Credit card debt

[theyankel]

That's why when you're going to need a good credit report you're supposed to pay your credit cards right away.  Although you may want to leave a small amount to be reported so it shows you know how to use cc's.

i hardly ever pay before the statement closes. once it closes, i pay in full. whether $5 i charged for a coffee to keep the account active after a year of being dormant or $5000+
i have 800+ credit score. the scores i get for free are not worth the time used to generate so i'll go with the recent bank pull. 

[Shaya E]

i hardly ever pay before the statement closes. once it closes, i pay in full. whether $5 i charged for a coffee to keep the account active after a year of being dormant or $5000+
i have 800+ credit score. the scores i get for free are not worth the time used to generate so i'll go with the recent bank pull.

Utilization matters less than some people think but it does matter. However, it has (almost) no memory so as long as the month before you apply for a new loan you played your balances down before your stament closing it'll show up as no utiization.

Chase rereports your balances as zero if you pay in full even if it had closed with a balance so with a Chase card there is no reason to worry about it though.

[Aaron55555]

Q about 0% intro APR and 0% Balance Transfers. I usually pay off my credit cards in full right away, but I want to buy a car (in Israel) and I was thinking CC’s would give me a better deal at 0% on financing than the classic car loan at 6%. I’d rather not upfront the money.

Does this structure make sense? Open 3 or 4 cards with 12 month 0% Apr (was thinking Inks for the signup bonus) and pay for the car with them ($25k after DP). Then pay a few hundred $ a month, and when 12 months are up, open new cards with 0% APR AND Balance transfer and transfer the balance to them to continue paying 0%, and continue opening new ones every 12 months until the loan is paid off. Just want to confirm this makes sense.

Also, only the card you’re transferring TO needs the 0% Balance Transfer APR right? And does the card I’d be transferring FROM charge a fee?

Thanks!

[incendia]

Q about 0% intro APR and 0% Balance Transfers. I usually pay off my credit cards in full right away, but I want to buy a car (in Israel) and I was thinking CC’s would give me a better deal at 0% on financing than the classic car loan at 6%. I’d rather not upfront the money.

Does this structure make sense? Open 3 or 4 cards with 12 month 0% Apr (was thinking Inks for the signup bonus) and pay for the car with them ($25k after DP). Then pay a few hundred $ a month, and when 12 months are up, open new cards with 0% APR AND Balance transfer and transfer the balance to them to continue paying 0%, and continue opening new ones every 12 months until the loan is paid off. Just want to confirm this makes sense.

Also, only the card you’re transferring TO needs the 0% Balance Transfer APR right? And does the card I’d be transferring FROM charge a fee?

Thanks!

There's no guarantee that in 12 or 24 months that there will be 0apr offers and if there are there's no guarantee that you'll be able to get them

[Aaron55555]

There's no guarantee that in 12 or 24 months that there will be 0apr offers and if there are there's no guarantee that you'll be able to get them

There’s usually always 0 Apr offers and on easy to get cards…

[JMHO]

There’s usually always

[cozmohoot]

Don't forget balance transfer fees of approx 4%

[ckmk47]

I like your plan, Aaron55555, but don't forget the transfer fees as cozmohoot reminded you.
A transfer fee of 4% for an 18 month loan is good.  If it's just for 12 months, it's less good, but may be better than a straight car loan.
You're also likely to be able to get a new offer when this term is  up.  But it has to be from a different bank to make the balance transfer. 
Also, don't spend anything else on the card - unless it's a deferred payment like the Ink had - because the cc pays off your 0% stuff before your regular 14% spending.

[chevron]

I like your plan, Aaron55555, but don't forget the transfer fees as cozmohoot reminded you.
A transfer fee of 4% for an 18 month loan is good.  If it's just for 12 months, it's less good, but may be better than a straight car loan.
You're also likely to be able to get a new offer when this term is  up.  But it has to be from a different bank to make the balance transfer. 
Also, don't spend anything else on the card - unless it's a deferred payment like the Ink had - because the cc pays off your 0% stuff before your regular 14% spending.

Boa is the best in this case

Low Introductory APR Offer
Introductory 0% † APR for your first 21 billing cycles for purchases, and for any balance transfers made within 60 days of opening your account. After the intro APR offer ends, a Variable APR that's currently 15.99% to 25.99% will apply. A 3% fee applies to all balance transfers

But, you need a plan and not just kicking the can down the road for 21 months .

If you currently are losing $2000 a year to interest, this card would save you about $3500. But that $3500 must go to pay the principal and you must manage other spending do you don't just end up with more debt

[Yehuda_H]

Similar situation.

I have a combined credit card balance of about $20,000 across 4 cards.

I want to offload most of my cards on a 0% 18m BT and make payments on that, and close some of the newly freed accounts.

after that I would apply for credit card consolidation or negotiate with the issuer for a payoff rate.

Does this make sense?

[ckmk47]

Similar situation.

I have a combined credit card balance of about $20,000 across 4 cards.

I want to offload most of my cards on a 0% 18m BT and make payments on that, and close some of the newly freed accounts.

after that I would apply for credit card consolidation or negotiate with the issuer for a payoff rate.

Does this make sense?

See how much credit you can get at 0%. (Don't forget that there's 3-5% transfer fee.  But that's still way better than 15-25% interest.)
make minimum payments on the 0% and pay off as much of the rest of the debt as you can. In a year or so, see about getting the rest of the debt onto a 0%. And the old 0% will go up to 25% or whatever.
The key is a) not spending more than  you can afford.  b) paying off as much as you can as soon as you can.   
In most cases, it's bad for your credit to have the debt excused away. So I think you should try to pay it off. At 1K/ month, 20K takes 2 years to pay off.
Be honest with  yourself about how much you can squeeze together each month for payments. And pay, pay,  pay it off.

[chbochur]

Similar situation.

I have a combined credit card balance of about $20,000 across 4 cards.

I want to offload most of my cards on a 0% 18m BT and make payments on that, and close some of the newly freed accounts.

after that I would apply for credit card consolidation or negotiate with the issuer for a payoff rate.

Does this make sense?

Pm me I can try to help you navigate this. (Strongly disagree with the second half of consolidation)