Pay the statement balance in full every month before the due date.

Guess they shut off OPs internets?

Hasn't responded at all yet...

Yeah that would be my suggestion if you can find no fee balamce transfer too.

I am not sure it is a good idea to all your balances before the statement date. The balance on the statement date is the amount reported. If you paid all of your cards before the closing date, it would look like you never used them. Your credit score reflects how you pay your bills and this would look like you never had a bill to pay. I think you should pay the balance as agreed. I like to pay my CC within a day or so of the statement being produced. I use my banks bill pay service and get electronic bills.

I said pay the statement balance before the DUE DATE.

Even if you did pay before statement closing your utilization would still show up in most cases. It doesnt really matter what balances you have as long as they are paid on time and have been established long. You also want under 30% or preferably under 10% utilization.

The credit score question has been amswered.
So how do we pay that sucker down asap?
I have had over $45k on cards at one time. Now I have $1,100 because I bought a tool last night. Was zero.

What did you spend the $20k on? Anything you can sell? (The only reason I ask. Can anything be converted back to cash?)
Go ahead and take the appreciation on your Mosins?
Beanie Babies?
Safe queens?

If you let it get to $20k, there may be a cash flow problem. Sometimes assets can be the key. I once sold a boat and paid off alot of debt. I once sold a classic car I never drove and paid cash for a roof.

Some of us have >$50k in guns and $50k in ammo. In a pinch, someone could sell $10k of each and not be unarmed. You fall somewhere on that continuum. You are an arfcommer.

In the absence of fungible assets, you'll have to trade your time or talents.

Good luck. Been there, done that.

I know people firmly in the middle class that finance all their holiday spending with credit cards then float it until they get their tax refund.....it's insanity to me.

Don’t pay for 3-4 months. Call and explain you’re about to file bankruptcy. Then offer to pay 10% for them to discharge the rest. Some won’t settle for less than 20%. I just saved you $17k.

Pay them all off at once.  Who cares what your credit score is?  It’s a measure how good a debt slave you are.  Fuck that, be debt free.

Pay them off in full.

Highest interest rate one first. Min payments on others.

20k in rolling CC  debt is around $4,000/yr in interest alone.

PAY IT OFF.

Taft, please improve the first post.  

What is the time frame over which you will pay them off?

List each one (1-4) with approximate balance and card interest rate.

Don't close out any credit cards.

On a strictly financial side focusing on the one with the highest rate 1st should save you the most money.

There is some benefit if you have a low balance but a high payment, hitting that one first because it will free up extra cash to throw at the other card(s).

In this day you can also look at transferring your balance to a 0% card for about 3% one time fee for up to 18 months a lot of time.  That is a lot cheaper than 24% (which is 2% per month). And allows you to get a lot of principal reduction.

$20k while a lot is not insurmountable.  Even if you go the route of getting a loan from someone like light stream which would be around 10-11% you are still far ahead of the typical card rate.

The important part as you know is to start tackling the issue.  Good luck!

Good on you OP for wanting to be financially disciplined.  As others have said, tackle the highest balance first then the next highest and etc.  Once you get them all paid off then never carry a balance again.


I haven’t carried a non 0% APR balance in at least 20 years.  I use my Amex to pay for everything possible and then i use the points for travel and other bennies. You can do it. It takes time, will and discipline.

This.

Get rid of them. The hammer is gonna fall on credit markets. People are tapped out.

Fighting to keep a credit score high can be frustrating after you kill off your consumer debt.  The important thing is to identify a couple cards that you'll keep for years, as long as they don't charge an annual fee.  Pay the balance each month, cancel the rest of your cards, and your score will be gud enuf.  

It depends.  It depends on the cards you keep, and how long your average age of credit is on them, and it depends on what else is on your credit report.

Closing accounts is not as damaging as people say it is - as closed accounts still age and stay on your report, however closing does impact average age of open accounts, and impacts the number of revolving credit lines (having only one card open is not a beneficial to a score as 3-4 lines).  
In my opinion, there is no reason to close the credit cards you do not plan to use.  Many will get closed by the lender as they age, due to inactivity.

Choose A.

