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re: Credit card suggestions??

Posted on 6/6/12 at 2:23 pm to
Posted by Neauxla
New Orleans
Member since Feb 2008
33449 posts
Posted on 6/6/12 at 2:23 pm to
I have about $2k to pay off. Depending upon if I can get a reduction in my student loan payments will factor into how quickly I can pay off my credit card.

I was working 2 jobs and was paying off 500-700/month until last month. Now I'm only working 1 and have less I can pay each month. I'm also paying about 1000/month in student loans which I am trying to reduce.

ETA: what about applying for 2 cards? 1 w/ the 0% APR for 12 months to pay off my balance (my interest rate is ridic b/c I missed a payment 2 years ago) and 1 w/ good rewards to use in the future?
This post was edited on 6/6/12 at 2:26 pm
Posted by kennypowers816
New Orleans
Member since Jan 2010
2446 posts
Posted on 6/6/12 at 3:19 pm to
quote:

what about applying for 2 cards? 1 w/ the 0% APR for 12 months to pay off my balance (my interest rate is ridic b/c I missed a payment 2 years ago) and 1 w/ good rewards to use in the future?


Ehh, I don't know about that. Honestly, I'm not a credit score/report guru, but I don't know if applying for 2 cards at the same time is the best idea.

If it were me, I would probably get the freedom since it has pretty decent rewards by itself, pay the $60 transfer fee (3% of $2,000) and then pay $134/month on that transfer balance for 15 months. Either pay it off slow like that or all at once at the end of the 15 months. Don't pay it off faster, use any extra cash to pay extra on your student loans. Just make sure you have the $2k CC debt gone at the end of 15 months if you can.

As for the 2nd card, I think I would personally wait a while. I may be mistaken, but I believe that hard inquiries only stay on your credit report for 2 years(you would get 1 per card application and 1 each time you applied for a credit limit increase). I would get the freedom or some other balance transfer card, use it for at least 2 years and then probably get another.

And in case you didn't know or just a reminder, don't close the old CC account(s) after the transfer. The longer the history of the card, the better for your credit score. Also, having multiple accounts open is a good thing (assuming you can be responsible and manage them well).
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