

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@FireMedic1 wrote:

Revolving credit util %'s hurts more than loan util %'s. In the begining of a loan yeah you'll take the usual new account and ect hits as we know. But the main reason. Interest is always lower if you get the right lender. So money is saved in the long run. Finances over FICO. But dont use the cards like it was before. Seen many here get the loan and charge things up again. JMO.

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%100 this and was my issue as well. $25k to pay everything off 4-5 years ago and still managed to rack up debt, horrible timing with a few things out of my control but it is what it is. Then you'll have CC payments AND a loan. Not fun. 

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^^ This is a great cautionary tale.

If one is able to obtain a loan for consolidation, one must maintain a laser focus on paying down that loan without incurring additional CC debt.

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Agreed, here is what I have done.  I've diverted $300/paycheck to a separate account.  Only two things get paid from that account, this loan and the municipal water bill that won't take a credit card.  I'm down to carrying three cards with me on a regular basis and the two that I'm using almost exclusively are a charge card and a business card so the utilization for neither is included in my reports.

Score down 3 points with an additional card reporting a balance.

[EAJuggalo]

Loan reported this week.  Brought my score down to 689.  I feel that is well worth it.  I got a CLI on my Lowes to 5k which reported and a CLI on my VS that has not.  Utilization is currently at 50% but should come down some in the next week or so.  I'm down to two cards with actual balances, the downside is those two cards have very high balances.  I've got a Navy Federal Flagship that is 13,000/13,800 and a Navy Platinum that is 15,000/17,300.  The platinum will report next week at 85% Utilization, the Flagship will report today at 92%.

[SouthJamaica]

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@EAJuggalo wrote:

Loan reported this week.  Brought my score down to 689.  I feel that is well worth it.  I got a CLI on my Lowes to 5k which reported and a CLI on my VS that has not.  Utilization is currently at 50% but should come down some in the next week or so.  I'm down to two cards with actual balances, the downside is those two cards have very high balances.  I've got a Navy Federal Flagship that is 13,000/13,800 and a Navy Platinum that is 15,000/17,300.  The platinum will report next week at 85% Utilization, the Flagship will report today at 92%.

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All right, you picked up 43 points, so it worked.

[EAJuggalo]

It did. More importantly it's saving me $200/month compared to the minimum payments I had on the cards I paid off, plus what it's saving me in interest.  Another card reported zero after paying the trailing interest off on it and I got a small bump to 692.  I'd really like it to stabalize above 700 before I app for a mortgage in two months.

[EAJuggalo]

Last of the cards to get paid off reported today.  EX is at 700, don't know what the others are at right now.  I'm guessing this is where it's going to stay until I get utilization down on the two cards with balances.

[FeedMeCredit]

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@EAJuggalo wrote:

Last of the cards to get paid off reported today.  EX is at 700, don't know what the others are at right now.  I'm guessing this is where it's going to stay until I get utilization down on the two cards with balances.

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Thank you for the detailed trail on how your score improved! I have just gotten a personal loan and paid off cards in a similar manner, so I'm curious to see how my score will change. I don't "need" it for any applications right now, but I'd really love to be over 700 again. Great work and good luck with the mortgage!