euphoric85

Got a message back- Navy does not reallocate limits between cards and navChek.. and a no go on the CLI. I reckon I'm going to try my initial idea and see how it goes!

I did think about getting the CL increased, but they just gave me a CLI on that account maybe 2 months ago, from $3k to $5k, so I assumed they probably wouldn't do it. But now that you mention it, I don't suppose it hurts to ask! I just sent a secure message asking about either a CLI or re-allocating.. time for some serious finger crossing! Thanks for your input!

any opinions?

Hey y'all, I've been looking lately at my accounts, trying to budget better this year, etc. I have 5 open CC accounts I'm paying down, and have been looking for ways to save money each month and pay them off faster. So I've been looking at ways I could consolidate most of it. I think I've come up with a good way!! One of my accounts is a Navy cashRewards w/ a $5k limit @ 14.65%, which is my lowest APR and highest CL. I just got approved for a navChek for $8k @ 14.9%. Navy is running a 0% BT offer, so I'm thinking of transferring the balance of the cashRewards ($4k) over to the navChek to open up that CL to do BT's from my other accounts. So that's a .35% APR increase on that balance, but a huge % drop off my other accounts which are all between 19-25%. I haven't figured out the exact math yet, but I would end up with about $9k in balances across 2 Navy accounts with CL totaling $13k.. total CL with all credit accounts is $20k. So that's 75% UTL with Navy, and about 45% overall. But consolidating like this would allow me to pay the total balance down a good bit quicker, getting that UTL down. So my question is, Is this a good idea? I'm pretty smitten with Navy and their generosity, so I don't want to do anything to lemonade them off, like using an overdraft line of credit as a debt consolidation loan lol. But then again, I doubt they'd be giving people $8k limits if they intended it to be solely used for overdrafts... If I can pull this off well though, I'll also try to refi my car with them the latter half of this year, at hopefully a lower rate as I will have proven my creditworthiness to them. What do y'all think?

Well lets see.. Everything was getting better and better the first part of the year, then it all went to hell lol. I got into NFCU, and have more than quadrupled my initial CL with them since then, as well as gotten decent CLI's with almost all of my creditors, giving me a total CL of around $12,000, starting from $0 2 years ago. Also bought a new-to-me car @ 4.99%, which was wayyy lower than I was expecting to get. I also put in enough of an extra payment to pay that 5 year loan off 1 year early, assuming I don't re-amortize/re-fi. Started working on my Master's degree as well which should mean mucho mas dinero in the future. And I just closed my First Premier card after 2 years, after getting more than enough of a CLI from another creditor to absorb the loss of theirs from my total. But I wasted some dough and time doing B* with TU, got all the way down to 1 inq, only to have them all come back lol.. then racked up to about 80% overall UTI because of 2 job losses throughout the year. I got that down to about 60% overall with CLIs, but am still in over my head: now I owe just enough money in CC's every month to be in the red, despite budget cutting. So I'm drowning, but I'm not delinquent. Got a decent job now, just waiting for more money to start coming in after I prove myself as the new guy. Also just got a small CLD from Barclay because of my high UTL with them. Next year obviously I want to get things paid down, might have to go back to moonlighting at the bar for extra pay-down $$.. I need to get my UTL down enough to apply for my first mortgage around this time next year. I just re-signed a year lease at my apartment and I'm tired of throwing my money away renting.. And with the housing market here in the midwest, I can mortgage a decent house for cheaper than rent

+1 for pageonce.. I use the website version and it lets me, in one place, see not just all my CC/loan balances and payment due dates, but all of my utility/phone bill due dates as well, listed in chronological order. Its made my life much easier not having to track all of that myself with a calender. Bills due within a few days get highlighted red and you can set email notifications too. There are a few banks who don't allow pageonce to connect to them, but they're few and far between. Out of my 20-ish accounts tracking on there, only 1 doesn't work (Wal-Mart CC)

I also employed this method.. I emailed the CEO last week and received a prompt callback the next day, as well as several more the end of last week and earlier this week! The Executive Group actually seems very motivated to help out cardmembers.. I emailed asking for ANYthing I could get: I have a Platinum Credit Steps card stuck at $500, and I asked for a CLI, APR decrease, AF decrease, and/or PC.. I didn't get a chance to get back to them until today, and, similar to others who've posted, she said she would send my info to a senior underwriter for review for a CLI. She asked for income/employment info, and asked what's the maximum CL I would accept and what's the minimum I would accept. My highest CL right now is $3k, so I asked for a max of $4k, and given my current CL with them of $500, a minimum of $1500. She said it would be a SOFT inquiry, and asked for my approval before putting it through. She said they would get back to me most likely by the middle of next week. She was extremely polite, and the process was a painless 5 minute phone call. So we'll see! For anyone wanting to try this, I would recommend emailing the CEO with your issue and contact info and they promptly get back to you during normal business hours.. From the phone call, I got the impression that making a random cold call to the Executive Group probably wouldn't get you very far. The CEO's email can easily be gotten with a Google search...

Just FYI: I asked through secure message if this offer is available for current cashRewards cardholders, and according to them it is not Here's the reply I received:

nah I've got my discretionary spending down to the bone, just trying not to get ate up by interest! Might not have much of a choice for the time being though

Hey y'all, Always great info on here! Thanks to CB I've gone from a mid-600 FICO to on the verge of 700 in just 6 months! But I've run into a bump in the road of my credit repair journey in that my income has decreased drastically due to a layoff earlier in the year. So I now have 6 CCs and a car loan, all in good standing, with only 2 of the CCs running a balance: but 1 is at 90% UTL and the other is around 60%. The issue I'm having now is just lacking the cashflow to pay them down- my income is down to about $20k a year atm So, does anyone have some ideas for getting them paid off? I'm about to start another job so I'll be doing the 2 job grind, which will help, and I'm doing gigs here and there on fiverr for spare change.. I can't BT one balance to the other to consolidate right now bc there's just not enough remaining credit. I've asked both for a CLI with the pretense of a BT and was denied. This is the kind of messes CBers hate to see, but love to fix! As always y'all are awesome and I look forward to hearing some brainstorming! Thanks Chris

Approved June 2012 for cashRewards @ $1k.. Immediately sent secure message saying I intended to do a BT and needed a $3k line.. Approved! Requested bump to $5k Sept 2012, denied bc of 2 collections from 2007-2008.. In actuality I think I just asked too soon

Hunter Warfield collection re: apartment eviction in 2008.. Despite several FDCPA violations, CRAs won't remove and no lawyer wants to touch it

Down 6 points to 682 Presumably bc my UTL is up

have you looked into any balance transfer deals any of your cards might offer? You could transfer some balances to zero out cards and consolidate. I don't know what your balances/CLs look like, but you could even call the banks and tell them you want to do a BT but would need a CLI to do so.. Navy Fed tripled my CL when I proposed that to them. I have a LendingClub loan and have no complaints.. But fyi if you apply for a consolidation or CC refinancing loan through them, they only count your CCs that are over 1 year old. For example, you ask for $10k, $5k of that being in accounts over 1 year and $5k in accounts younger. They will deny your loan in final processing. In that case, they would only be able to loan you $5k. But other than that its painless- a welcome change from the BS of dealing with banks IMO

bump