what should i pay off first?

[Anonymous]

I have 2 credit cards each with balances of 9K totalling 18k.

 I have 9k to pay down my balances now .  should i pay off 1 credit card entirely , or pay down both to about 50% max available credit?

thanks 

[203bravo]

Assuming that interest rates are the same, you should get more bang for your bucks by paying both of them to the 1/2 point.  Scores respond better to both a low utilization ratio overall, and a low utilization on all revolving accounts.

If interest rates are not the same, then pay the one with the highest interest - get more bang for your buck in your wallet.

[marty56]

Before CLDs were the rage, this question was fairly easy to answer.  If you were interested in rasing your FICO score, you would pay both down.  If you where interested in saving money, you would pay the one off that had the higher interest rate and if you where trying to get out of debt, you would pay the one off with the lowest balance (my choice).

The problem now is you may want to PIF the one that is your oldest and best card to protect the CL from a CLD.

IMHO I would PIF your better card assuming that a CLD is possible on both.

[Anonymous]

How many CCs do you have and what is the CL and UTIL on all of them?