-$20,000.00 in debt @ 28!

**Fishindude77** · 05-09-2017, 05:35 AM

I would get a second job and / or eat up all of the overtime you can get and apply all extra earnings to cleaning up that debt. Your day to day spending will also go down when you are working so much as you won't have spare time on your hands to spend money.

**commoncentsmike** · 05-09-2017, 06:26 AM

Originally posted by @lleyeceein View Post

A) Long story short: ( -$19,221.98 ) in total debt! Life is a living hell right now, but I'm determined to right my wrongs. First of all what got me here is of course my habits. I been through this game before but never have I been to this amount. I am eager to get this down to zero in at least 3 years minimum.

B) Credit-card debt: ( -$13,682.79 ) in cc debt! This is my main focus right now. One card is at ( -$6,093.54 ). The other at ( -$7,589.25 ). I plan on saving $5,000.00|x3-yrs while paying the minimum balances. Then slapping the $15,000.00 on both cards hopefully at 0%-apr.

C) If I really hold-tight I'll save $7,600.00|x1-yr & 3-months and have the higher balance payed off first. Then slapping monthly payments of $500.00 on the second card till it paid in full. My apr is 11.0% on the smaller balance and 12.4% on the higher one.

D) Other debts: Car note is ( -$1,804.02 ) | surcharge for license ( -$2,834.33 ) | synchrony card ( -$900.00 ). About ( -$5,539.19 ) in total. At 28 this is the last thing I need in my life. There is no such thing as good debt. Not in my reality. Being debt free is what's best for me in my life. I will be updating my progress on this thread till these debts are zilch!

E) If anyone has been in these shoes dealing with such numbers please drop some knowledge, wisdom and understanding on how you dug yourself out of this grave! This too shall pass in time: patience & tenacity is what I need! No more credit cards 4 me ever again!

Do you have any equity in the vehicle? If so, maybe you can consolidate a few of the credit card balances into the car loan. Doesn't get rid of debt, but it reduces interest rates.

**bjl584** · 05-09-2017, 07:02 AM

Can you provide more info?
What does your income look like?

**msomnipotent** · 05-09-2017, 07:59 AM

You plan on paying off the credit cards by paying the minimums for 3 years and then hope to have enough to pay them off with your savings? Did I read this correctly? Even if you do manage to get 0% financing for 3 years somehow, I still think it is a bad idea. Figure out why you are using credit cards. Are you just splurging too much, or do you not have enough for day to day bills. Are emergencies popping up and you don't have an emergency fund?

If I had that debt (I had much more than that before), I would pay more than the minimums while still putting some money aside for savings, even if I consolidated and had 0% interest.

**Petunia 100** · 05-09-2017, 08:58 AM

Do you have a written budget? If not, you should start.

I was once in consumer debt hell. It took years of squeezing every dollar to claw my way out, but it was so worth it. Best of luck to you.

**97guns** · 05-09-2017, 09:38 AM

I would also look for additional income, put your nose to the grinding wheel and pay it off in a year, then you can relax but for now grind away is my recommendation

**disneysteve** · 05-09-2017, 12:02 PM

Originally posted by @lleyeceein View Post

B) Credit-card debt: ( -$13,682.79 ) in cc debt! This is my main focus right now. One card is at ( -$6,093.54 ). The other at ( -$7,589.25 ).

I plan on saving $5,000.00|x3-yrs while paying the minimum balances. Then slapping the $15,000.00 on both cards hopefully at 0%-apr.

My apr is 11.0% on the smaller balance and 12.4% on the higher one.

Are you saying you are going to just pay the minimum on these 11% and 12.4% debts while you amass savings (probably at 1% or less) and then once you save up enough to pay them off, you will do so? If that's your plan, that makes absolutely no sense. You will pay a boatload of interest. Forget about saving up money and use those funds to pay down the debt as the money comes in.

Or are you saying that you plan to transfer those high interest balances to a 0% card and carry that balance until you save up enough to pay it off? That's a slightly better plan but I wouldn't do that either. I would still recommend paying the debt off as quickly as you can, not waiting until you save up enough to pay it off.

**@lleyeceein** · 05-09-2017, 02:10 PM

Determined!

Disneysteve: Yes I plan on saving up let's say for instance $7,600.00 for the first card, transferring to 0% interest and the debts all gone. I could also just chip away at it at 12.4% interest, but I did the former before with no problems.

97guns: Currently working a 9-5 right now and also donating plasma which brings in an extra $3,000.00/x1-yr period. A 2nd job is in the cards.

Petunia 100: I do have a budget sheet and I have had one for years. The thing is I splurged ridiculously on jewelery and was hustled out of about $8-$10-grand easily! Probably one of the most poorest finacial decisions I ever made in my life. Also ran into legal troubles and had to pay for a lawyer and such.

Msomnipotent: As above splurging did get me here. I am putting the cards away for good. Won't even use them in emergencies either. That will just be my luck for now. Paying more than the minimum sounds like a great option as well.

Bjl584: Income after taxes is $1,380.00/monthly. Not much at all, but it is what I'm getting right now. After all my expenses are payed I'm left with anywhere between $250.00-$500.00 extra to tackle my debt. My minimum payments total about $250.00-$300.00/month for both cards. Definitely increasing my income any way possible is my best option right now.

Commoncentsmike: No equity in the vehicle. It is a 2001 beater with some damage on it. My loan was originally $4,000.00. It's a used vehicle.

