Hi, 26F, I'm looking to start tackling my debt, but I'm not sure where to begin.

I have a car loan of $15,000 with an APR of 4.92%, and my monthly payment is $469. I also have a balance transfer credit card with a balance of $7,100, which has a 0% APR until December 2025.

Currently, I have $2,000 in savings (clearly, I've made some poor financial decisions). I have around $850 leftover after each paycheck (2 paychecks per month) now that I’ve paid off other debt. Next month I will get a $2000 bonus, which I plan to use to pay off debt.

I’m eager to pay off my debt, but I'm uncertain about which to prioritize. Should I add more money to my savings first as this is considered my emergency fund or just start paying off debt right away?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I caved and finally consolidated my CCs (APR 17-24%) to Lending Club for 9%. Hoping to make progress faster now!

His credit score is tanked. In the 400s. We both work full time. The debt was from weddings purchases then he literally had a mental health crisis and stopped working for three months. We making roughly $60,000 a year together. Have two kids, and our mortgage is $1,400 a month. What’s our plan?

I tried applying for a personal loan to help me tackle my debt. I'd rather make one payment then all the small payments but I was denied. My score is in the low 500s. Any advice please? Thanks

Felt like an update was needed! About 20 days ago my monthly expenses were (for the sake of round numbers) at 2600. Now I got my expenses down to 2100.

Got rid of my 2024 Integra, which was a 585 payment and 30k loan, and moved into a 2020 honda fit lx, which is 300$ a month and a 17k loan. Knocked off 13k in one swoop, which felt nice. My insurance dropped ~60$ a month, and my gas costs as about 50$. Overall this move saved me around 500$. Honestly it may be even cheaper on gas the more I look at it, but its only estimated since I have only had it 10 days and did out of the norm holiday travel.

Still got 69k to pay off, but started 2024 with about 85k in debt, so I am hammering away big time. Planning to pay off the car in 2025, then tackle the student debts.

Can anyone make sense of Walmarts charging when it comes to their delivery service? I have multiple multiple charges, occurring for the same day and the same order can anyone else make sense of this?

Finally paid off my capital one credit card with no job and just selling things on eBay. I know it’s not a lot but just a few months ago I owed over 1000 to my family, klarna, and my credit card. Hope to see my credit score will also go up

American Pacific financial services Corp.(APFSC) has been a life saver for me the past 36 months. They have relationships with each of your creditors you will be paying back at new reduced simple fixed rate between 0-10% depending on the creditor. Check them out if you are looking for financial relief this new year!!

www.APFSC.org

Long story short, made some mistakes even tho I know better and I’ve started to fix it but with a new windfall of money that came in I wanted to disclose everything and ask for some advice.

Income :

W2 job : 4650 Self employed income : 3000 Rental income : 2500 Wife’s income : 1500 Sometimes from the self employed it has been more but 3k has been the recurring base for over a year now.

Debt : •Mortgage: 3030 ( currently 3600 cause of tax payments but will go back down after 4 payments )

•auto loans : 2021 Camry xse 29k balance 5% 2023 Honda civic type r 49k balance 5.99%

• CC

Navy federal Amex 7.5k 18%

Navy federal visa 10k 18%

Citi double cash 2.5 balance ( used as revolving for bills/daily ) 28.49%

Citi custom cash -6.1k 29.99%

Discover -7.5k balance 19.74%

Altura credit union -paid

Apple Card -paid

Chase flex -paid

Capital one -paid

I started paying these off already, at one point they were all maxed and we’ve made some progress but coming down to the heavy hitters, Wife income is low because she manages the business we just started, it’s only 4 months in and we have just barely made a gross income of 3000 for the month of November, not sure what net profit from that is yet, but we haven’t taken any due to wanting to reinvest it into the business. Along with that business it has left us with a need for a truck, nothing big, anything with a bed will due. Yes there is a mix of eating out and eating at home. We do still have our subscriptions but mainly because I didn’t think that would be the solution or make enough impact to matter. We did receive a windfall do 10k, along with paying off the debt I do want to try getting our roth’s maxed out for this year I know we have till April of 2025.

