Author Topic: Which cards to pay off first?  (Read 3279 times)

truman47

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Which cards to pay off first?
« on: July 18, 2016, 10:23:34 PM »
Hello,  I have the following credit cards and am not sure which ones I should pay off first. Some are high interest but I don't owe as much money on them as others. Any suggestions welcome

Card1: $3500 at 0% for 12 months and $1108 at 13.99% Currently paying min balance each month (about $75.00)

Card 2: $6500 at 13% currently paying $80 a month

Card 3: $6500 at 0% for 36 months then 24.99%.  Currently paying $200 per month but I need to pay $280 a month to pay it all off with 0 interest within 23 months which is what I have left.

Card 4: $495.00 at 19%. Currently paying $80 per month

I'm getting a tax return soon of around $1500.00 so want to wack it down on one of these cards. I'm thinking maybe card 3 so I can keep my payments closer to $200 a month and pay it all off before interest kicks in.

Any ideas on what my plan should be?

Thanks.


Catbert

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Re: Which cards to pay off first?
« Reply #1 on: July 18, 2016, 10:29:57 PM »
I would pay off car at 3. Then put the remainder against card 2 so you can get it paid off
when the 0℅ expiring.

Edit:  Okay, I totally fucked this comment.  What I meant to say was to totally pay off card #4 and put the remainder against card 3 so its totally paid off when the 0% rate expires.
« Last Edit: July 19, 2016, 11:23:16 AM by mary w »

NV Teacher

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Re: Which cards to pay off first
« Reply #2 on: July 18, 2016, 11:05:47 PM »
You could take the tax refund and pay off Card 4 and the $1100 portion of Card 1.  Then take the $80 you are paying on Card 4 and add it to the payment on Card 3.

If it were me I'd pay off Card 4 and the high interest part of Card 1, make minimum payments on everything with a 0% rate, and throw every extra penny at the card with the highest interest.  As each card is paid off I'd take that money and snowball it onto the next card.

It takes time, planning, and perseverance to climb out of debt but it's worth it in the end.

N

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Re: Which cards to pay off first?
« Reply #3 on: July 18, 2016, 11:09:13 PM »
http://www.vertex42.com/Calculators/debt-reduction-calculator.html

http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

there are a number of snowball debt calculators online.

You want to pay the least amount of interest, but if you want others to help figure, it would be helpful to know the minimum paments of each card, and if you have extra money available to pay more than the minimum. aside from the tax refund

Oh just saw NV teacher's post: great idea!

N

Choices

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Re: Which cards to pay off first?
« Reply #4 on: July 19, 2016, 02:38:19 AM »
The biggest issue is to not go into any more debt. Do you have a stable job? What about a detailed budget? What can you do to get your income up and get these paid off ASAP? Can you tutor, babysit, deliver pizzas, etc.?

truman47

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Re: Which cards to pay off first?
« Reply #5 on: July 19, 2016, 04:26:33 AM »
Thanks for the replies. I will follow the advice from NV teacher and pay off those cards with my tax return and then use a calculator to work out what to pay flyer that.

@ julie@choosebetterlife..Yes I have a job. I'm a manager and I'm on around $77k a year. I have a company car and ph0ne so have no vehicle costs or phone costs s I also have no home phone. but I do pay $266 a week in child support and $395 a week in rent. 

Playing with Fire UK

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Re: Which cards to pay off first?
« Reply #6 on: July 19, 2016, 05:27:52 AM »
I'd pay down the highest interest rates first.

For the 0% cards:

If you have found your discipline but have leftover debt, I'd put savings from every pay check in a high interest account and pay the cards as the 0% rate expires.

If you are still working on your discipline, I'd pay the 0% cards asap, and make build a timetable to make sure you pay them before the interest jumps.

marty998

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Re: Which cards to pay off first?
« Reply #7 on: July 19, 2016, 05:52:06 AM »
Have you read the News Flash: Your Debt is an Emergency MMM post?

I remember there was something in it about Killer Bees stinging you and lighting your hair on fire. I don't actually remember anything that was written in there on how to go about reducing debt, so I can't help in that regard :D

Anyway the point is, read that post.

Also, I agree with NV Teacher.

yourusernamehere

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Re: Which cards to pay off first?
« Reply #8 on: July 19, 2016, 07:27:24 PM »
Don't forget to keep us updated on your progress over in the Share Your Badassity threads. :-) You can do this!

AliEli

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Re: Which cards to pay off first?
« Reply #9 on: July 19, 2016, 08:40:10 PM »
I'd pay off card #4 as well as the $1108 portion of card #1 that you are paying interest on.  You will then have some additional cash to put towards the other payments.

Why do you have so many credit cards?  And why do you have over $15K of debt on them?  I am not intending to be judgemental, I am really wanting to understand.

seattlecyclone

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Re: Which cards to pay off first?
« Reply #10 on: July 19, 2016, 08:49:35 PM »
Pay off the highest rate debt first. Period.

That means use your tax refund to eliminate your balance on Card #4 first.

Next, we need to know with Card #1, if you pay more than the minimum does that go toward the 0% part first or the 13.99% part first? If it goes toward the 13.99% part first, pay that part off then move on to Card #2. Otherwise pay off card #2 first and then pay off Card #1.

While you're working on those, reduce your payments on card #3 to the minimum and put every last cent toward getting rid of your interest-charging balances first. You'll have time to catch up on Card #3 once you don't have to pay more than $200/month for the other cards.

truman47

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Re: Which cards to pay off first?
« Reply #11 on: July 19, 2016, 09:42:12 PM »
With card 1 the $3500 was a balance transfer at 0% for 15 months. the $1108 at 13.99% was what i used up on a recent holiday. How do i tell what part my payments will go to? Do i call the bank and ask them?


alsoknownasDean

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Re: Which cards to pay off first?
« Reply #12 on: July 19, 2016, 09:50:25 PM »
Can you refinance any of those? Is it worth consolidating all of the debts that accrue interest?

You have $17K in CC debt and you're currently repaying it at $435 per month. Even without taking interest into account, that'll be roughly three years once the tax return is taken into account.

Any chance of putting more in to it?
« Last Edit: July 19, 2016, 09:55:16 PM by alsoknownasDean »