Should I consider transferring the balance on my credit cards?
I have three credit cards, one with 600 dollars, one with 1100 dollars and one with 800 dollars. The 600 dollar card is at its limit and I was considering tranferring that to the 800 dollar card that ha a higher limit, (1800). Will this help my credit score? The 800 dollar card has a lower interest rate than the 600 dollar card too, but I know there is a fee for balance transfers, so will I save money with a balance transfer?
Tags: Balance, Cards, consider, Credit, Should, transferring
It’s not going to effect you score because you will still be over 30% of your limit on the $1,800.00 card.
If the rate is better on the higher limit card and the savings will offset the transfer fee, then go for it.
You really should work on getting all of your cards below 30% of your limit. Your score is taking a hit because of this.
Instead of transferring the balances and playing with this mess, just pay them off and cut them up. Don’t worry about your credit score. Debt free living is so much better.
I think that transferring won’t fix the problem.
I suggest you to start a plan of payments on a bi-weekly basis for your credit cards. Only paying more than the minimum payment will get you to a stable position with a good credit score.
Making a plan it is easy, it is just a matter of will; for example, if you get paid 2 times a month, then schedule automatic payments every payday.
Tighten up the belt for at least 3 months by making automatic payments every payday, and you will see the balances drop down considerably and you won’t need to transfer debt to another credit card.
Dear Fuzzy,
You have some things mixed up. You are a little “fuzzy” in what you need to do.
Your credit score is a combined score involving all of your credit cards as a group. There will be no effect on your credit score if you transfer from one account to another.
Whether or not you will save money in transferring your balances is dependent not only upon what you interest charge is involved on both cards but also how much you will be charges as a transfer fee. You should find out the rated for both and then do the math.
You are interested in improving your credit score. Let’s confine ourselves just to the credit card portion. Your credit score is based to a certain extent not only upon prompt payment but on the percentage of how much credit you have and how much has been used. If you are serious about improving your credit score you should not max out your cards but reduce the amount of money that you have as a balance on your combined account. I would do it not by transfer but by paying off he cards beginning with the highest interest rate first.