Your Assistance please

[ms_businesswoman]

Hi all.
I have noticed several people seek help on here for their personal needs and I have decided to do the same.

Below is my finances. Can you please review and tell me how you would approach?

I am 30 years old
Salary = $60kyear, plus some contract work occassionally about $4k a year
ING savings = 6343 (I have $555/month being automatically drafted to emergency fund and house fund)
Roth IRA = 4389 (I contribute $200/month)
SarSep IRA = 543 (from contract job)
401k = 3000 (just able to start contributing this year, since been at job 2 years)
Capital One Credit Card = 1572
Providan = 100 (i hadnt used this in over five months and thought maybe I should go ahead and put gas on it and payoff in full each month)
Care Credit = 2600 (for dental expenses...we dont get dental insurance at work)
Nelnet Student Loan = 7410 (is $78/month)
Wels Fargo Car Loan = 8309 (is $551/month) i love my car and have owned it 3 years...2 more years to and plan to rock it until the wheels fall off!, but I would love to have a paid off vehicle)

Credit Score = 653
I am plan to call to get lower interest rate on Capital one if I can.

But how should I tackle the rest. I have been doing the following, but am unsure if I am doing it correctly
1. I have been paying down the care credit (which has a higher interest rate) I am still in the promotional phase so no interest will be added if I pay off $700 before the end of this month (i plan to pay the $700 tomorrow on pay day) and the rest before Nov 2008.
2. I have been paying on the capital one as well since its interest rate is 20%

I guess I was wondering if I am handling things correctly or if I should take some money from savings. Also I calculated the daily accrual amount on each debt and the Car Loan which is 13.99% has a bigger daily accrual of $3.40 a day (since it is a bigger balance than the other debt which has about $1 accrual a day)

Please help if you can!
Any suggestions are welcome!

[Hot dog]

I can only handle one thing at a time cause if I look to far ahead it becomes overwhelming. I would definitely start out paying off the 20% CC and then move on to the other CC. Maybe go to the next highest interest rate and you could stop all other savings and put it all toward paying off your bills. I would have a hard time stopping all saving but if all your bills have high interest rates you really aren't helping your situation. I would also probably keep some in an emergency fund depending on what your monthly bills are.

[Scanner]

1. Yes, I would tap savings. I would pay off your credit card at $1572.

1a. Retire Care Credit before back interest hits you.

2. Max out 401(k) if your employer offers a match. Any match is a guaranteed return.

3. Add to Roth IRA.

4. Work to retire car loan (but not too hard - maybe pay an extra $50 to 100/month on principal - wow, that's a high payment but auto loans tend to have short terms 3 to 5 years)

5. Add to emergency savings/house fund.

6. Work to retire student loan.

7. Unless you work in sales or have a business, reduce personal credit cards to 1. No reason to have a gas card, unless again, you travel a lot and need to segregate for tax purposes. I have 1 business credit card and 1 personal credit card, that's it.

[loanstar]

as suggested above, you could do without that 20% credit card, you have enough to cover it without drying out your emergency fund!

[minnie1928]

I would use the savings to pay off the CC debt. You are paying 20% to put money in a savings account earning 4%, that needs to stop.

I also agree that you should max out your 401k contribution to get the full employer match (assuming they do this).

After that, I would go after the next one with the highest interest rate. If that is the dental work (even if it's in grace), then go after it. Once that is done, then attack the other debt.

I wish you best of luck!

[ms_businesswoman]

Thanks all! I will do as you suggested. I thought it would be scary to take from my savings to pay of the CC debt, but it feels good to not have it any more (I did the ING Transfer today) . And I did hope to be out of CC debt for 2008.

I can change my 401K contribution in January. I will continue to pay off the care credit before the promotional phase is up. I had been putting an extra $100-$200 a month on the car loan...so, I will start back doing that.

Thanks Again for all your help!!

[Hot dog]

Feels good doesn't it. Now did you say you would be able to pay off the care credit by the end of Nov.? If not put all of your extra $ towards that. Stop the extra toward the card. Put it all toward the Care credit that shouldn't take long to knock out. Then put all the $ you were paying toward the cc and care credit and put it all extra toward the car. Imagine having 550 extra a month when that is done not including whatever the other payments were should be at least 700-800. Then make sure you save some toward the next car cause that is way too much a month for a car. Good Luck!!

[Knows Money]

It about proper allocation. And yes, it is scary taking your savings to pay off bills but then I say to myself, "I'll have more to save when this bill is paid." Best Wishes!!! You're on your way now!!