I need some advice on how to clear my debt quicker. I’ve been struggling with it for the past two years, mostly because of bad financial choices. Right now, I owe about $49K between credit cards and loans.
Here’s a rough breakdown:
Loans:
Personal loan: $16,000
Student loans: $11,000
Credit Cards:
Card 1: $10,000
Card 2: $8,000
Card 3: $4,000
I make around $5,400 a month after taxes. Sometimes I earn more with overtime, but that’s the minimum.
I started my current job in August 2023, which is why my income is decent now.
Right now, I have about $12K in savings and expect to have around $18K-$20K by the end of the month because of special pay I’m getting for a short time.
The highest minimum payment is on my $16K personal loan. Do you think I should use my savings to pay it off first, then tackle the rest? Or should I focus on credit cards first since they have higher interest?
Ren said:
Interest is killing you. Why keep $20K in savings when you owe $22K on credit cards and another $16K in loans?
What’s the APR on the loans vs. credit cards?
I just got that savings recently because of a work bonus and incentives. I don’t think I’ll get that kind of money again anytime soon. Right now, I have $12K in savings.
Start with the highest interest debt first, which is probably your credit cards. Pay the minimums on everything else while focusing on one debt at a time.
Ask yourself—are you making more money on your savings than you’re losing on interest? If not, pay off the debt first. Keep a small emergency fund, maybe a couple thousand, and rebuild savings after the debt is gone. You’re not really ‘saving’ if you have high-interest debt.
By the end of the month, you’ll have around $18K. List your debts by interest rate and start with the highest one. That’s probably the credit cards. If so, you could pay off a huge chunk by the end of the month.
If you do that, by April 1, you could go from $49K in debt to just $19K. Big difference.
Stop using credit cards completely until the debt is gone. Once you’re debt-free, come back and ask how to use them wisely. For now, pay them off and leave them alone.
Live on what you earn. Spend as little as possible and throw everything extra at the debt. You could be out of debt within a year.
@Florian
The special pay is actually around $6K, so I’ll have about $18K total. Still, this is great advice. I was thinking about paying off the personal loan first, but now I’ll focus on the credit cards. I’ll freeze them so I’m not tempted to use them.
Florian said: @Cai
Ah, I misread and thought you had more coming in. My bad.
But yeah, highest interest first. Keep spending low, pay off as much as you can. And stick to using a debit card until you’re debt-free.
You didn’t mention your monthly expenses. You should take a hard look at them and cut back wherever possible. With $5,400 a month, you have room to make serious progress.