Originally Posted by
JGordon
The 0% were promo rates on 2 different cards and were expiring, so I had to pay them off. About $5k of it was on American Express, and after I paid it off they dropped my limit from $8k to $4k. Stupid Amex. The Citibank card didn't change anything, though.
As a nice side benefit, my credit score last December was 707, and when I checked it last night it had risen to 776 even though $3800 of the CC debt was still showing on the report. Should make that mortgage easier to come by next year.
h:
Good deal. Even Suze Orman is recommending making minimum payments on CC's. The reason being is that as soon as you pay them down, they will reduce your limit or close your card. Thus, you'll have paid down the debt with cash and be left without any credit.
A side effect of that also is that it can hurt your credit score. When you're available credit goes down suddenly, it can increase your utilization percentage drastically.
Glad it worked out best for you!