Pay off the lowest first Capital One. Then move to Sephora with left over and add the $25 minimum to it
ExternalSelf1337 on
I’d pay off the $311 one completely and use the rest on the $241 one, then pay the rest of that one down ASAP. That will give you $55 a month additional to pay toward the Discover card going forward.
Spend as little as humanly possible and pour all of your money into paying those off.
Mako312 on
Cap 1. Put minimum into Sephora
Sephora. Put both minimums into Discover
Discover. Pay minimum with both and save up to lump sum pay off.
PayIllustrious2930 on
Use your $500 to wipe out Sephora first, nearly clear Capital One next, then focus all payments on Discover for the fastest and cheapest debt payoff.
jayhat on
Get rid of those cards! Having multiple credit cards at that age is a recipe for mistakes and habits that will haunt you for MANY MANY years to come. Just stop using them. It’s so much easier if you can break the habit now.
Ok-Confidence6423 on
it also is good the percentage of the credit limit is being used. You want to keep it under 30% of the credit limit as often as possible. So if any of them are close to being maxed put the 500 there. Otherwise, pay off the smallest ones and put those future monthly amounts towards the others until they are all paid down.
VolFan85 on
So right now, you have $107 minimum payments. Figure out what you can afford for the next 12 months. Make it say $125 or $150 if you can. Pay off the Capital one first. Put the other $260 on the Sephora. Month one, take the min you are now paying on Cap One and add it to Sephora. That pays it off. Month 2 start paying at least $107 ($125 or $150 if you can) on the last one. You will pay it off in a year or so.
Captn_Clutch on
The mathematically correct way is to hit the highest interest rate first. Doesn’t matter if that means taking a chunk out of the big balance card, or closing one and a half of the lower balance cards. Highest percent rate first will save you the most dollars. For future reference, that is going to be more valuable information to give people to help you in the future than balances, interest represented as dollars, or minimums. Sure we could theoretically do the math and figure out your interest rates from the information provided, but that’s a lot of work for other people to do that’s already been done for you. Lead with interest rates in the future. Good luck!
Aspergerss on
Make sure you keep covering at least the minimum payments on all of them. Most people will say to prioritize paying of the highest interest rates first, me included, so start with sephora, then discover then capital one.
SuzeCB on
Conventional wisdom as I’ve heard it is to pay minimums on all except the one with the highest interest – that one gets as much as you can possibly pay until it’s gone, and then take that amount plus the minimum you were paying to the next on the list, on down the line.
I did mine differently. I paid the minimum on all except the one I owed the least on. That’s the one I paid as much as I could until it was gone, and then worked my way up.
It’s quite satisfying to get each one paid off, and this will happen faster. Each time give you a little “lift”, and strengthens your resolve to continue.
Just don’t close the accounts. Unused credit helps your credit rating.
NotSoFiveByFive on
Based on the monthly interest, I’m calculating roughly:
32.9% APR on Sephora – priority 1
24.9% APR on Discover – priority 3
25.1% APR on Capital One – priority 2
Pay the minimums on all 3 every month, and put every spare dollar on Sephora until it is completely paid off. Don’t forget to check it the next month to pay off any interest that shows up on the next statement the month after you pay it off; this is due to the billing cycle and will be the last of the interest and then it’s really paid off.
Once Sephora is paid off, continue to pay the minimum on Discover and put every spare dollar (which is now +$30/mo since you paid off Sephora) on Capital One until it’s paid off, and again check back the next month to finish off the trailing interest.
That just leaves Discover, so put every spare dollar toward paying that one off, and then come back to pay off the trailing interest as well.
Be sure you don’t use any of these cards at all for anything until they’ve been 100% paid off for at least a couple months. While you carry a balance from month to month, you don’t have a grace period, so any new charge will accrue interest from the day you make the charge. It takes some time for that grace period to be reinstated after paying the full balance and the trailing interest.
11 Comments
Pay off the lowest first Capital One. Then move to Sephora with left over and add the $25 minimum to it
I’d pay off the $311 one completely and use the rest on the $241 one, then pay the rest of that one down ASAP. That will give you $55 a month additional to pay toward the Discover card going forward.
Spend as little as humanly possible and pour all of your money into paying those off.
Cap 1. Put minimum into Sephora
Sephora. Put both minimums into Discover
Discover. Pay minimum with both and save up to lump sum pay off.
Use your $500 to wipe out Sephora first, nearly clear Capital One next, then focus all payments on Discover for the fastest and cheapest debt payoff.
Get rid of those cards! Having multiple credit cards at that age is a recipe for mistakes and habits that will haunt you for MANY MANY years to come. Just stop using them. It’s so much easier if you can break the habit now.
it also is good the percentage of the credit limit is being used. You want to keep it under 30% of the credit limit as often as possible. So if any of them are close to being maxed put the 500 there. Otherwise, pay off the smallest ones and put those future monthly amounts towards the others until they are all paid down.
So right now, you have $107 minimum payments. Figure out what you can afford for the next 12 months. Make it say $125 or $150 if you can. Pay off the Capital one first. Put the other $260 on the Sephora. Month one, take the min you are now paying on Cap One and add it to Sephora. That pays it off. Month 2 start paying at least $107 ($125 or $150 if you can) on the last one. You will pay it off in a year or so.
The mathematically correct way is to hit the highest interest rate first. Doesn’t matter if that means taking a chunk out of the big balance card, or closing one and a half of the lower balance cards. Highest percent rate first will save you the most dollars. For future reference, that is going to be more valuable information to give people to help you in the future than balances, interest represented as dollars, or minimums. Sure we could theoretically do the math and figure out your interest rates from the information provided, but that’s a lot of work for other people to do that’s already been done for you. Lead with interest rates in the future. Good luck!
Make sure you keep covering at least the minimum payments on all of them. Most people will say to prioritize paying of the highest interest rates first, me included, so start with sephora, then discover then capital one.
Conventional wisdom as I’ve heard it is to pay minimums on all except the one with the highest interest – that one gets as much as you can possibly pay until it’s gone, and then take that amount plus the minimum you were paying to the next on the list, on down the line.
I did mine differently. I paid the minimum on all except the one I owed the least on. That’s the one I paid as much as I could until it was gone, and then worked my way up.
It’s quite satisfying to get each one paid off, and this will happen faster. Each time give you a little “lift”, and strengthens your resolve to continue.
Just don’t close the accounts. Unused credit helps your credit rating.
Based on the monthly interest, I’m calculating roughly:
32.9% APR on Sephora – priority 1
24.9% APR on Discover – priority 3
25.1% APR on Capital One – priority 2
Pay the minimums on all 3 every month, and put every spare dollar on Sephora until it is completely paid off. Don’t forget to check it the next month to pay off any interest that shows up on the next statement the month after you pay it off; this is due to the billing cycle and will be the last of the interest and then it’s really paid off.
Once Sephora is paid off, continue to pay the minimum on Discover and put every spare dollar (which is now +$30/mo since you paid off Sephora) on Capital One until it’s paid off, and again check back the next month to finish off the trailing interest.
That just leaves Discover, so put every spare dollar toward paying that one off, and then come back to pay off the trailing interest as well.
Be sure you don’t use any of these cards at all for anything until they’ve been 100% paid off for at least a couple months. While you carry a balance from month to month, you don’t have a grace period, so any new charge will accrue interest from the day you make the charge. It takes some time for that grace period to be reinstated after paying the full balance and the trailing interest.