Seeking Balance Transfers but received low CL

[Igor]

Hi All - I am new here.

 

We are looking for help on how we can move our high APR CCs to 0% with a BT to new cards.

 

We have the following CCs with CL info. We are looking to do BTs to 0%. We opened a couple cards but got low CL, asked for a higher CL but were denied. We opened up US Bank cards to do BTs but got CL of $500 - 600. I tried asking US Bank to increase our CL to no avail. I thought we can leverage our open CL's on other CC, meaning I can lower the CL on a Citi card with 0% util and they would give me more but the CCC said it would not help.

 

One thing I noticed, we had been saying we earn $45k but we did not realize we earn $80k...

 

We are not sure what to do next.

 

I assume we should move around some CL or balances to bring the CS back up, then open a new card or raise the balance on a card with a BT offer, and do the BT.

 

I will look into getting the CR's to review if anything is not supposed to be there.

 

Meanwhile, these are the cards for me and DW.

ME, FICO 726	owe	CL	CL utiliz.	APR %	rate until	Notes	FICO 726 (was 750 in Nov)
Bank of A	0	17200	0%
Chase Freedom	9550	13000	73%	15.24
Citi AA MileUp	0	13200	0%
Citi Double Cash	3600	3900	92%	0	6/16/2022	New
DW - FICO 689
Bank of A	4030	6900	58%	18.99
Bank of A	4200	6000	70%	22.99		0% until Feb 15, 2021
Citi Double Cash	2430	2500	97%	0	7/3/2022	New
(Citi AA MileUp	0	19700	0%			Closed)

 

 

What can I make more clear?

TIA for all advice!

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[CTSoxFan]

2 hours ago, Igor said:

One thing I noticed, we had been saying we earn $45k but we did not realize we earn $80k...

 

I am struggling with this.  How can you not know what your income level is.  I can see if you said $45k vs. $50k, but that is 80% more.

 

I think the first thing you need to do before developing a plan is figure out a household budget.  Look at all the inflows (income) and outflows (expenses).  Categorize the expenses between necessity (rent/mortgage, groceries, insurance, etc) and luxury (cable/eating out,streaming services).  See how much you have left after paying off the necessities then come up with a plan to attack the debt.  You can't figure out where to go if you don't know where you are, and if you don't know how much your income is you have no clue where you are...

 

Looking for a BT card isn't necessarily a bad idea, but you have already opened up a couple of cards that didn't meet your needs, opening new accounts isn't going to help that.  I would come up with a plan to knock the balances down a bit then maybe look for a card.

 

If you are eligible for Navy Federal CU, they tend to be a bit more lenient on their approvals and offer a card with 0% for 12 months with no fee...might be a good option.

[hdporter]

3 hours ago, Igor said:

Hi All - I am new here.

 

We are looking for help on how we can move our high APR CCs to 0% with a BT to new cards.

 

We have the following CCs with CL info. We are looking to do BTs to 0%. We opened a couple cards but got low CL, asked for a higher CL but were denied. We opened up US Bank cards to do BTs but got CL of $500 - 600. I tried asking US Bank to increase our CL to no avail. I thought we can leverage our open CL's on other CC, meaning I can lower the CL on a Citi card with 0% util and they would give me more but the CCC said it would not help.

 

 

First, a general observation:  It's critical to get your reported balances to under 50% of their credit lines over time.  Excess utilization on even one card can make other creditors gun shy in extending credit.

 

That's offered as something to keep foremost in your mind as you target credit goals going forward.  Once you've achieved this target, it's something to keep an eye on and should one of your balances threaten to exceed 50% util, you want to be proactive in taking steps to avoid that.

 

Your list of open cards has one sterling balance transfer candidate:  Bank of America ($17.2k):

Bank of America is an issuer that when you're approved for a new card, is open to re-allocation of a prior card CL to the new account to achieve a satisfactory limit.

