HELP! PLEASE! ?Best Credit Card to Transfer my High Balances on Others?

[tuxedoo]

Hello Out There!
I have high balances on three cards. Needless to say, I've long since stopped spending! I would like to consolidate these balances on to one card, ASAP! Any Ideas? Thank You SO MUCH!

[wesboag]

consolidate them with a line of credit instead of another credit card. The rate should be much lower. This is assuming you have enough credit to open a L.O.C. at a decent rate.

[tuxedoo]

Hi, and thanks for the advice, but the bank says I owe too much, and in order to get a larger l.o.c., I need to get my balances down. Makes no sense, but the numbers are too high. Any other thoughts?

[wesboag]

If your credit is not good it will be difficult for you to get a lower fee credit card that makes sense to consolidate your other cards with. What interest rate are you paying on your cards now and how much do you owe on each?

[Piro21]

How much do you owe, and on what cards? I was in a similar situation a year and a half ago to the tune of about 10k, and I can say it's going to take you a while, but you'll get out of it. Eliminate the smallest balance first (quicker that way) so you have one less minimum payment to make, then roll that money into the next one up. Transfer to low-rate cards if you can, even though they may charge a fee. We need more info to really help you though.

[tigger03]

If the mbna 1.99% "for life" card is still out there, that would be your best bet. Of course, you'd have to go through the process of getting approved in the first place ...

[tuxedoo]

Hi All,
I surely appreciate your advice. My rate on each of the three, is 24.9%. It was 19%, but I missed a payment, twice this year, so all three raised their rates. I got caught up with the payments, but even so, I'm paying a fortune every month! Individually, I owe $9800, $4000, and $5400.
Approx. 30% of this debt is due to irresponsible spending a couple of years ago, the rest is due to home repairs and improvements, and fighting a prolonged Family legal battle. At least I didn't lose the war, but the battle cost me plenty in legal fees!
My DSR is just too tight, and I was hoping that perhaps there is a card that I can transfer at least one, if not two, balances to, to consolidate those, at a lower rate.
BTW, breaking my mortgage to cover this is not an option, as my partner refuses to have his name associated with a higher mortgage, which is at Prime right now, and if I change it, I will pay Prime plus 1.5 or even 2% more. The way I look at it, it's a far sight better than the payments I'm making to the Card Companies right now, and I'm the one that pays for everything.
So! Now that you have that info. I'm reluctant to reveal any more info.
I hope you all continue to brainstorm and let me know your thoughts, other than "What a braindead idiot ditz!"
I learned the hard way, that buying lavish gifts for your adult children and helping them out of financial jams doesn't mean they'll love you more, or even think about paying you back!
I wish that I had listened to Kevin O'Leary ( Dragon's Den ) earlier in my life.

[tng11]

Missing payments = bad for your credit score

And what is the utilization percentage on each of those 3 cards? If they are more than 70% then your credit score is going to be so bad that banks will be unlikely to give you a line of credit. Forget about being approved for any MBNA low interest balance transfers.

You can try to ask the bank for a consolidation loan too- they would rather you pay it off than default because of the high interest rates.

You mentioned that you have a mortgage- how much equity do you have in your home? As there is collateral, you might be able to get a HELOC (if not from a bank, from a subprime lender) and you will pay a lot less interest.

Other than that, you should cut up all the cards and start on a strict cash-based budget regime.