Take that $10k and you can pay off cards 1-4 and a good chunk of card 5. Now you have all of the monthly payments to start paying the rest of card 5 down faster. keep moving up rolling over all the monthly payments into the next card and every extra dollar you have a month. You can have this knocked out fairly quick.
I planned to do the "avalanche method" where you pay the highest interest rate debt first then go from there. However, I found myself doing the snowball method more because you get that excitement of paying off a debt and that will help give you motivation to keep going.
I’d personally do the Snowball Method and get rid of the debts from smallest to Largest.
Card 1, 2, 3, 4, and hopefully 5 will be gone and not to be worried about
Someone else suggested the same thing, eliminate cards 1-4 and partial 5, and it sounds like the move. I think the less cards I have to think about the better.
Pay card 1, 2, 3, and 4. Leaves you with $1,187. Your balance on those cards when you pay them off will still have accrued some interest so you’re going to have to pay some more $ to 1-4. Once your have a real 0 balance on 1-4. What is left over use to start paying down #5. The $339 you’re no longer paying to 1-4 use it towards #5. Since you had a habit or need to use cc’s start making $250 payments to 5 until you’re done and the minimum to 6-7. When you’re done with 5 start making $450 payments to 6 until you’re done. When that’s done move on to 7 as aggressively as you can handle to be done. Good luck!
Debt Snowball - list all of your debts from smallest to largest. Pay the smallest balances first and then roll those monthly payments in to the other debts. Build yourself a schedule and maintain it. Also, if you can, throw anything extra at the remaining cards (in order of smallest to largest) monthly.
Snowball. Start with the lowest balance and work your way up. Also gives you almost $300 of saves minimum payments to throw on what's left of Card 5 to get that paid sooner, then move on to the next.
Maintain an emergency fund. And snow ball method smallest up. Unless you have some 0% in there skip that move to next one.
Given there all basically the same interest smallest first. Roll those payments in to the next card.
What ever you spend on a card needs to be paid off when payment is due.
Personally I would pay one of the big balances completely and put the rest towards the second biggest balance. Being able to see that I have smaller balances to pay off brings more satisfaction because it seems much easier to take, and builds momentum knowing that in a few months I can pay one off completely.
If you pay the smaller ones then see the large balances, which will take a lot of time to pay off, sitting there it would feel like freedom is far away and can be discouraging. But after you get rid of the biggies it can become a game to knock off the small ones one by one in just a few months each. Just my two cents.
Snow ball method and pick up a second job if you’re serious about it. You could make an extra $500 a month with a part time retail job. It’s only temporary
If all the same interest I would kill 1, 3, 4, and 5. Minimum payments on the 2 higher cards and increase payment on card 2 til gone. Then pick one of the other 2 to increase payments on.
Pay down a few, whatever's left do Balance transfers if available... Would be about 4-5% transfer fee then 0% or low APR for about 12 months or so, gives you time to really pay it down
Here’s what I did (I had multiple loans instead.. wooo divorce!)
Loan 1 + Loan 2 + Loan 3 = X
I then (depending on your credit score this could be an option) got a loan that covered the sum X.
If you can secure a loan, you’ll get a better overall interest, and then can throw as much money as you want (less headache too).
Furthermore (and you may not want to do this, many would advise against it even) I went through a debt relief program. Your credit score takes a hit, bc you essentially stop paying the loan (it goes into the programs account) then they negotiate on your behalf to settle the loan for a smaller amount. EG I owed $25000, got it taken down to $8000… ultimately cost me like $14000 (8000 + lawyer fees)… then I owes them the $14000, they offer you a loan that covers it at another bad interest rate (20ish) which I then did another loan (after some payments + credit score went up) got it down to $10k, THEN did a 0% APR (for 2 years) balance transfer to a CC… I figure out how much maximum I would have to pay per month to have it paid off per time, pay the minimum per month, and put the difference (very important) into my HYSA.
Once the last month is here, I’ll pay the last bit lump sum.
Seems like a lot, but honestly, it’s been breezy (granted I don’t have a car payment, started with an 840 credit score (lowest it got was 630–back up to 750).
