Paying Off Credit Cards and School Loans?

[Whitechapel]

Right now I have about 2,000 dollars in credit card debt. I have about 400 dollars in total debt on my Chase card, 800 on my Citibank card (I was told once I paid it off I could no longer use the card), and around 1200 in Best Buy debt (I bought a laptop and then skipped paying the bills for a few months). Not to mention I have around 20k in school loans I need to be making monthly payments on. I'm on a payment plan right now for the credit cards, all of them. My goal is to not have to rely on them though, I'd rather just pay with cash. So what is the suggest method to paying off all of this? Should I do it slowly or try to do it all at once? Whatever I've done in the past clearly doesn't work as I'm above my max limit on almost all my cards.

[riverwed070707]

Where's that budget you were going to work on? Post it and we'll help you come up with a plan for repayment.

[bjl584]

Originally Posted by Whitechapel

Right now I have about 2,000 dollars in credit card debt. I have about 400 dollars in total debt on my Chase card, 800 on my Citibank card (I was told once I paid it off I could no longer use the card), and around 1200 in Best Buy debt (I bought a laptop and then skipped paying the bills for a few months). Not to mention I have around 20k in school loans I need to be making monthly payments on. I'm on a payment plan right now for the credit cards, all of them. My goal is to not have to rely on them though, I'd rather just pay with cash. So what is the suggest method to paying off all of this? Should I do it slowly or try to do it all at once? Whatever I've done in the past clearly doesn't work as I'm above my max limit on almost all my cards.

Well, unless you have $22K in cash laying around, you aren't going to pay off your debts all at once, so you will have to get on a repayment plan and pay them over time.

I would focus on the CC's first. Start with the card that has the highest interest rate (probably the Best Buy card) and then work your way through them. Once the first one is paid off, take that money and roll it into the next card. That's called snowballing your debt.

Once all are paid off start focusing on your SL's.

In the meantime, make sure you stop using credit to buy things or you won't get anywhere with your debt repayment.

[jpg7n16]

CC balances are a symptom of living beyond your means. Living beyond your means = (expenses > income) = bad budget

So....
Step #1: reduce expenses to less than your income (this fixes your actual problem)
Step #2: pay minimum on every debt, making sure you are current on everything
Step #3: apply any excess funds available to paying down the highest interest rate debt

[Whitechapel]

Originally Posted by riverwed070707

Where's that budget you were going to work on? Post it and we'll help you come up with a plan for repayment.

I haven't started on it yet. I would now but I'm going to bed soon! I'll do it during my downtime tomorrow and will post it in my thread.

[naomibatac]

How about seeking assistance from a reputable credit card counseling service provider in order to create a specific debt management plan for you? You can learn more from them on how to manage your finances.

[spendherenotthere.net]

Whatever cash you have put all of it except for $500 (for a rainy day fund) towards your debt starting with cc first. I agree with bjl584 as to which ones to pay first. Your goal should not be to pay off slowly but as fast as you can. Debt is not something to live with unless you just want to make others rich.

I wish you the best of luck