You're credit score doesn't really matter when you're bleeding money to their interest rates.

Damn!!!

Some serious credit card hate!

OP - did you come into money and wish to pay lump sum and just want to know what's the best strategy?   Or will you start paying these off over time?

Do you need a high credit score ASAP to get some new line of credit?

You really didnt provide enough details.

If you question is "Is it better to maintain a balance on a card, versus paying it in full each month for your credit score?" the answer is pay in full.  There is NO REASON EVER to pay interest on a credit card.  This does not help your credit score at all.  

Credit card utilization is often misunderstood.  Utilization is simply the reported balance on the card as a ratio of the total available credit limit.  If the CL is $10,000 and you have a $5,000 balance reported on your statement, you have 50% utilization.

When your credit card statement processes, your balance on the card is reported to the CRA (Credit Reporting Agencies).  This shows your utilization.  As long as you pay the credit card before the due date (in full) then you pay no interest.  

You might hear "it is best to keep utilization under 30%".  This is somewhat true.  In actually there are several "steps" where utilization can impact your score.  Keeping it under 5% yields a higher score than keeping it under 30%.  Anything over 30-40% and it really starts to impact your score.  

Some scoring models look at BOTH your individual card utilization, AND your cumulative utilization across all revolving credit lines.  So just having a single card with high util can tank a score even when your overall util is respectable.  This is why having high limits is good, and why you should not heavily utilize cards with low limits.

Lastly, there is a model that yields the highest credit score, if you are gaming.  It is known as All Zero Except One.  This is where you ensure all credit cards report a zero balance each month, EXCEPT a single card, and that card is kept under 5%.  But that only matters if you are gaming for score.  The difference between that score, and having 5% util on each card is pretty minimal.

There IS a penalty for all cards reporting zero balance.  This happens when people pay off ALL their cards in full BEFORE the STATEMENT date.  When the statement date reports zero balance, this is reported to the CRA.  If all revolving credit lines report a zero balance in a given month, the scoring models are not as favorable as when at least one card shows a small balance.

The good thing about utilization is that it has no memory (FICO8 scoring model).  As soon as you fix it, your credit score recovers immediately (upon the next statement reporting cycle to the CRA's.)

Can you explain? Even if the markets take a shit, why would you get rid of your credit lines?

I treat my cards in a few ways. Our personal card is our "oh fuck, it's an emergency and we need to pay for something right now" line. 20k with just a swipe if needed. I also use that card to book our vacation each year and while we are on it and pay it off as soon as the expenses post.

My business card is what I use for most online transactions, or anything where I need to keep a card on file with a supplier or vendor.

That way if it gets compromised it's not my money and the bank can sort it out. I've also used it as a temporary line of credit when I've tapped out my bank LOC and haven't gotten paid on a job yet, that's rare, but it has happened.

In any scenario, they get paid down to zero ASAP.

pay them off fully, then use one or two to get all of your puchases, gas, food, etc and then pay the one or two off completely at the end of the month.

Transfer the balance to a CC that has a 0% interest on BT for 12 to 16 months. Pay it off before the 0% interest period ends. If the balance is not paid off, and it still high enough that you will need more time, then transfer to a different card with the 0% interest offer. The transfer fee is usually less than what the interest would be if you left it on the other card. I have a couple of those that are only used for BTs. They are not carried, not loaded into digital wallets, and never used for anything else. Those balances will be paid off by the end of this year.

I have one card that all of my regular household bills go on, and it gets paid in full every month, for the airline miles. I have another card that gives $0.05 off per gallon of gas. It is only used for gas, and paid off every month.

I wanted to do that with a large balance 0% card I had , but the outstanding debt on that card limited the credit limit on the new card and wouldn’t cover the balance transfer amount. I have a good credit score.

I wanted to do that with a large balance 0% card I had , but the outstanding debt on that card limited the credit limit on the new card and wouldn’t cover the balance transfer amount. I have a good credit score.

No shit.  Reading the op has me feeling like

If you have 20k  in credit card debt and are able to pay it off, forget your credit score.  Pay that mess off and quit throwing money away every month.