 

BA has a very attractive balance transfer card inasmuch as it features a 0% bt rate (3% fee) as well as a 0% purchase rate.  This means that you can safely and economically use the card while repaying a transfer balance.   Active use of the such a card typically will help in qualifying for generous CL increases at 6 mo intervals.  You just want to be disciplined in paying new charges in full AND aggressively paying down the transfer so that (ideally) you have paid the account to a "0" balance at the end of the 12-mo promotional rate period.

 

The card is BA Cash Rewards.  This card has a reasonable rewards structure, which is particularly attractive in paying 3% cb on a purchase category of your choice (I have the card and selected "online purchases", which is a very nice complement to other bonus cashback cards in my possession).

 

As suggested, once you're approved for the card, you can call and request that a portion of your existing BA credit limit be transferred to this new card.  You can then follow through upon receipt of the card to arrange your 0% bt.

[Igor]

Thanks @CTSoxFan @hdporter so much! BH We are making around $81k. We read Dave Ramsey and are working on our debt snowball @PsychDoc 

 

Will check out Navy Federal. I once had Harvard Alumni from Barclays, one of the best cards when it was available IMHO.

 

I see that Barclays is offering 15 months 0% APR BT with 3% BT Fee. But it seems like the answer to my question is the BA card and leverage the CL we have there. Thanks a million!

[Igor]

For Navy Federal, seems only relevant for Active Duty or relatives etc. I am not certain i am eligible.

[DebtFreeIn04]

7 hours ago, Igor said:

For Navy Federal, seems only relevant for Active Duty or relatives etc. I am not certain i am eligible.

I served 4 years Air Force 30 years ago they let me join in November.  it's veterans also.

Edited February 8, 2021 by DebtFreeIn04
Clarify

[CTSoxFan]

18 hours ago, Igor said:

Thanks @CTSoxFan @hdporter so much! BH We are making around $81k. We read Dave Ramsey and are working on our debt snowball @PsychDoc 

 

Will check out Navy Federal. I once had Harvard Alumni from Barclays, one of the best cards when it was available IMHO.

 

I see that Barclays is offering 15 months 0% APR BT with 3% BT Fee. But it seems like the answer to my question is the BA card and leverage the CL we have there. Thanks a million!

Please stop this.  95% of his advice is garbage.  The concept of debt snowball is fine, as long as you are prioritizing the highest interest rate first.

[centex]

3 hours ago, CTSoxFan said:

Please stop this.  95% of his advice is garbage.  The concept of debt snowball is fine, as long as you are prioritizing the highest interest rate first.

Concur.  Snowball notion is absolutely a fine way to go when you HAVE to do payments.  But you want to pay as little interest as possible...and that means focusing on the highest interest accounts.  Nothing precludes tossing something extra at the other accounts in the interim though...since most cards seem to be the interest plus 1%, even an extra $25 or $30 each month can make a difference until that account becomes the focus of the snowball payment.

[hdporter]

2 hours ago, centex said:

Concur.  Snowball notion is absolutely a fine way to go when you HAVE to do payments.  But you want to pay as little interest as possible...and that means focusing on the highest interest accounts.  Nothing precludes tossing something extra at the other accounts in the interim though...since most cards seem to be the interest plus 1%, even an extra $25 or $30 each month can make a difference until that account becomes the focus of the snowball payment.

 

I just sounded my concern in another thread about "snowballing".  You never want to consistently pay the minimum payment on any revolving account; doing so suggests that you're cash constrained and risks rejection of CLI requests and potential CLD.  Your advice to goose up the payment amount by just $25 is exceedingly sound. 

 

(I personally strove for payments of at least 3% of the outstanding balance, even if that reduced my payment to my highest rate balance ... that's definitely advice that's at the discretion of the recipient to adopt.)

Edited February 9, 2021 by hdporter

[Igor]

8 hours ago, hdporter said:

 

I just sounded my concern in another thread about "snowballing".  You never want to consistently pay the minimum payment on any revolving account; doing so suggests that you're cash constrained and risks rejection of CLI requests and potential CLD.  Your advice to goose up the payment amount by just $25 is exceedingly sound. 

