Credit card woes

[Greyd]

Which is worse for your credit ratings? 1) Consolidate to pay off credit card debt 2) Make late payments repeatedly.
I have some CC debt-not too much , but it will take time for me to pay and at times I have money to do so and at times I dont.

Thanks

 

[Ameesh]

making late payments is worse

 

[vi edit]

Late payments.

...paging RossMan for confirmation

 

[dirtboy]

Consolidating doesn't hurt your credit. Having too much revolving debt can. Just make sure you close your account after the transfer has gone through. Late payments are bad.

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: vi_edit
Late payments.

...paging RossMan for confirmation

How is consolidating bad? Unless I didn't fully understand your question.

If at all possible you should NEVER EVER have a late payment of 30 days or later. If it's 29 or less days late that only shows with the cc themself and rarely goes onto the 3 major credit bureau's. If you have a $1,000 cc your minimum payment due covers interest only around $20, if you cannot pay $20 a month per $1,000 cc debt then you need to seriously stop using your cc, cut them up, and change your lifestyle (I know I know I shouldn't be the one giving this speech since I have a hard enough time managing my own mess of credit but at least I have titanium credit only problem is I have TOO MUCH credit but zero late payments).

Late payments over 30 days old = BAD, even if you have just 1.

 

[Turin39789]

im trying to do the same thing, but im having trouble finding a good card i can get that will fit all of my debt. I have about 900 dollars on an AMEx and about 1400 on a discover. trouble is neither has a limit higher than 1500. so while i am struggling to pay them off its been hard to get someone to increase my credit with anything less than 95 percent interest

 

[FeathersMcGraw]

Originally posted by: dirtboy
Consolidating doesn't hurt your credit. Having too much revolving debt can. Just make sure you close your account after the transfer has gone through. Late payments are bad.

I've heard that some agencies don't take kindly if there are a number of recent inquiries against your credit history, so if the consolidation process involves that (or the application for a new credit card) there might be some repurcussions from those. But late payments are easily the greater of the two evils.

 

[MrDingleDangle]

late payments = bad...i had one and i still get asked about it when moving into a new apartment and it wasnt even totally my fault...i mean i know i should have been more careful, but what happed was i moved and for a good 6 months i called the cc company every month to change my address but i never was getting the bills...most of the time i remembered, but one 2 month period i was really busy and slipped my mine...sux

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: FeathersMcGraw

Originally posted by: dirtboy
Consolidating doesn't hurt your credit. Having too much revolving debt can. Just make sure you close your account after the transfer has gone through. Late payments are bad.

I've heard that some agencies don't take kindly if there are a number of recent inquiries against your credit history, so if the consolidation process involves that (or the application for a new credit card) there might be some repurcussions from those. But late payments are easily the greater of the two evils.

You beat me to it. Everytime you apply for credit whether you're responding to a pre-approved cc offer (which you CAN be declined for), apply for a new cc or request a cc increase each of those occurences counts as a credit inquiry which lowers your credit score gradually. If you've been declined for cc increases then I highly doubt you'd be approved for a debt consolidation loan. Getting a debt consolidation loan sounds like a dream come true doesn't it?

A debt consolidation loan is usually under $10,000 and is a personal installment loan which has several advantages. All your existing cc's are paid off to zero and usually closed so that wipes out 3-4 cc payments a month. It's an simple interest installment loan rather than a revolving line of credit which usually has a high APR (14-19%), most personal loans are around 11-15%. The idea of paying off all your cc's and having 1 payment a month is very appealing but unfortunately these types of loans are hard to qualify for if you have limited credit history and income. I remember when I was 20 applying for a debt consolidation loan for only $1,500 from BOFA they declined me because of lack of credit history and income, that was such a let down

I'm not saying you would be declined for a debt consolidation loan but just in case you may ask a family member or friend if they are willing to co-sign with you to increase your chances of being approved.

 

[Greyd]

One more thing I wanted to add/ask about is the fact that after consolidating to pay of my cards. I was wondering how hard it would be to apply for a new CC? I haven't used my CC's in 1.5 yrs and have just been trying to pay them off. I definately learned my lesson in terms of that. But I would like to have a CC available later and wodnered how hard it owuld be to get one after consolidating.

Thanks

Dennis

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: Greyd
One more thing I wanted to add/ask about is the fact that after consolidating to pay of my cards. I was wondering how hard it would be to apply for a new CC? I haven't used my CC's in 1.5 yrs and have just been trying to pay them off. I definately learned my lesson in terms of that. But I would like to have a CC available later and wodnered how hard it owuld be to get one after consolidating.

Thanks

Dennis

It would probably be difficult because in order to get a debt consolidation loan you need to apply for a new loan which is yet another friggin' credit inquiry (you gotta stop those inquiries!). Plus I'm not sure what your DSR (debt to service ratio) would be with a debt consolidation loan and a new cc.

If you are disciplined you CAN get a cc after getting a debt consolidation loan but it's going to take T I M E, good credit doesn't happen overnight.

I would stop applying for any new cc's, do not accept any pre-approved offers and don't ask for any credit card increases for at least 12 months after applying for your new debt consolidation loan. Within 12 months all your credit inquiries should have fallen off and you'll have 12 proven months of payments to bolster your credit score.

Before you do anything else I would strongly recommend ordering a copy of your credit report, I would order Score Power for $12.95 from EquiFax.com which is one of the 3 major credit bureau's so you're getting it directly from the source. Why should you order this? Because you'll see your credit history AND get your FICO credit score to see how you rank. I'm hoping your cc balances are low and you don't have a bazillion credit inquiries.

 

[Viper GTS]

Originally posted by: Turin39789
im trying to do the same thing, but im having trouble finding a good card i can get that will fit all of my debt. I have about 900 dollars on an AMEx and about 1400 on a discover. trouble is neither has a limit higher than 1500. so while i am struggling to pay them off its been hard to get someone to increase my credit with anything less than 95 percent interest

If you're struggling to pay them off, credit line increases are the last thing you need.

The minimum payment on $2,300 is what, <$50? If you can't make that reliably, you have no business getting more credit.

Viper GTS

 

[The Stigenator]

i need a job.. I am making my payments.. but not in the nicest way sinec i am getting low on funds..

I wish I had a job to do what I regularly do with my bills - pay them in full..

 

[StageLeft]

I don't care if you have to push crack rocks or cash advance from your credit card and then put money back right in to make a payment - DO NOT make any late payments. NEVER! good credit is not that hard to get as long as you don't do things like that, but once you miss a payment it will be sitting on there for a long time. Do your utmost to avoid this.