I know this was a lot, but thank you all that took the time to read and even more to those that take the time to help. Thank you god bless y’all

So I’ve been watching Caleb Hammer. In my mind I thought for what I make I’m not doing bad but after watching Caleb I just see that I’m doing way worse than I thought. I really enjoy when he breaks down peoples debt and creates their budget and tells them how long they will take to pay off debt when making sacrifices.

So I sat down and did the math for myself. The photo is the spreadsheet I came up with so I can actually see how I can attack my debt. What would you suggest to do with the information provided above in my spreadsheet budget. I want to pay off my debt faster than 30 years obviously. My savings is a HYSA which I don’t want to touch but I know I’ll have to just to speed up the process. The fun money is just a number but I know I can get it where I spend maybe $250 a month.

Some extra info:

My discover is 0% interest until December of 2025

My private loans are at 7%

My car loan is at 7% I bought it last February. I usually make more than the monthly payments on it

My federal loans are $0 monthly but it’s about 28k and have been like that for about a year now

My parking I don’t pay monthly but I probably could I just been looking for a new job to increase my income because of it.

I currently use rocket money to track my budget and it auto saves money for me without me noticing.

I also opened a Roth IRA about a month ago. I put $50 into it bi-weekly. I also have a 403(b) that has $4356.19 in it. I have it where it takes 3% out of my salary. I had it lower because HR at my company said we didn’t have matching contributions but our finance team says we do they just do it where you have to work at the company for 2 years then they’ll match but since I wasn’t at the matching 3% they might not match it. Then if I’m there for 5 years they’ll match it up to 5% but I’m assuming I’d have to contribute 5% of my salary for a few years before. The finance person didn’t make much sense when I asked but I changed it to 3% to see if they’ll start matching since November 7th was my 2 year mark at the company.

With all this info how would you approach this. I’m thinking snowball method just to get my car payment out the way then my credit card then student loans.

I am not in the worse situation with my debt but I am looking for ways to get out of the hole I’m in. I owe about 13k in debt (two credit cards, a loan and student loans. I have a job where I can work unlimited overtime but mentally I can only handle so much. I just spoke with National debt relief and the guy told me to stop paying the cards and personal loan. Then NDR contacts them and tells them you’re having hardship and they negotiate a lower payment. It seems like this isn’t the best option but it does put me on a pay off plan. Right now I’m paying over 250 in interest a month only making minimums so being on a plan doesn’t seem too bad.

However, I did see some people say I don’t need to do that and I can just do that myself if I want. I’ve also looked into 0% interest cards but it seems like a pipe dream. Every avenue I look down doesn’t seem like the best option and I wanted to see if there’s other options available. My plan before considering other options was to just make minimums and pay off one thing at a time but with my debts being split up I’m still paying alot of interest.

I get an annual bonus of $500, nothing major, but am planning to use all of it to pay down some credit card debt. I'm wondering if it is best to use all of it to pay down the highest balance (Card 1 below), or to split it amongst the credit cards I have. Please be nice, I clearly made some terrible financial choices when I was younger, and unfortunately recently, but I am trying to finally get a grip on things. Here is an outline of my cards, the balance vs. limit, and the interest rates:

• Card 1:
  • Balance: $933/$1000
  • APR: 27.74%
• Card 2:
  • Balance: $301/$350
  • APR: 29.99%
• Card 3:
  • Balance: $368/$400
  • APR: 28.74%
• Card 4:
  • Balance: $255/$300
  • APR: 29.49%
• Card 5:

  • Balance: $597/$650

  • APR: 28.74%

I know it's not pretty. I would really appreciate any insight on this. Thank you so much in advance.

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to share some progress on my financial journey. Last October 2024, I finally paid off my home credit loan, which I had been paying ₱3,400 monthly. I also managed to settle two GGives loans, which amounted to nearly ₱8,000 per month in payments.

While these are significant milestones, I still have ongoing loans with cooperatives. I'm currently exploring bank loan options to consolidate or manage my debts more effectively, but so far, most of my applications have been rejected.