 

(I personally strove for payments of at least 3% of the outstanding balance, even if that reduced my payment to my highest rate balance ... that's definitely advice that's at the discretion of the recipient to adopt.)

Thanks! Great ideas! The main value of the Debt Snowball while ignoring interest rates is to get you into the money saving money, as opposed to feeling the whole thing is too hard, helpless, and keep spending borrowed money, increasing debt, which would be much worse than paying off the smallest debt with a lower interest rate.

 

That being said, i think we do pay much more than the minimum amount. I will double check. Thanks!!

21 hours ago, DebtFreeIn04 said:

I served 4 years Air Force 30 years ago they let me join in November.  it's veterans also.

Awesome! Thank you, all active duty and veterans for your service!!

[distantarray]

On 2/8/2021 at 1:51 PM, Igor said:

For Navy Federal, seems only relevant for Active Duty or relatives etc. I am not certain i am eligible.

there's also a way to get in if you're a contributing member of a household and can be sponsered in by a current member

[CTSoxFan]

On 2/9/2021 at 12:51 PM, Igor said:

Thanks! Great ideas! The main value of the Debt Snowball while ignoring interest rates is to get you into the money saving money, as opposed to feeling the whole thing is too hard, helpless, and keep spending borrowed money, increasing debt, which would be much worse than paying off the smallest debt with a lower interest rate.

 

That being said, i think we do pay much more than the minimum amount. I will double check. Thanks!!

Awesome! Thank you, all active duty and veterans for your service!!

And it is for moronic "nuggets" like this that I suggested you stop listening to him.  You goal should be to pay as little interest as possible.  That is what should make you feel good.  Not that you paid off a smaller loan at a lower interest rate so you can feel a sense of accomplishment.  You want an accomplishment, add up all the interest you paid my attacking the highest rate first and compare that to if you had tried to make yourself "feel good".  Seeing how much less you paid will make you feel a whole helluva lot better.

 

Money can save more money by putting it towards balances owed rather than interest charges.

 

I do concur with Centex and HD about paying more than the minimum if you can, to try to avoid adverse actions like CLDs (although there is no guarantee).

[Igor]

Thanks @CTSoxFan I like the way of looking at it that way, it is harder to calculate but if calculated, can help us feel good, and save money!

[CTSoxFan]

23 hours ago, Igor said:

Thanks @CTSoxFan I like the way of looking at it that way, it is harder to calculate but if calculated, can help us feel good, and save money!

 

It is actually not that hard to calculate using a spreadsheet.  It won't give you an exact number but will be close.  Basically set up the sheet in 4 columns.   Do this for each card

 

Starting balance                 Payment                                   Interest Charge                                Next Statement Balance

(statement balance)        (minus your payment)            (plus interest - use APR%/12                balance-payment+interest

                                                                                              it'll be close enough)                   (this becomes next month start)

 

Once you have created it, do one version where you pay just above the minimum on all the cards except the highest APR, which gets the rest of your budget for CC payments.  Then do a second version where you pay off the lowest card first.  Add the interest charges and see which wins.

 

The other thing I don't like about the pay off smaller balances first is that many times people reduce their overall payments because the minimum obligation goes down, which again will cause more interest expense and longer to pay off.

[Zanshiro]

I'll just add -- This can help you target starting points to attack:

 

https://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?/topic/357257-cc-spreadsheet-for-open-office/

 

Fill it in and watch with wonder.  On to the other goal you mentioned, however, the two "New" cards being in the 90%+ range pretty much preclude you from getting another BT offer or many offers of good loans right now.  IMO, a better strat would've been to apply for cards/loans simultaneously (Before those new ones reported) and whatever you couldn't get on a cheap BT to pay off before expiration, take a personal loan to at least limit the cost of the interest over time.  You can always use BT offers later if you so desire, but right now, it looks difficult to get either, and paying highest interest down first looks to be the best play.

Edited March 1, 2021 by Zanshiro