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Right now I'm living like no one else so later I can live (and give) like no one else. Can't wait to be debt free and start building my wealth the slow and safe way.
2) I was previously contributing 10% to my 401k (5% to traditional and 5% to roth). I've now reduced it to only 5% since thats the max that gets matched. I know Ramsey says stop all 401k contributions but I'm not going to turn down the match. I also increased my W4 withholding to 1 so I'll get more money each check instead of waiting for a big tax refund at the end of the year.
I would stop all of the 401k contributions until the credit cards are paid off. You're paying (or will be soon) 20%-30% on a lot of those, and it's going to take multiple years to pay down. Saving years of interest payments at those rates is going to be similar to, or perhaps even better than, your 401k match (having no idea what your match ratio is).
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Originally Posted by PayOff23
4) This is not a troll post/account. I'm not sure why anyone would even post something like this to troll.
We see plenty of "one and done" users here, which raises suspicion. That's all.
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Originally Posted by PayOff23
No major updates on the debt payments yet. Just making minimum payments for January and will start attacking on my next few checks. Still figuring out which one I want to pay down first. I also do have a couple balance transfer options I plan on using in order to bring some of the higher APRs down. I'm anticipating throwing an extra $2,000-$2,500 or so a month toward my debt. Any suggestions on which debt to attack first?
I'd pay off the highest rate cards first, forgetting about the so-called debt snowball.
Do your parents need the $800/mo from you to survive? If you feel the obligation to pay them, at least ask if you could defer some or all of those payments for a while, and then make up the deficit once your credit cards are paid off.
No major updates on the debt payments yet. Just making minimum payments for January and will start attacking on my next few checks. Still figuring out which one I want to pay down first. I also do have a couple balance transfer options I plan on using in order to bring some of the higher APRs down. I'm anticipating throwing an extra $2,000-$2,500 or so a month toward my debt. Any suggestions on which debt to attack first?
5) Line of Credit = $12,000 ($738 @ 17.24% and $11,262 @ 15.49%)
6) Credit Card 5 = $15,501 @ 0% until 4/24 and then 29.99%
7) Credit Card 6 = $5,359 @ 21.99%
8) Credit Card 7 = $5,239 @ 19.24%
9) Loan 1 = $19,998 @ 9.9%
10) Loan 2 = $17,606 @ 15.99%
11) 401k loan 1 = $14,528 @ 1.5%
12) 401k loan 2 = $8,068 @ 3.1250%
Total Debt = $134,593
Minimum Monthly payments = $2,525 (not including 401k payment)
Monthly interest = $1,324 (not including 401k interest)
It's been 3 months since I've made my first post in this thread. Here is an update.
I picked up a 2nd job (cooking) about 3 weeks ago on top of the OT I'm already doing at my primary job. Working 7 days a week, and 3 of those nights I'm only sleeping about 4 hours since I'm cooking at a bar/restaurant and they close at 2AM. The struggle is real, but more often than not I find myself smiling as I'm leaving my part-time job at 2:30 in the morning knowing I have to be up by 7AM to get ready for my primary job because I'm that much closer to (eventually) paying my debt off!
My sister has been so kind enough to let me use some of her balance transfers she has on a couple of her credit cards, as well as loaned me some cash to pay off some of these ridiculously high interest rate debts so I'm extremely appreciate to her for this. My primary goal is to pay her off as fast as I can and then focus on the remaining debt that's in my name. As the months go by, I'll do some additional balance transfers/loan refinance to try to reduce even more the current interest rates I am paying.
As of Sunday 3/12/23, this is what I owe:
1) My Loan 1 = $20,000 @ 15.99%
2) Her Credit Card 1 = $22,660 @ 0% until April 2024
3) Her Credit Card 2 = $12,200 @ 0% until November 2023
4) My Credit Card 1 = $2,619 @ 19.49%
5) My Credit Card 2 = $20,000 @ 2.9% until December 2024
6) Her Cash Loan = $28,000 @ 0%
7) My 401k loan 1 = $13,856 @ 1.5%
8) My 401k loan 2 = $7,763 @ 3.1250%
Total Debt = $127,098
Minimum Monthly payments = Roughly $1800 (not including 401k payment)
Monthly interest = Roughly $360 (not including 401k interest)
Look at the difference in interest rates in what I owed in my quote and what I currently owe now. I'm literally saving OVER $50,000 in interest as well as shaving off YEARS from my debt repayment plan!!!
Sounds like some positives are coming out of this. One thing I would make sure of, already sounds like you did, is that the second job and OT aren't hurting your chances of improving your situation career wise. Its noble to a degree what you are doing not declaring bankruptcy but frankly that is what bankruptcy courts are for. I would have suggested it at first but now that you have your sister involved its not really an option. What will be important is what rates do you get on the balances that remain once the low APRs end. Does she have more credit to help out with? Maybe your card if you can pay it off will offer a low APR option in the future. Also as you get closer to the end of those rates, consider getting another card or two with teaser starting rates. With some of the debt shifted to your sister your credit score is probably going to improve quite a bit.
Sounds like some positives are coming out of this. One thing I would make sure of, already sounds like you did, is that the second job and OT aren't hurting your chances of improving your situation career wise. Its noble to a degree what you are doing not declaring bankruptcy but frankly that is what bankruptcy courts are for. I would have suggested it at first but now that you have your sister involved its not really an option. What will be important is what rates do you get on the balances that remain once the low APRs end. Does she have more credit to help out with? Maybe your card if you can pay it off will offer a low APR option in the future. Also as you get closer to the end of those rates, consider getting another card or two with teaser starting rates. With some of the debt shifted to your sister your credit score is probably going to improve quite a bit.
She has already exhausted her credit limits so can't help any further. And yes, I'm definitely going to utilize balance transfers/loan refinance as the months go by and my debt reduces/credit score increases.
Thanks for everyones replies, support, and feedback!!!
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