In response to peeps asking what I'm doing here's my current situation:
$(9,951.81) 6.55% Student Loan 1
$(8,009.45) 6.55% Student Loan 2
$(4,896.76) 0% APR credit card
$(22,858.02)
$4,259.95 401 (a)
$9,306.79 403(b)
$33,051.21 rollover 401k
$11,119.92 emergency fund ~4-5 months of living expenses
$4,788.88 liquid fund
$62,526.75
I've been paying off my student loan like my hair is on fire. My balance on 3/13/13 was $65, 017.97. Today it's $17,961.26. My hope is to have it paid off by the end of March 2014. I'm expecting some bonuses in January plus I figured I'd dip into my emergency fund once the balance was around $5k just to have it done.
I took the 0% APR offer because it was the longest term of all the offers I get. 21 months - almost two years of free credit! I'm too lazy to run the numbers right now but in the end this will get me out of (interest-charged) debt faster and save me a few hundred in interest on the student loan (the only debt I've ever had) I have to admit it does feel really weird not paying off my cc in full every month.
So if I'm done by April 2014 I'll still have about a year to payoff the 0% credit card which would only be $10k - $15k (if Citibank were to up limit). With no other debt, I'm confident I could do that.
I'm def going to call CB tomorrow and see what they say about shifting one credit line to the other. I want the increase more to improve my ratio rather than to spend more.
Last time I got my credit checked (June 2012 when I moved to my current apt) it was just over 800. I'm going to go with general theme of reponse that this one credit card's high usage isn't going to knock it dangerously low.