Which credit card debt should I pay first?

First of all, I want everyone to know that I know I should not carry a balance on my credit cards at all, so let%26#039;s just get that out of the way. I have about $1,200 to pay towards my credit card debt and would like to know which cards I should focus paying first to best improve my credit score. I have heard you should pay the one with the highest APR first, or pay all down to below 30% of used credit, but I just want to know which will improve my score the most so that I can factor that in when making my decision.

Here%26#039;s what I got:

Credit Card 1: $450 balance; Credit Limit of $500 (APR 14%)

Credit Card 2: $480 balance; Credit Limit of $500 (16%)

Credit Card 3: $1,100 balance; Credit Limit of $1,200 (21%)

I could pay off C.C. #1 and #2 completely, or pay off C.C. #3 completely and pay the other ones about $100 to pay them down, or, should I just pay some to each one? Psycologically, I would feel I accomplished more by paying at least one off completely. What do you think?

Which credit card debt should I pay first?

There are 2 schools of thought. One says that you pay off the one with the highest interest rate. This is the more traditional approach because that is the card that is costing you the most money in interest. Then you would have more money to pay each month on the other two smaller amounts.

The other school of thought says to pay off the two smaller ones, but still pay the same amount you were spending on CC payments to the 3rd one. Example, if you were paying $50 on CC 1, $50 on CC 2, and $75 on CC 3, then pay off CC 1 and CC 2, and put $175 on CC 3 every month.

Of course, you could still pay off CC 3 and put $125 on CC 2 and $50 on CC 1, then once CC 2 is paid off, put $175 on CC 1. It wouldn%26#039;t take you long to be debt free at this rate.

Which credit card debt should I pay first?

I think you should pay of #%26#039;s 1%26amp;2.

If you have anything left over for them put alittle into #3.

Which credit card debt should I pay first?

Pay down the card with the highest interest rate, in this case CC 3. Put the extra $100 to CC B.

Which credit card debt should I pay first?

Don%26#039;t pay them. The government can%26#039;t do anything to you.

Which credit card debt should I pay first?

i think you should pay the credit card first because if you don%26#039;t you Will end up with debt and they Will have to cancel your card but debt is better then credit cards because you can only spend with you used and you don%26#039;t have to worry about going over the you balance

Which credit card debt should I pay first?

Pay off the damned 21%. Close that account.

Then use that old payment to apply to 16%.

BUT, be sure you are paying more than minimum on the other two, even if you split the additional payments.

Which credit card debt should I pay first?

First of all, forget your credit score for a minute, that shouldn%26#039;t be affected unless you have been in default for quite some time.

I must admit I don%26#039;t know how credit cards work over in the States as well as I know them here in the UK, but ver here, I recommend the following.

IMHO, look at the card that is costing you the most money i.e the highest interest rate. The sooner you pay that off, the quicker you%26#039;ll be able to pay the others. I recommend making the minimum payment the carrier will allow on cards 1 and 2, and paying as much as you can afford on card 3.

This is a good cycle, because as the balance of card three reduces, so willl the interest charges, allowing you to increase payments steadily, until all 3 cards are payed off.

Which credit card debt should I pay first?

I would pay off #1 and make as large a payment as possible on 2%26amp;3...

Then pay off #2 and payment

then #3

That is not what would improve your credit score though....

To improve credit score, you would make twice the minimum payment on each one, two weeks before due date , without missing a payment, until they were paid off....

Credit score looks for some debt, and consistant payment.....