I would like to know the answer too. Anyone here know what is the answer. I'll do some investigation and get back to you if I got an answer. You should email the people at Discover Card as they probably could assist you..

She says she's following the snowball which actually says that you pay off the smallest balances first while paying (with Discover card) the minimum on everything else, then apply that payment towards paying (with Discover card) the larger balances..

It depends on what works for you...paying the highest APR first does not work mentally for everyone...

Why don't we have a hide function like Facebook......

Paying (with Discover card) OFF LOWER BALANCE CARDS IS FINE IF YOU WANT TO GO WITH A.

TOUCHY-FEELY.

BENEFIT.

Does.

TOUCHY-FEELY.

Save money???..

There is an ignore option under the users profile. George means well; he just doesn't express it in the most productive way all the time. You will either get used to it after a while or you will have to ignore it..

Have you tried finding another card/cards to BT to so you could keep saving money; otherwise paying (with Discover card) off the Discover credit card with the lowest balance, and so forth is the way the snowball effect works...

Thanks! Yeah I can't get used to it, it's been almost 6 years and still irks me...

"DR" STYLE SNOWBALL CRAP DOESN'T SAVE MONEY.

But then I am stupider than a retarded chimp..

I GET TO THE POINT.

I DON'T DO WISHY-WASHY..

I'm not quite sure I understand your breakdown of balances, but as a general comment I'd say if your current method is working I'd probably stick with it. Unless something drastically changes I'd try to not "fix" what isn't broken...

You also don't combine posts..

The point is you didn't answer her question...criticizing the way she pays bills is of no consequence to her question..

If she wants to do the snowball and lose a little money, that's her choice. I think it's obvious to all of us that you will pay more, and she obviously doesn't care. I don't think any amount of bolded, red text will change that..

This post has been edited by.

Kb1gra.

: 04 January 2010 - 01:24 PM..

I did the snowball. It was better for me than highest APR first because it helped me stay organized. I could also wager there are ways it might save money..

To answer the OP - if you are thinking of something like promo rate of 12 months at 3.9, and that it's going to stay that way after the law change I don't think that's accurate. If you had a promo rate with a defined period, you already agreed to the higher rate..

If you have a fixed for life kind of promo, it will stay fixed. In that case, watch out for creditors being able to adjust the minimum payment as it's not prohibited by the new rules. They can increase it to get you to pay back faster...

I am curious how you think in any way shape or form paying (with Discover card) the smallest balance method of snowball can save you any money at all..

I am not judging if people want to do it that way, whatever works for people to get out of the hole of debt is great in my opinion! Either way it takes dedication to stick to it and the outcome, EITHER WAY, is an amazing feeling...

29.24%.

I would have done everything possible to PIF like yesterday (or actually) last year.

I would even done a BT at.

18.99%.

And saved money (assuming no fee)..

This will be extremely hypothetical just to illustrate. Pretend I have 10 cards. For 9 of them have $99 balances and $100 limits. All at 10% APR with $10 min payments. The remaining card has a $3999 balance and a $4000 limit and a 30% APR..

Bad FICO probs, maxed cards, too many cards with balances. paying (with Discover card) the big balance saves most of APR if all else remains equal..

Now pretend I get a lump sum one time cash influx of $1000. All else being equal, most $ saved by paying (with Discover card) the high balance. But I wouldn't. I'd pay off the 9 cards that are maxed. Then I'd wait for it to report, then ask nicely for a CLI on the big card to lower the util..

The goal would be to find a way to BT the 30% apr to a lower one. If that's going to be a new card, it's not going to happen with 10 cards maxed...

I think your grasping at a situation that could happen around .0001% of the time..

But then you are relying on the one card to grant you a CLI. Odds are they probably already see you as over extended on their card, why would they trust you with more? Or maybe they will. But if you take all equal factors paying (with Discover card) the highest APR will save you $$$...

Getting a bit OT, but... My example was exaggerated, but similar situations can exist without the extremes. It can pay to think critically about your own situation and your goals and how to get there. Also the individual credit profile of the person involved matters - not everyone paying (with Discover card) down debt has terrible credit history. Flex that BT muscle when you can...

Right, even if in your senario you used a 4000 card 50% used at 29.9% with 10 small cards at lower interest but maxed, still works..

I'm a bit immune to having to decide which to pay 1st but can easily put myself in the situation and while my common sense says in the long term it's better to pay the highest interest 1st I can also see where freeing up smaller cards to 0 util from maxed has some serious benifit..

To the OP asking whether or not to change their strategy, I think it's definitely worth looking at though I wouldn't set anything in stone until you see what the total outcome of the upcoming deadline will be. They still have a bit of time to jack you around and/or change payment minimums..

I'm kindof against any set in stone system to pay down debt, I'd rather see you decide on a month by month basis where your money is best used. I'd urge you to look long term though...

The best thing about this, it greatly reduces the chance to end up accidentally late on one or more of those 9 cards you pay off. If you didn't go this route, you would have 9 cards maxed out, and 1 card with a $2999 balance... still bleek and depressing...

That probably answers my question best..

Just to clarify, yes I am snowballing, but instead of doing it from smallest balance first, I am attacking highest interest rate first - is there a different term for that? A couple of my credit cards have blended APRs right now. My average interest rate in these cases is about 15%. I am currently working on paying (with Discover card) down one such card. If I look at it closely, though, half of the balance is at the 29% rate I mentioned earlier (about $2500), the other half is at 4% for the life of the loan..

So it occurred to me that maybe I keep paying (with Discover card) on this card until the 29% rate is knocked out and then switch to the next card that has a blended APR. (25% on $1500 and 5% on $3000). Does that make sense? It's kind of the anti-feel good method, though, as those cards will not fully go away for quite some time (they'll be sitting there with a balance and a 5% APR while I pay down other cards with 9%-12% APRs) I'm just trying to figure out whether it makes sense to do it this way..

This post has been edited by.

Cristina47454.

: 04 January 2010 - 02:51 PM..

One of the reasons I personally prefer to use the lowest-balance-first snowball method is that it gives instant accomplishment. Yes, sorry to say, but some of us are imperfect and need positive reinforcement for some things in life. I don't consider that need a failure, either. Failure would be needing it and still failing to do it because of pride or stubbornness..

Anyway, the other reason I prefer it is it gets rid of some of the debt entirely and makes my life easier. Less bills to track, and all. It's not always all about dollars and cents... peace of mind has value as well...