For the last two semesters I had to put my school on credit card. My current blance is about $5800 on credit card, And I payed about $500 a month on them. ITs also across 4 credit cards. I was wodnering could I take a loan to pay them off.... I dont have a clue about how the loan process works...... I have to charge about $300 each month on the card to.... So I am only paying off about $200 each month.

Any advice will do.

 

call up each CC and find out the lowest APR each one will give you, then consolidate.


better yet, be on the look out for offers either from existing CCs or new ones that offer very low fixed (3.9/4.9%) for the lifetime of the transfer, or 0% for a year out. try to settle on one that doesn't hit you with transfer fees, and then consolidate.

 

I will give my cc a call tommorow and see waht they say abotu that.

 

I've read in a lot of places that consolidating credit card balances is a bad thing because it increases the ratio of balance/credit limit which is a key factor in determining your credit score. The higher the ratio, the worse it is for your credit. Bascially, It's good to try to keep your balances on your credit cards under anywhere between 25%-50% of what your total credit limit is on the card. This is based on what i've read off the net and suggesstions from some of the credit bureaus like equifax, transunion, and experian.

I too was going to do this, but after reading this information I opted to not bother with it and simply pay off my existing cards.

As for the loan, I have no clue as to the reprecussions or benefits of doing so would be.

you may want to check out

http://www.myfico.com

I don't know if this is any good but may help you since your in florida:

https://secure.cccsfl.org/

 

^^^ What I mean by "I too was going to do this..." was I was thinking about applying for a new credit card with a lower interest rate.

THe thought of a loan also crossed my mind but I decided against that as well because in my situation analyzing my spending/income and rebudgeting helped me the most and that's why I opted not to do any of these, in addition to the negative effects they may have on my credit report.