What to pay off first

david_bedford_2

Hey guys

Need alittle advice, i am currently trying to build my credit score and in doing so and being in a manageable position i need to cut some of the Store Cards and Credit Cards off.

My Debt to Credit Ratio is too high and this has an impact on mainstream cards.

Current Debts

Vanquis = Limit £1500 with £30 left
Cap One = Limit £500 with £10 left
Aqua = Limit £250 with £20 left
Barclay Card - Limit £1200 with £299 left
Very = Limit £600 with a £300 left
Freemans = Limit £150 with £40 left
JD williams = Limit £200 with £80 left
Littlewoods = Limit £500 with £144 left

As you can see this makes up at least 40% of my utilisation of available credit, my aim is to only have 1 credit card (Barclay Card) and 0 store cards.

The credit card is a mainstream card but is the lowest of interest 29.9% and 27 months 0% balance transfers.

I know what i need to do but it's just getting there in the right order.

My current plan is to utilise the Barclay Card as it offers the lowest interest rate, so start off by paying the JD Williams/ Freemans accounts.

Then get rid of the Aqua Card, having the card since June they will not offer a limit increase this will actually impact my score as it's such a low credit limit and really not worth while.

Now it comes to the Sharks Vanquis!, at the moment the interest is about £40 - £50 a month and really want this shot.

I check my credit record monthly and its getting better, Atm i have 20-30% chance getting an M&S Credit Card or Amex Card.

I dont want to risk a credit search for a 5k BT card for them to say no. Realistically this would clear all my CC and have one easy manageable credit repayment.

Tixy

Its difficult to comment without knowing the APRs on all the debts and how much you can afford a month.

When you say an amount left on a card - I first assumed this was the debt on the card, but re-reading do you mean that is the unused credit on the card, e.g. that on vanquis you owe £1470.

Have you looked at the snowball calculator? http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

david_bedford_2

Tixy wrote: »

Its difficult to comment without knowing the APRs on all the debts and how much you can afford a month.

When you say an amount left on a card - I first assumed this was the debt on the card, but re-reading do you mean that is the unused credit on the card, e.g. that on vanquis you owe £1470.

Have you looked at the snowball calculator? http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

Correct,

Vanquis = 39.9%
Cap One = 35.9%
Aqua = 34.9%

As you can see, my Apr has dropped and credit score has gone up but too much credit can have major impacts. My concern is applying for example Amex BT all 3 cards and they just laugh at me. currently i got accepted for a Barclay Card platinum which is better than the initial with the initial limit of 1200.