Despite the setbacks, I'm staying hopeful and determined. I'm praying and working towards a debt-free life or at least significantly reduced financial obligations by next year. Here's to perseverance and better financial stability ahead!

Long time lurker. I bought my home in 2021. She's a super old house and between things breaking and having two kids, my wife and I have maxed out 2 of our credit cards. I tried early on to work on our debt by getting an auto loan against my car but the interest from the cards just ate all the progress we made chipping away at the debt.

Currently, I have a 540 credit score, 120-160k in equity, 30k in credit card debt, and 11k auto loan. I'm looking into different local credit unions but so far I can't find approval for a HELOC or even a debt consolidation loan. I'm making payments on the cards and haven't used them for 6 months but they're still maxed out from $300+ interest per month.

I'd appreciate any advice. I'm trying to come up with a plan but I'd lose money selling the house, I just got promoted at work and it made almost no change, and I'm about to start getting groceries for my family from food banks. Debt is crushing my family.

hey! I am getting a bonus for work in a few weeks. 10,000 before deductions. I need advice on what I should do with this money, I’ve never had this much at once in my life! My parents are very poor so I’ve struggled with finances. I have a lot of debt, about $5000 in credit card debt, a 10,000 bank loan. Also a car and student loans but not as pressing. What do you suggest i use for savings vs paying off these debts?

Please don’t bash me, I have learned a lot and am really trying to get control of my life as I’m entering my late 20’s, but could use all the advice I can get 🙏🏻 i am about 9k in CC debt and another 8k in debt of a personal loan. I was pretty much never taught anything about finances or credit cards from my parents, I definitely learned the hard way when I wrecked my credit in my early twenties. I moved states and didn’t have a job for a while and started drowning in all of my debt. I maxed out my cards and couldn’t even afford the minimums on a few of my cards. 3/4 cards have closed and were charged off, I have been making minimum payments on everything since which has been about 2 years now. My 2 chase CC’s have about 3800 + 1850 in total. The other is Apple for 2300, and the open one is a Venmo card with 1k limit. When I have extra money, I put a little bit extra towards my payments here and there, it is just tough living in this economy. I have had a consistent 9-5 for about a year now, and I don’t have much leftover at the end of each month due to all my payments adding up. I am thankfully about to receive a bonus from my job at the end of the year. I so desperately want to use at least 3-4k of this to put towards some of the debt and save the rest. I so badly to wipe my hands free of this and be done! I am open to all advice as I am not familiar with what the best thing to do here is. My credit score has slowly been building due to on time payments, but my utilization is super high around 90% because I only have one card open now with a limit of 1k. Do I call the charge off companies and try to negotiate a settlement for the 3 cards that are closed with this money? Is it better to pay my most expensive one off in full and apply the remaining extra to the others (snowball or avalanche effect)? Will it be make a difference to settle the debt as I have already suffered the effects of it impacting my credit score? Please help! I am open to all opinions. Thanks in advance ❤️

Please don’t bash me, I have learned a lot and am really trying to get control of my life as I’m entering my late 20’s, but could use all the advice I can get 🙏🏻 i am about 9k in CC debt and another 8k in debt of a personal loan. I was pretty much never taught anything about finances or credit cards from my parents, I definitely learned the hard way when I wrecked my credit in my early twenties. I moved states and didn’t have a job for a while and started drowning in all of my debt. I maxed out my cards and couldn’t even afford the minimums on a few of my cards. 3/4 cards have closed and were charged off, I have been making minimum payments on everything since which has been about 2 years now. My 2 chase CC’s have about 3800 + 1850 in total. The other is Apple for 2300, and the open one is a Venmo card with 1k limit. When I have extra money, I put a little bit extra towards my payments here and there, it is just tough living in this economy. I have had a consistent 9-5 for about a year now, and I don’t have much leftover at the end of each month due to all my payments adding up. I am thankfully about to receive a bonus from my job at the end of the year. I so desperately want to use at least 3-4k of this to put towards some of the debt and save the rest. I so badly to wipe my hands free of this and be done! I am open to all advice as I am not familiar with what the best thing to do here is. My credit score has slowly been building due to on time payments, but my utilization is super high around 90% because I only have one card open now with a limit of 1k. Do I call the charge off companies and try to negotiate a settlement for the 3 cards that are closed with this money? Is it better to pay my most expensive one off in full and apply the remaining extra to the others (snowball or avalanche effect)? Will it be make a difference to settle the debt as I have already suffered the effects of it impacting my credit score? Please help! I am open to all opinions. Thanks in advance ❤️