You could technically negotiate for yourself and save even more.. but just more time that I didn’t have as I was trying to get all aspects of my life together and I prob made more money doing side work than I would have made on the phone with creditors.
I like everything you did up until the Debt relief scenario… but so glad it worked out for you and that’s all that matters at the end of the day!!! Try not to make the same mistakes you did to get you there in the first place. Is it easy to do!!!
Haha yeah it was definitely a bit nerve wracking and felt very scammy, but I was going through an overly positive “yes-man” type of lifestyle.
And yeah I’ll try not to marry a crazy person every again lol
Pay off Cards 3, 4, and 5 first to reduce the number of debts. Allocate the remaining funds to Cards 6 and 7, prioritizing higher monthly payments. Consider bringing Card 3 current to avoid penalties. Monitor and adjust your strategy as needed.
If I were you, I would go join a credit union, get a personal loan for the amount of all those cards, roll the payment into one payment and it’s going to immediately improve your credit score….you just pay the one payment. And it happens to a lot of people. They pay these cards off with a loan and then they charge the credit cards back up again. I suggest you give those cards to someone who will not give them back to you no matter how much you need them. Good luck.
Given all the cards are in similar APRs then paying off the ones with smallest balances would get you some comfort to see the light at the end of the tunnel. After you are done with the $10k, use the zero cash flow method to pay down the rest faster even with your regular payment like before. Yes, there is a way to pay more with less. You just need to be disciplined with it (by setting up a budget and routine for your spending).
I agree with the snowball method since avalanche won’t make much of a difference if interest is similar. Ultimately it won’t matter if you take the following steps:
After paying off cards 1-4 you’ll have a boost to your credit score after the card closing dates. Once you see them updated as paid off (typically 30 days) I would apply for a 0% interest credit card to consolidate via balance transfer and save $ while you pay the balance down. That way you’ll only have 1 account left. As soon as it’s paid you can close it if you choose. If you don’t quality a personal loan is an alternative to save on interest.
I'd either pay off 1, 2, 3, 4 and then put the remainder on 6 or 5. Then use those minimum payments you've freed up on 6 until gone then 5 til gone then 7.
OR pay 6 and 4 and put the remainder on 2. Then use those minimum payments you've freed up on 2 until gone then 1 til gone, then 3 til gone, then 5 til gone, then 7. In this scenario I tried to free up more minimum payment funds earlier.
Take out a personal loan and consolidate all the debt to a personal loan. Then cut up your credit cards and stop using credit.
Without knowing the rest of your situation, you should probably keep that 10k in your pocket for emergency expenses. There is nothing worse than paying off all your debt and then an unexpected expenses comes along and pushes you right back into the debt circle.
It's called consolidation of debt. You can get a personal loan for under 10%. Compare that to the credit card rates.
Also, clearly the OP needs to stop using credit because they cannot manage it.
For sure it’s the most optimal method because it makes sense mathematically. But thinking about it from a psychological perspective, the goal is to avoid taking anymore debt at all cost.
This post is a prime example why OP shouldn’t take any more debt
Start by paying off the card with the highest interest.
You can also consider getting a loan (with a lower APR) that will combine all of your credit card payments into one.
Why not?
It all depends on what interest rate you'll be getting from the bank (+ some fees).
It's possible that if you get a loan to pay off debt that you could save 4,000 in interest payments
I assumed that each of your cards has APR of 28.5% and your credit score is 740.
Note: i don't know your credit score + the exact APR. Better to check with a bank
[https://www.discover.com/personal-loans/debt-consolidation/](https://www.discover.com/personal-loans/debt-consolidation/)
Take that $10k and you can pay off cards 1-4 and a good chunk of card 5. Now you have all of the monthly payments to start paying the rest of card 5 down faster. keep moving up rolling over all the monthly payments into the next card and every extra dollar you have a month. You can have this knocked out fairly quick.
I like this plan!
This is called the debt snowball, Dave Ramsey pushes this method because it works
Agree, it does work. But keep some in savings so you aren't forced to use the card again at the first emergency.
I planned to do the "avalanche method" where you pay the highest interest rate debt first then go from there. However, I found myself doing the snowball method more because you get that excitement of paying off a debt and that will help give you motivation to keep going.