Fishindude77: Basically sums it up in a nutshell.

Great advice everyone! Will take heed and start paying this back ( asap ), no excuses!

**Jluke** · 05-09-2017, 04:56 PM

Google Dave Ramsey. Follow his advice on debt.

Don't save up the money like disneysteve said. As soon as you have it put it towards the debt that you have decided to payoff first. Minimum payments will get you nowhere. The cc companies do that to make it harder to get out of debt.

Remain focused and follow your plan.

Of course if you post each debt with minimum payment, amount owed, and interest rate you can get really good FREE advice here. I know you kind of did above but it's not 100% clear.

Posting a complete budget with income and all expenses would also help.

**disneysteve** · 05-09-2017, 05:28 PM

Originally posted by @lleyeceein View Post

Disneysteve: Yes I plan on saving up let's say for instance $7,600.00 for the first card, transferring to 0% interest and the debts all gone. I could also just chip away at it at 12.4% interest, but I did the former before with no problems.

Transferring to a 0% card is fine. It will save you a bundle in interest charges. But forget about the saving part. Just pay off the credit card as quickly as you can. You said you can save $5,000/year. That's over $400/month that needs to be going toward the highest interest card instead. That 0% rate won't last for 3 years and there's no guarantee that when it runs out, you'll be able to get another deal.

**Gailete** · 05-11-2017, 08:29 PM

My husband who is self employed was not able to work last year for about 9 months and I'm on SS disability, Last year was rough and we ended up with a bunch of credit card debt. The minute my husband was able to start bringing in some income I started paying those bills down. So far the car and one small cc bill is paid off. The car almost 6 months early, the cc probably about 12 months early. Then I weekly check our income (I have a small business where I sell sewing patterns on line) and what has come in during the week. I double check that 'regular' bills and groceries are taken care of and the rest of the money is paid out on a weekly if not sometimes a twice a week basis, to the several credit cards. One should be finished in 4 months. The others will take longer, but every time you make a payment that decreases any interest that would have accrued on the amount and saves in the long term. I'm also making extra payments on our mortgage and rental property which should hopefully be paid off by the end of summer or this fall I hope and that will give us around $300 extra a month towards bills. My husband is close to finishing a large project that should bring in enough to completely pay off those bills, but I'm not waiting for that money to be paying on them. I work to even make a $25 extra payment if that is all I can come up with. So when that money comes in it can go into savings or needs that we have been putting off until we can afford it.

When you are in that much debt, you HAVE to be paying as much as possible, NOT minimum payments, weekly every other week, monthly, whenever you have money coming in. If you can get a part time job or overtime, dump all you can onto the bills. Sell unneeded stuff on ebay or Craigslist or yard sales. Along the same line, spend less than you earn, be frugal, it won't kill you. Cancel things like cable, etc. any extra but not needed features.

It is possible to climb out of debt, but not the way you are proposing. All that money that you propose to dump on your debts after you saved it, isn't going to work. You will 'save' more literally, by paying down those high interest loans as fast as possible, not just pushing them into the background. If I was a betting person, I would bet that the money you were going to 'save' isn't going to be there when you need it. It will be gone and your cc bills will be even worse.

You can do this, but it will be hard.

**MichaelWelterWSM** · 05-12-2017, 11:53 PM

Great that you made a decision that you will get out of debt.

Empty all your savings account and liquidate your assets. It's better to empty all your savings accounts to pay your debts than to keep your savings and earn much less compared to what you pay in additional.

Be Faithful in Paying the Debts

Totally Reverse the process.We got into debts because of overspending. Now it is time for us to get out of debt by underspending.

**Gailete** · 05-13-2017, 03:06 AM

Empty all your savings account and liquidate your assets. It's better to empty all your savings accounts to pay your debts than to keep your savings and earn much less compared to what you pay in additional.

To help prevent the debt from getting worse, I would try to have an emergency fund of $500-1000 for true emergencies, like you need glasses and you just broke your only pair and they are can't be repaired. When the ex had gotten us into $40K worth of debt and I started my slow walk out without his assistance, I had been saving money by one and two dollar increments and he almost lost his teeth when I finally had to get a new pair and pulled out the cash to pay for them. If he had known I had cash like that (I'd been saving for well over a year) he would have had it spent long before on something HE considered a necessity but no one else would have. I've climbed out of heavy debt before but that time it was as 'simple 'as selling the house and getting rid of a spendaholic when I realized he would never change. and didn't want to. You are on your own, so far better chance of doing this with no hindrances. But I would recommend keeping a small amount of cash nearby just in case and everything else dumped on debts.

**disneysteve** · 05-13-2017, 04:58 AM

Originally posted by MichaelWelterWSM View Post

Empty all your savings account and liquidate your assets. It's better to empty all your savings accounts to pay your debts than to keep your savings and earn much less compared to what you pay in additional.

I would very strongly disagree with this advice.

Not having an emergency fund, no savings, no cushion is what gets people in trouble. Then every time an expense comes up, no matter now small, they turn to debt to pay the bills.

I would agree with not having huge savings while carrying high interest debt, so the EF doesn't need to be massive, but it needs to exist. Dave Ramsey teaches his "baby steps" and step #1 before anything else is to save a $1,000 EF. We can debate the amount but the point is that building up some savings should be the first priority. Once that savings is in place, you can move on to debt repayment.

-$20,000.00 in debt @ 28!