Credit card debt, more out of control than I thought.

[KuJoe]

So yesterday my fiancee and I went over our finances and current debt, savings, and what-not. So I've worked out a plan to have all my credit card debts completely paid off in ~18 months. I always had the mentality that it doesn't matter how long it takes, as long as it gets done before I start my life. Well now I'm getting married in December and next step is to buy a house, then have kids... so this is where my life starts I guess. Now for my questions...

I currently have 2 credit cards that I have to worry about. 1 has a pretty high APR, 14%... it also has my highest balance/limit on it. My 2nd card only has ~$3k on it and is still on the 0% APR intro deal, but for how long I don't know.

What I want to do is find a way to consolidate both cards into 1 lower APR solution. I've seen that some people take out low interest personal loans from their banks (my credit union offers between 6-15%) and uses that to pay off their credit cards. Is this generally a good idea? Another option is I can stick with the plan I setup and just pay a could thousand in interest, which isn't that big of a deal. I was looking around for credit cards that offer the 1 year 0% APR on balance transfers and hoping to pick up 2-3 of them and spread out my balances that way. I know, to many credit cards = bad for credit, but is the loss of points worth saving the money I'd pay in interest? What would you do?

Another reason why it doesn't bother me as much as it probably should is because this time next year I plan on being in a career and living much better off than I am now, but I'm only 22, so mistakes have been made early. Thanks for your insight! :D

(Oh, and my credit is perfect, never a late payment since I was 18.)

[John]

balance x-fer sounds like your best bet. Don't be a sucker and pay all that interest.

[Young,Fablous,&Broke]

Ive heard that juggling balnaces around to different cards hurts scores?

[emilye84]

so this is where my life starts I guess.



Isn't this a scary moment??

Anyways, my friend has a lot of debt, do those debt consolidation places work or...what else should he do? Sorry sort of off topic.....

Congrats on getting married!

[SSpiro]

+1 for balance transfers. Has saved me a ton of money.

Debt consolidation places are OK, but note that typically they show on your credit, and can be thought of worse then a BK by banks and creditors.

[moldyhands]

Ive heard that juggling balnaces around to different cards hurts scores?
has never hurt mine and i've probably done it 3 or 4 times in my life.

[Young,Fablous,&Broke]

that's not very much. If you were doing it once a month they would own your score...

[XtremeVision]

that's not very much. If you were doing it once a month they would own your score...

Not true. Nothing wrong with moving balances around as long as your cards are below 50% of the card limit. Moving/paying off things only helps your score as it looks like your paying things off.

[Iroc Joe]

a single balance transfer would probably be your best bet. Don't get 2 or 3 to spread it around, get one and concentrate on paying it down as quickly as possible. I think this would be the best way without killing your credit rating. Remember, that credit score is about the single biggest thing that will come into play when you o to purchase your first home!

the way I see it, do whatever you can to do some "damage control" on your credit score since it is going to be very important in the near future. :)

[KuJoe]

My credit score can't go down if I continue to pay it off right? I pay almost double the minimum on all of my cards, does the amount on the card itself matter when my credit score is involved? Should I move part of the balance from my cards to other cards?

[BUDO]

Ive heard that juggling balnaces around to different cards hurts scores?

I do it and my credit score is in the very high 700's so it can't be that bad if it does. I refuse to pay interest.

[BUDO]

My credit score can't go down if I continue to pay it off right? I pay almost double the minimum on all of my cards, does the amount on the card itself matter when my credit score is involved? Should I move part of the balance from my cards to other cards?

Like john said transfer the 2 balances on to a new credit card. Check with your bank they often offer 0% apr for 12 billing cycles. then Pay pay pay.

[nipster]

just move back in with your mom and eat ramen noodles for the rest of your life like vip18971

[KuJoe]

just move back in with your mom and eat ramen noodles for the rest of your life like vip18971

I wanted to do that when my lease is up but they already rented out my room. :( It would have only been for 3-4 months but that's $3-4k I could have put towards my credit card and then when I move back out it'd be more managable.