Thursday, January 8, 2009

My APR's

Jim over at mydebtblog asked me what my APR's are. I thought it would be a good thing to share with you guys.


Capital one - 10.8%

BOA Line of credit - 21.99% (grr!)

BOA Credit Card - 0% till I think April, then 14.99%

Merrill Lynch - 3.99%

Us Bank - 14.75% that is in place to be reduced to 9.99%

Grad loan - 6.8%

Undgrad Laon - 2.88%


There you have it. As you can see, Bank of America is out of control and they refused to lower the rate. Matter of fact, when I called them to lower it, they reduced my credit line (they did the same of Merrill Lynch too since they own that) and effectively destroyed my credit score. They left about $60 on each account even though I had about $5000 in unused credit. I'll save that for another post because it makes me MAD.

Luckily I had a purchase check for my capital one account with no fees. It's not 0% but at the current purchase rate which is about 10% lower than the Boa. I'll take it. Just unhappy I couldn't transfer the whole thing out. The thing is, If i get a new credit card, I don't think I can do a balance transfer because it's a line of credit not a credit card. Let me know if you guys no any different! I really don't want another card but at this point, my credit score can take as many hits as it likes.

It was 672 on dec 2nd and I think it dropped to 657 shortly after the Bank of America Fiasco. Not sure what it is but I'll be checking on it every now and then.

4 comments:

  1. Why are you worried about your credit score? The score has more to do with how much debt you have and how well you manage it. I'd rather not have to worry about making sure my debt is in the right categories and I'm frequently getting new credit just to make it a nice number. Looks like your BoA line of credit is costing you around $220 in interest per month. I'm all about motivation when it comes to paying off debt (probably why I put student loans on the backburner) so I pay them smallest balance first. A great little tool I use to play with card balances, APR and payments is over at http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

    I see I misread your EF and it's actually around 2k which is great. When it comes to balance transfers you can transfer the money to your checking account, then do a payoff on the account you're 'transferring' is one way around it. I transferred a balance from a citi card to another citi card, at 0% for 12 months no fees and that's how I did it. There is a Chase offer for 15 months I considered moving my BoA balance (they cut my credit line too) but it's a lot of work to make the right payments to clear it before the 0% expires. Reason I say this is those 0% offers don't charge you the regular interest rate as long as you pay it off in the time period. If you don't, they roll it into the balance later and then you don't get the benefit of 0% because you're back paying from the start. As long as you keep in mind shifting the debt around doesn't pay it off, only doing crazy stuff like throwing massive payments at it will.

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  2. Eeek! That sucks. Have you been calling in to lower your APR last month or this month? I called one up yesterday and the guy was adamant on not lowering it. I'm just wondering if it's an ongoing thing, or if I just called at the wrong time... :(

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  3. Why not apply for some 0% interest cards and get rid of all that monthly interest!? Madison over my My Dollar Plan always keeps a running list of 0% interest cards. Believe me you would rather pay that interest toward the principal! Good luck!

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  4. BTW, ask your credit card if they tack on the back interest. I was afraid of that too, but it has not been an issue for me and I have five credit cards with 0% interest right now. It IS good to be aware that some credit cards do tack on the interest, but ask for your own piece of mind.

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Hit me with some tough love