I have 6000 credit cards debt. I don’t have any job.Recently got my h1b approved and lost my job. For part time I am tutoring to Masters students. I am clueless to get out of this.

Im trying to decide whether I should go with a Debt Payoff Loan, a Debt Management Plan, or just doing it myself. Mainly I need to pay off my credit cards. Any advice or help is appreciated. I do NOT want to go the debt settlement route, as its sketchy and I may need to refinance my car.

Here's the numbers

Income after taxes ~ $3000 Monthly

CC Score - 635 and falling :(

Utilization ratio %40

Chase Freedom Unlimited: $2,829.52 - 28.24% APR

Sapphire Preferred : $8,002.50 - 22.49% APR

Amazon cc : ~ $2000 - APR not sure

Ford Auto Loan - $369 Monthly - 0.74% APR

Rent - $858

I never miss payments or am late, I just have a high utilization on my credit score, and its been tanking.

I feel like I have been tackling it by throwing extra money at it recently, as Ive gotten them both down from the max but I feel like it may be easier to do a management plan or a loan. I feel like im getting spread out.

Some loans Im looking at have these rates

~$500 monthly for $13000 at 21.99% APR and 29.9 Yearly APR -- Upgrade -3 years

~$463.42 for $13000 at 24% APR - Best egg - 3 years

Greeenpath Debt Management Plan

$348.10 - 10% APR - 5 years - Closed CC accounts

Let me know what options best may suit me, and if I would end up saving money by just going harder and paying it on my own. Thank you for reading

Posted previously about my debt repayment plan $36,000 in credit card debt with interest rates 27%-28%. I am paying ~800-900/month in just interest alone. I am getting a $10,000 (untaxed) retention bonus at the end of the year which I am going to attribute to two cards to have them fully paid off. I recently found an old roth IRA account that I forgot existed that has about $3,000 in it. I haven't been investing in this for years and on top of that all my extra money has been going to my debt to pay off. I made this account a few years back when I was making well over what I am making now which is around $96,000/year. Is it a good idea to withdraw from this Roth IRA account to pay off an additional card? I want to pay off this debt as fast as I can as the interest rates are just insane at this point. I also have a $6,000 401K from my preivous employer and a $12,000 401K from my first job --> Ideally would keep these two 401Ks or roll these both into my current employer's 401K program and won't touch these... or I can just withdraw and start fresh I am in my late 20's. Thoughts?

Hey all

Long story short i had a little over 25k in debt. probably isnt the largest amount of debt ever, but to me it was quite a huge hole to crawl out of. 5 years later and ive paid off the big debt. Now ive got a remaining $1600ish in credit card debt. This will be paid off in full on exactly december 31st (basically using a small bonus im getting from work as well as a large amount of my holiday pay to pay this one off).

After that ill be free!!!

Part of me wanted to celebrate by buying an arcade cabinet or a PSVR2. But i managed to talk myself out of that... for now.... Just wondering, now that im soon to be debt free can anyone give me tips on STAYING debt free? Im an impulse buyer and tend to spend a lotta money on shit i dont need and rarely use. Ive managed to dial it back a lot over the past month (also things like cooking at home is saving me a lot of money). But just wondering what else i can do to keep from falling back on old habits

Hey yall, just wanted to drop this lil tip, if you’re healthy and young you should definitely consider doing a clinical trials 🙏 I’m basically bouncing off the walls excited to cash my check because it’s going to completely wipe out $3k of credit card debt. I’ve never felt more close to my goals 😭🙏 I currently have about $16k, and for the last 2 years I’ve paid off about $7k, I really started taking my debt repayment serious last year, but of course life is expensive as hell in CA, but now that I’ve found out clinical trials exist I feel like I’ll basically be debt free by the end of 2025 or 2026.

