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The card with the highest limit AND highest balance. Then working with balance transfers to the card that has the best interest rates, work on the remainder. Hopefully, the highest limit card will have the lowest interest too. That gives you working room.
this is what I would do..
follow this and it will never happen again.
1) Go to where you hide your scissors, pick up your favorite.
2) take credit card A and cut it good until you can cut no more.
3) take credit card B and do the same.
4) Carefully dispose of the "crap cards" in different trash containers a little here a little there. Just in case someone find it and put it back together... if that happen you again failed with credit cards.
5) Now, take all the money you can and add it towards credit card A...
6) second month or third keep paying minimum on the card B since it has zero interest at the moment. And try to tackle first cards with the horrendous %..
7) Don't ever use credit card again because if it happened once it will happen again. as we know it history tends to repeat itself.
STEPS 1 to 3 are very important steps, even more important than paying the card right away.... but you can do it at no cost! have a great day!
I get the feel good approach, but that interest rate is insane. You need to pay that sucker off as soon as you can, then you can work on the other one. Don't let the CC company of card A get more interest money out of you so you can get the warm fuzzies paying off the other card.
Also, serious kudos to you for using your tax money to pay off debt. Seriously. So many people would just go buy a bunch of junk instead of using the money to be responsible!
this is what I would do..
follow this and it will never happen again.
1) Go to where you hide your scissors, pick up your favorite.
2) take credit card A and cut it good until you can cut no more.
3) take credit card B and do the same.
4) Carefully dispose of the "crap cards" in different trash containers a little here a little there. Just in case someone find it and put it back together... if that happen you again failed with credit cards.
5) Now, take all the money you can and add it towards credit card A...
6) second month or third keep paying minimum on the card B since it has zero interest at the moment. And try to tackle first cards with the horrendous %..
7) Don't ever use credit card again because if it happened once it will happen again. as we know it history tends to repeat itself.
STEPS 1 to 3 are very important steps, even more important than paying the card right away.... but you can do it at no cost! have a great day!
Learning to manage credit wisely is a "life skill" that many people NEVER master.
That said...I'm sure the OP is wise enough to understand what's at stake (hence the post) and I, for one, certainly commend the effort to pay down this debt. But there may be circumstances that just don't allow for eliminating access to credit. Yes, cutting up the cards may help in the short term, but any person determined to use a credit card for whatever reason, simply has to make a phone call and get a replacement. So in that situation, the action only delays the inevitable.
We can only hope that the OP will take this debt elimination plan to the next level and realize that it is far better to live without credit card debt than it is to keep giving money to the companies charging extortion rates.
I use anywhere from 7k to 12k a month in credit but... I pay it off completely. The other day I had $900 extra on the card since I over pay it. I was anticipating to have a bigger balance but didnt. Actually, let me go check right now to pay it off.
7) Don't ever use credit card again because if it happened once it will happen again. as we know it history tends to repeat itself.
Yes it does.
After spending 4 years in Ch 13 due to extended unemployment one thing I can say I learned is how to pay for things with cash.
That's why I have $22k in new major CC's with a total balance of about $400. If I can't pay for it in cash I don't buy it.
I do use one card per month (my $7k Visa) that I charge up to 10% of the limit while I have the rest of my cards at a $0 balance. That's the best way to maximize your FICO score.
Yeah what you guys are saying was my first instinct, but so many finance experts tout the value of "snowballing" - paying off the smallest balances first, regardless of interest rate, so that at least you can totally eliminate a bill and use that money towards paying off the bigger balances.
thats stupid.
im glad that nobody gave the wrong answer in this thread.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainNJ
thats stupid.
im glad that nobody gave the wrong answer in this thread.
It is not a stupid answer. It is precisely the correct answer. Dave Ramsey has been getting people out of debt for a very long time using the "debt snowball method" as THOUSANDS of people will attest. It works.
How many people have YOU gotten out of debt, CaptainNJ? hmmmmmmmm?
To the OP: Get a copy of "Total Money Makeover" and read it. Your life will be immeasurably improved.
oh, even though that you have cut the cards do not cancel your cards since it will drop your FICO scores..
oh come on, if you aren't going to use a card just cancel it. people are so ridiculous about the silly techniques they want to use to protect their fico score. pay your bills every month and your fico score will be fine.
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have a great day!