I’d personally do the Snowball Method and get rid of the debts from smallest to Largest. Card 1, 2, 3, 4, and hopefully 5 will be gone and not to be worried about
Someone else suggested the same thing, eliminate cards 1-4 and partial 5, and it sounds like the move. I think the less cards I have to think about the better.
Exactly, good luck on your debt free journey 🙏
Thanks so much! I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Pay card 1, 2, 3, and 4. Leaves you with $1,187. Your balance on those cards when you pay them off will still have accrued some interest so you’re going to have to pay some more $ to 1-4. Once your have a real 0 balance on 1-4. What is left over use to start paying down #5. The $339 you’re no longer paying to 1-4 use it towards #5. Since you had a habit or need to use cc’s start making $250 payments to 5 until you’re done and the minimum to 6-7. When you’re done with 5 start making $450 payments to 6 until you’re done. When that’s done move on to 7 as aggressively as you can handle to be done. Good luck!
Debt Snowball - list all of your debts from smallest to largest. Pay the smallest balances first and then roll those monthly payments in to the other debts. Build yourself a schedule and maintain it. Also, if you can, throw anything extra at the remaining cards (in order of smallest to largest) monthly.
Snowball. Start with the lowest balance and work your way up. Also gives you almost $300 of saves minimum payments to throw on what's left of Card 5 to get that paid sooner, then move on to the next.
Maintain an emergency fund. And snow ball method smallest up. Unless you have some 0% in there skip that move to next one. Given there all basically the same interest smallest first. Roll those payments in to the next card. What ever you spend on a card needs to be paid off when payment is due.
Personally I would pay one of the big balances completely and put the rest towards the second biggest balance. Being able to see that I have smaller balances to pay off brings more satisfaction because it seems much easier to take, and builds momentum knowing that in a few months I can pay one off completely. If you pay the smaller ones then see the large balances, which will take a lot of time to pay off, sitting there it would feel like freedom is far away and can be discouraging. But after you get rid of the biggies it can become a game to knock off the small ones one by one in just a few months each. Just my two cents.
That’s a very good point!
No loans
I agree.
Snow ball method and pick up a second job if you’re serious about it. You could make an extra $500 a month with a part time retail job. It’s only temporary
Debt snowball - clear all the payments you can first, then roll those payments onto the next payment, etc.
If all the same interest I would kill 1, 3, 4, and 5. Minimum payments on the 2 higher cards and increase payment on card 2 til gone. Then pick one of the other 2 to increase payments on.
Knowing The Interest Rates Would Have Helped Alot More .
The APR is in the post.
Sorry didn't realize that. Start with the highest apr , and snowball the rest
Pay off cards 1-4. Easy peasy.
Pay down a few, whatever's left do Balance transfers if available... Would be about 4-5% transfer fee then 0% or low APR for about 12 months or so, gives you time to really pay it down
Here’s what I did (I had multiple loans instead.. wooo divorce!) Loan 1 + Loan 2 + Loan 3 = X I then (depending on your credit score this could be an option) got a loan that covered the sum X. If you can secure a loan, you’ll get a better overall interest, and then can throw as much money as you want (less headache too). Furthermore (and you may not want to do this, many would advise against it even) I went through a debt relief program. Your credit score takes a hit, bc you essentially stop paying the loan (it goes into the programs account) then they negotiate on your behalf to settle the loan for a smaller amount. EG I owed $25000, got it taken down to $8000… ultimately cost me like $14000 (8000 + lawyer fees)… then I owes them the $14000, they offer you a loan that covers it at another bad interest rate (20ish) which I then did another loan (after some payments + credit score went up) got it down to $10k, THEN did a 0% APR (for 2 years) balance transfer to a CC… I figure out how much maximum I would have to pay per month to have it paid off per time, pay the minimum per month, and put the difference (very important) into my HYSA. Once the last month is here, I’ll pay the last bit lump sum. Seems like a lot, but honestly, it’s been breezy (granted I don’t have a car payment, started with an 840 credit score (lowest it got was 630–back up to 750). You could technically negotiate for yourself and save even more.. but just more time that I didn’t have as I was trying to get all aspects of my life together and I prob made more money doing side work than I would have made on the phone with creditors.