I’m not sure what to do. I injured my back a few months ago and I didn’t have any money saved up so I borrowed from payday loans for the next 4 weeks to pay off my rent and expenses. I’ve never been smart with money and live paycheck to paycheck but I always made sure I had enough to get by. I didn’t realize how quickly the debt would accumulate. Fast forward to now and I’ve been borrowing from more and more lenders to pay off debt from other lenders because I didn’t have enough to pay them off and pay my rent/expenses. I wasn’t being completely stupid with my money but I didn’t realize how bad the situation is until recently. I’m now at the point where I just got paid and ended up with $0 in my accounts immediately after getting payed, and not having enough to pay off a couple of the loans. I do not have a credit card so I can’t spend money i don’t have. My rent is past due and I haven’t eaten in 4 days I don’t have anyone I can ask to borrow from im scared I might be in too deep now and will become homeless. I am going to get a second job but it might be too late now and I don’t know what the fuck to do. If anyone has any suggestions for what I can do I would appreciate it.

I'm trying to get a loan for debt consolidation (to settle 19k in cc debt), but I was denied for all of them.

To give a little context to my story: in March, I bought a house using the FHA program. A month later, all my credit card accounts (five) with Synchrony Bank were closed. I had around $25,000 in credit limits and about $2,000 used across the cards. I called Synchrony to understand why, and they said my debt-to-income ratio was high. Because of this, my credit utilization jumped to 92% (it was around 45% before Synchrony closed my accounts). I haven't missed any payments in the last seven years in my credit history.

Simple Path Financial is offering a non-credit-based consolidation option. This is a straight consolidation under Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rules, where they explained they negotiate directly with the banks, and I won’t be able to use the credit cards.

What’s your opinion on this?

Are there other options I should consider?

So I’ve been paying down my debt and I have some credit cards that were opened in the last year. one I just wasn’t paying attention at the dentist office and decided to open up a dental card and the other one is a Capital One card. I’ve now paid off the entirety of the balances, and I’m still working on increasing my credit score and being completely debt-free. Would it be a bad idea to close these two new cards since the rest of my cards I’ve had for more than 6+ years.

In theory it would help my credit right because the new accounts are closed and the average age of my credit will increase?

California recently passed a law that prohibits medical debt from being reported to credit agencies. Given this, for CA residents, what are the potential downsides of not paying medical debt?

Im currently staying at my older brother place with his wife and daughter.

I have my own bedroom - and I give him $260 each fortnight I get paid.

I dont eat their food. I buy takeaways etc.

I still have $8000 credit card debt, plus $30 K student loan debt ( currently it deducts about $100 off my pay).

I make $1800 a fortnight but no savings!

Times fly without me knowing, and I feel quite ashamed to be staying in my brother place.

I supposed he doesnt mine because he has a mortgage and tuition to pay and his wife only works part-time

The covid lockdown, and work from home (still do) got me interested in plant hobbies, rare books and anime/action figures.

Im just looking at my room full of collection that I amassed over the 3 years period, I feel disgusted in myself.

When I moved in to my brother place, I told myself that it will be temporary until i am finacially secure.

This place is not mine. Why on earth did I spend on hobbies when I know that one day I will need to move out?

I grew up in a very big family of 8 people sharing a house with 3 bed rooms and several bunk beds, living with grandma and aunty. Life was simple and happy back then.

Things have changed and things cant retun back to those simple easy lifestyle anymore.

I was looking through real estates and was wondering if I can afford to rent a 2 bedrroom apartment for the cost of $700 a week? I never rent before, and so worried about losing my job.

Ive been unemployed before, and ended up staying in my car until my brother found out about it and therefore took me in.

I dont want share accomodations with strangers - so please dont suggest that.