Originally Posted by
Joe1690
In my opinion, to make an informed decision, you need to review several key pieces of information:
1) how much do you plan to put towards your balance each month? (the minimum balance due, a fixed amount monthly, or the minimum payment plus some additional extra payments at fixed schedules, or the minimum payment plus some additional extra payments at random times?)
2) Who is the current card issuer where you carry the balance. Banks will not let you complete a balance transfer from one of their cards to another card they also maintain, so for instance if your current balance is on a Chase card then that precludes you from completing a balance transfer to any other Chase card. It works the same way with all banks, Bank of America, Citi, Wells Fargo, Capital One, Barclays, etc. (This doesn't mean that you can complete manufactured spend on another card issued by the same issuer as your current card (Chase to Chase for instance) with a 0% purchase APR and use that to pay down your card with a balance. However, this does involve more work, time, gas, and risk.
Once you understand your expected payment schedule and verify that the cards you have promotional offers on are not issued by the same bank as the card you are trying to payoff, then you can use the calculators to make a more informed decision. However, remember it is important to make an apples to apples comparison to make the correct informed decision. As such, if for example you are comparing a payment of $100 monthly on the 19% APR card with the 0% card with 3% transaction fee, it is important to make sure that the payments are equal ($100.00). Otherwise, the information presented will not provide a proper means for comparison.
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Thank you for your specific references in your posting.
The $3500 in round number balance is from a credit union card opened in my DH's name only. It was a BT from another account that I think had matured after the initial 0% interest rate. We were already paying uncomfortable interest.
After my DH started steady work, I didn't have enough time to cover all bases with shoes about to drop so I used whatever was out there to extend some balances. Considering we had not had any major home repairs since home purchase for 7 years, home repairs suddenly shouted for attention (broken hot water heater, a wind blown roof at the flash point that caused leaking in the garage, a back door AND frame installed incorrectly since 2006 that had been patched when it rained but could no longer be ignored) costing almost $3K. That amount was not from this balance but in addition to be paid out in check or another credit card.
To your question about how much to be paid, well, BEST case scenario would be 12 months at 4% APR, I guess $285.00 a month. If I had a 0% with a longer term (15 months, let's say), I could lessen to around $245.00 a month.
My credit score would hurt due to utilization but my DH's would be improved (as I would not close the CL which is $5K) and that would be good because we are hoping his overseas job is complete by then and we will move to an area where he will work same company, just in the US. He will take a hefty pay cut. We will move and he will need good credit to rent a house in the new location. Hopefully his signatory and credit would be sufficient without me.