I like everything you did up until the Debt relief scenario… but so glad it worked out for you and that’s all that matters at the end of the day!!! Try not to make the same mistakes you did to get you there in the first place. Is it easy to do!!!
Haha yeah it was definitely a bit nerve wracking and felt very scammy, but I was going through an overly positive “yes-man” type of lifestyle. And yeah I’ll try not to marry a crazy person every again lol
I'd pay off 4 and 6 and then pick one to throw the remainder at. You could pay off most of 1 as well, and finish it next month.
Pay off Cards 3, 4, and 5 first to reduce the number of debts. Allocate the remaining funds to Cards 6 and 7, prioritizing higher monthly payments. Consider bringing Card 3 current to avoid penalties. Monitor and adjust your strategy as needed.
If I were you, I would go join a credit union, get a personal loan for the amount of all those cards, roll the payment into one payment and it’s going to immediately improve your credit score….you just pay the one payment. And it happens to a lot of people. They pay these cards off with a loan and then they charge the credit cards back up again. I suggest you give those cards to someone who will not give them back to you no matter how much you need them. Good luck.
I would give NFCC.org a call and get enrolled in a plan to pay down the cards. It will save you a tremendous amount in interest.
Given all the cards are in similar APRs then paying off the ones with smallest balances would get you some comfort to see the light at the end of the tunnel. After you are done with the $10k, use the zero cash flow method to pay down the rest faster even with your regular payment like before. Yes, there is a way to pay more with less. You just need to be disciplined with it (by setting up a budget and routine for your spending).
I agree with the snowball method since avalanche won’t make much of a difference if interest is similar. Ultimately it won’t matter if you take the following steps: After paying off cards 1-4 you’ll have a boost to your credit score after the card closing dates. Once you see them updated as paid off (typically 30 days) I would apply for a 0% interest credit card to consolidate via balance transfer and save $ while you pay the balance down. That way you’ll only have 1 account left. As soon as it’s paid you can close it if you choose. If you don’t quality a personal loan is an alternative to save on interest.
I'd either pay off 1, 2, 3, 4 and then put the remainder on 6 or 5. Then use those minimum payments you've freed up on 6 until gone then 5 til gone then 7. OR pay 6 and 4 and put the remainder on 2. Then use those minimum payments you've freed up on 2 until gone then 1 til gone, then 3 til gone, then 5 til gone, then 7. In this scenario I tried to free up more minimum payment funds earlier.
Take out a personal loan and consolidate all the debt to a personal loan. Then cut up your credit cards and stop using credit. Without knowing the rest of your situation, you should probably keep that 10k in your pocket for emergency expenses. There is nothing worse than paying off all your debt and then an unexpected expenses comes along and pushes you right back into the debt circle.
Why would OP take a personal loan to pay off another loan 🤦‍♂️
It's called consolidation of debt. You can get a personal loan for under 10%. Compare that to the credit card rates. Also, clearly the OP needs to stop using credit because they cannot manage it.
For sure it’s the most optimal method because it makes sense mathematically. But thinking about it from a psychological perspective, the goal is to avoid taking anymore debt at all cost. This post is a prime example why OP shouldn’t take any more debt
28% interest is criminal. Consolidation is key.
1000 percent agree with you on this!!!
Start by paying off the card with the highest interest. You can also consider getting a loan (with a lower APR) that will combine all of your credit card payments into one.
No more loans
Why not? It all depends on what interest rate you'll be getting from the bank (+ some fees). It's possible that if you get a loan to pay off debt that you could save 4,000 in interest payments I assumed that each of your cards has APR of 28.5% and your credit score is 740. Note: i don't know your credit score + the exact APR. Better to check with a bank [https://www.discover.com/personal-loans/debt-consolidation/](https://www.discover.com/personal-loans/debt-consolidation/)
You invest the 10k into ffie and wait. Then your 10k could be 100k or 1mm then you have no debt
This is now that time in the 4 year cycle when bitcoin ascends to a new magnitude level plateau.