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No, I'm not doing a home equity loan. I have a car that I paid cash for that I can use to secure the loan if they will let me. We'll see
And if I can at least pay two of them off, I am closing them
They will take the title to your car, they will own your car for that amount and charge 'thru the roof' interest.
Neeni nah nah noo noo.
Pay the most $$ you can on the card with the lowest amount; then cut up the cards and throw them out -- but don't close the account. You want accounts to show -0- balance. Get rid of the smallest accounts first while you pay a modest amount above the minimum on the others. Takes time, but the satisfaction and higher FICO score is worth it.
Actually, a card "Closed by consumer" (Me) is better on a credit report than "Closed by Creditor" (Them)
I may keep the major one open, not sure yet. I did an internet chat with one of their reps today and they offered to "lower the interest" rate for 7 months......Oh Big Deal LOL
I'm still up in the air about leaving it open........
You want -0- balances. Closed by consumer does hurt your credit score!
Ummm, I don't know why you think I have "severe credit card debt" LOLOLOL
(but I don't)
Strange how people think they have you all figured out from just a few things that we put out there.
But hey, thanks for the encouragement jayguy01. Such a nice guy
Severe credit card debt is keeping a balance over $0. I do like that you can laugh your incompetence away.
Thanks Galaxyhi!
I did get the loan at the Credit Union and I close on the loan this Thursday. It's a relief! The monthly payment will be less than what I was paying in a month so the other money I save will be going to the other debt to pay that off faster. Have to start somewhere! LOL
I will only keep one major card but the rest will get closed by me
I like the Frozen Card trick!!
DO NOT get rid of all your credit cards—you may need one later for a rental car, an airplane ticket, or an emergency where you don't have the immediate funds to cover a cost.
You can also talk to your CC companies and see if they will offer you an incentive rate for being a customer, whether it's lower interest for a while, or something similar. Call and throw some (fictional) weight around and ask to speak to the customer retention department. Or do a couple of balance transfers—those typically have great rates for a while, and you can put some of your card on several cards and pay them off with a divide-and-conquer strategy.
OP, I was in a similar situation many years ago, but was finally able to get out of it, and for years now I have paid off all credit cards IN FULL every single month. Yes, every.single.month. I HATE paying credit card interest!
What really helped me was making a detailed budget AND especially putting credit card interest as a separate line item. When I saw that some months I was paying literally a few hundred dollars in interest on my credit cards, that finally knocked some sense into me. I mean, seriously, who wants to pay hundreds of dollars for basically NOTHING?!!
These days I use one credit card for basically everything (since I get cash back), but as soon as I charge something on it, I add it to my checking account notes in my word-processing program and enter a payment of that amount. (EG for Capital One I might have "Hannaford $98, Target $31," etc. -- as soon as I charge, I put money aside to pay for that item and reduce my "available balance" accordingly.) This means I am basically never buying things I will have to pay off "over time," and most importantly, it means that when it's time to pay Capital One (or whatever), the money is there, put aside for that purpose.
It takes a lot of discipline at first, but I've been doing it for so long now that it's pretty much second nature. Oh, I DID take out a loan to pay for a new car back in 2009, but it was a 5-year loan that I paid off in about 2 years 9 months (and the interest rate was really low -- like 2% IIRC). My credit score is now in the 800s. You CAN do it.
That's not actually the reason you could see a drop. A new card lowers your average age of accounts. Also you might see a small drop from the inquiry you get for applying.
What the other poster said is also part of the reason. They don't know yet what you are going to do with that new credit. They are seeing you temporarily as a higher risk until proven otherwise.
I had to tell my mortgage lender WHY I asked for credit line increases. My answer was to improve my score. And I went on to explain yes I know that sounds backwards right before applying with y'all, but I didn't think I'd be doing this now!
Anyway, getting new credit does temp lower your score until some time goes by and it's not used or used very responsibly.
Actually, a card "Closed by consumer" (Me) is better on a credit report than "Closed by Creditor" (Them)
I may keep the major one open, not sure yet. I did an internet chat with one of their reps today and they offered to "lower the interest" rate for 7 months......Oh Big Deal LOL
I'm still up in the air about leaving it open........
If you want your score to go up, just cut the cards up, so you could have one replaced if you simply had to and enjoy the credit boost if you don't. Unless this is a matter of necessity due to lack of discipline.
What the other poster said is also part of the reason. They don't know yet what you are going to do with that new credit. They are seeing you temporarily as a higher risk until proven otherwise.
I had to tell my mortgage lender WHY I asked for credit line increases. My answer was to improve my score. And I went on to explain yes I know that sounds backwards right before applying with y'all, but I didn't think I'd be doing this now!
Anyway, getting new credit does temp lower your score until some time goes by and it's not used or used very responsibly.
Wrong. There is no FICO metric for what you MIGHT do. Only what you actually do.
Again you are talking about what a lender said (your mortgage underwriter). They are notorious for asking you to reduce your exposure to other lenders as they want ALL your money.
Try to separate scores from what lenders suggest. They aren't the same thing and we WERE talking scores. Credit line increases can only help your SCORE*. They cannot hurt it.
* Assuming you don't charge up that new limit of course.
Wrong. There is no FICO metric for what you MIGHT do. Only what you actually do.
Again you are talking about what a lender said (your mortgage underwriter). They are notorious for asking you to reduce your exposure to other lenders as they want ALL your money.
Try to separate scores from what lenders suggest. They aren't the same thing and we WERE talking scores. Credit line increases can only help your SCORE*. They cannot hurt it.
* Assuming you don't charge up that new limit of course.
I know about the lender but also it does affect your score too. Or perhaps I'm thinking of the inquiry. I guess so because if cc issuers give us more credit I don't think our scores go down.
Or one of mine is giving me a whole new card. Taking me from a store card to a mastercard.
They will take the title to your car, they will own your car for that amount and charge 'thru the roof' interest.
Neeni nah nah noo noo.
Pay the most $$ you can on the card with the lowest amount; then cut up the cards and throw them out -- but don't close the account. You want accounts to show -0- balance. Get rid of the smallest accounts first while you pay a modest amount above the minimum on the others. Takes time, but the satisfaction and higher FICO score is worth it.
What makes you think I will not pay off this loan so that the Credit Union can take my car? LOL
That's not going to happen but thank you for your concern my dear
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