Same. No balance carried and I only use on large purchases to get rewards. I pay the balance off within a few days after purchase.

I dont buy in to all these debt to credit ratio's and being picky with how you do things.


I got my first credit card when I was in college. I used it for everything, gas, groceries, books.
I paid it off in full every week when everything posted.
I still do the same thing today.

It became force of habbit. I dont spend money I dont have and I pay off everything in full every week.
Some people say that's over the top but my credit score is 847 so I must be doing something right.

You mean 17k minus your taxable income rate right?  Any discharge comes in the way taxable income in the IRS's eyes, OP might be trading one debtor for another.

0% credit card balance transfer?  Another terrible idea, OP already has a history of credit card debt, this is just going to encourage more credit card use because "hey, free money, i'll just go buy this and that first and THEN i'll handle my business".

Ignore the people telling you to close cards after you pay them off. It’s horrible advice that really will impact your credit score. Pay it off and leave it open. If you want to close cards just make sure it’s not your oldest card that you’re closing. Also, don’t close too many that it brings your available credit way down.

Find a method that works for you - and go forth and do it.

I remember way back when when I did not have a large emergency fund....so I decided to not pay the card off in full.  I
ended up having a larger than expected auto repair bill and I really did not want to tap my emergency fund.  

My method I would pay off all new items during the billing cycle and between 10 - 30% of the old charges...Looking at the
interest part of the bill re-enforced my thoughts about increasing the emergency fund.

This payment method for me allowed me to pay off the bill in less than 4 months while still increasing the emergency fund.  

If you are too temped to charge stuff on that paid off card...close the card.  If not; take it out of the carry wallet and
keep it put up.  If it is a card I want to keep; I might consider making new purchases on that card and fully pay
it off each month.

Pay them all off in full, starting with the one with the highest interest rate.  Keep the two with the highest/oldest credit line open if you’re worried about your credit rating.  Close the others if you think you might be tempted to use them.

This is the way.

We use our cards to make certain purchases online, or to pay insurance, utilities, and the like. But, that card is paid off before a payment is due.

Fortunately we don't have a mortgage. We cash flowed our home when we built it, and were able to pay cash for our vehicles.

Do CC still offer zero percent interest? I pay my cards off each month and don’t even look at the balance transfer offers. From what I remember, they can be a good deal IF you follow the terms to the letter. Be a day late on one payment and you are charged interest from the first day.

And then you only pay income tax on what was written off by them. Those 1099s get ya in the end!

I recently paid off one which i use the most I will use it and pay it but do leave a small balance on it like 200 bucks

The other i been paying off slowly and put it in drawer it had a lower balance and decided to use it recently and damn company cut my limit by 600 bucks!They have done this before when i use it a little so may call them see what they say if they dont raise it back up i will pay it off and thell them fuck off,

Don’t forget the credit score you will take by playing this game. Why would anyone want to make a loan to someone who can’t manage their money. Hint, they will charge you higher rates to compensate for the risk.

Even if the fee is 3% he's going to save $$$ over the course of 12-18 months. The key is paying it down to $0 by the time the promotional period ends.

Having fully paid-off cards that previously held a balance is good. But payment history is also good.

You could pay off 3 as fast as possible, and then pay down the last one with some regular (on-time) monthly payments.

To maximize credit score:
Pay before the due date every month, at least the minimum payment
High ratio of available credit to utilized credit.

If you have 20k in credit card debt, but it's for a business that generates 30k in revenue a month, that's not a serious issue.

I would pay off most of the balance on each card, but not pay them off totally. Leave a small balance on each of the 4, with the highest balance on the lowest APR card, and the lowest balance on the highest APR card... Keep about 20% of your total limit on the four cards. I don't mind a little credit myself.

Transfer as much as you can, pay the minimum on the 0% interest card, and pay off the remainder on the 1st card as fast as you can. Then, use that payment amount to pay off the 0% interest card. In that scenario, you are trying to minimize the amount of interest that you will have to pay.

Yes. The trick is to set up an automatic payment (assuming that you have regular, steady income) so that you never miss a day.

Yes, many of them do. It's a promotional period.

@taft

Some questions for you...