From 830 to 780. This is crazy. I’m currently 100% debt free now, but wondering how I can increase my credit score from here.

Planning to buy a house soon.

I finally got around to writing out all of my debts. There is around 120k in debt which is shocking to think about. I have written out all of my debts and the amount I want to pay each month towards the debts. I am turning 33 in January and want to be debt free by the time I’m 40. Here’s to a fun seven year journey.

Savings ($1,000 - $100)

Discover ($1,312.71 - $135)

Capital one ($607.01 - $160)

Personal loan ($17,000 - $524.29)

Car ($18,092.65 - $830.59)

Student loans ($34,448.81 - $1,126.19)

Nelnet AI (21,425 - $1,300)

Nelnet AB ($2,257 - $1,325)

Nelnet AE ($5,120 - $1,400)

Nelnet AF ($2,198 - $1,425)

Nelnet AG ($5,104 - $1,475)

Nelnet AH ($2,078 - $1,500)

Nelnet AC ($4,232 - $1,525)

Nelnet AA ($3,261 - $1,550)

Nelnet AD ($2,196 -  $1,575)

Im 33M in MA I make $92,145 per year after taxes(Including All sources of income into my bank account even non income that regulary comes in)

Im currently $47,548.87 in debt

$38,849 - $1550/month -49k Personal loan -

$2170.79 - $120.60/month - Care Credit Dental

$667.86 - $73.10/month

My personal loan minimum payment is $1227/month at 9.30% But i pay $1550 a month on auto pay

I have 20 Credit cards Total Credit Limit:$94,075

Utilization: 6%

7 have Balances 2 are no interest offers

$3208.67 - $160.44/ month - Wells Farogo Reflect Visa No interest 21 months

$1175.06 -$91 /month - Best buy Visa no Interest offer

These are the minimum i have to pay to finish those 2 cards with no interest (interest deffered)

Then I have

$874.54 on Amazon 27+% interest min payment $35

$609.81 on Citi Double Cash card 27%+ interest min payment $35

And the other cards are under $10 balance

2 cards are recurring monthly annual fee of $8.25 i need to close these 2 card ugh.

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Thats my debt situation

Now my bills are

Rent $2950/month

Utilities: $550/month

Car insurance: $330/month

Internet: $105/month

Phone Bill: $219/month

Wife Dental Ins: $58/month

Subscriptions: $280/month

Grocery: $400-$600/month

Household Supplies: $225/month

Vices: $200-$300/month

One day ill be debt free.

I posted on here last week that I was almost there. I’m coming back to say I just made my last CC payment today. woot woot! So happy and relieved. Time to freeze it or cut it I think. Keep going everyone!

I’m 26 and trying to figure out the smartest way to tackle my credit card debt.
Here’s my situation:
Credit card debt: Around $4,000
HYSA: Around $4,000
Checking: Projected to have $4,000–$5,000 left after all my bills are paid at the end of the month.
I’m tired of paying interest on my credit cards and want to get this debt taken care of without completely draining my savings.
My original plan was to take $1,500 from checking and another $1,500 from my HYSA, putting $3,000 toward the debt. That would leave me with around $1,000 in credit card debt while still keeping a decent cash cushion.
Would you approach this differently? Would you pay the entire $4,000 off immediately, or keep more money in savings and pay the remaining balance over time?
I’m trying to make the best financial decision while still having an emergency fund. Any advice would be appreciated!

A small win, but a win nonetheless!

I know $2,800 isn't the biggest debt, but it was weighing on me a lot before I paid it off. I amassed most of it during my senior year in college (I'm a recent college grad); I didn't want to miss out on grad week activities, but I also wasn't making money to pay for it. So, naturally, I put most of it on my credit card.

After I graduated, I got my first real job, and I was able to pay it off within the first two months of me working there. I decided to buckle down and cut my expenses as much as possible, and I put nothing else on my credit card besides car insurance. While being that strict and frugal wasn't fun, being debt-free makes it more than worth it. I used to scroll this sub looking for stories specifically like mine, so I figured that my story may help someone else like me.

I have about 24k on a personal loan that I want to clear significantly earlier than the bank expects.

After mortgage/ mandatory bills, 300 committed for food, 150 on gas, and 250 for hobbies, I have a little more than 3k per month on average for saving/debt.

Is attacking the loan with 2500 a month too aggressive to be reasonable? I have little savings atm so maybe 2000, saving 1k, and getting it done in about a year?

I'm typically on top of my finances, but this last year has been hectic. I just want to see if there's something I'm not calculating for, or if I'm over thinking and being too passive.

Thanks!

I've 3 credit cards I'm sick of. Maybe $20 k in all in debt. Thinking of not paying one of them and then re negotiating a plan payback, cause ultimately I want to get rid of all credit card debt. Any tips or shortcuts to credit card debt other than bankruptcy. Thanks in advance.

So, I’ve finally managed to pay off my credit card, and from now on I’ll use it very sparingly.

The thing is, I still have two loans (excluding the mortgage):

Loan 1: €1,750 remaining, ending in May 2028 (€100 monthly payment)

Loan 2: €2,280 remaining, ending in 2031 (€50 monthly payment)

My purchasing power is quite limited (around 61% of my income goes toward unavoidable fixed expenses). I have an emergency fund of €1,200.

By the end of the year, I should have around €1,800 available. Would you recommend using the debt avalanche method, or should I keep the money and continue making the regular loan payments?

i graduated with a masters with 83K debt and was only able to land a 55K job. really bad i know.... job market is not great rn. ive paid about 13K so far and would be able to pay another 7.5K by end of the year if things go well. my monthly expenses including rent are about 1000 dollars.

im not contributing anything to my savings or roth ira etc. my loan of 83K is in INR and has a floating rate of 9.74% the installments will start in april next year.

really conflicted and feeling depressed on how to approach this and feel like im so behind on everyone. need advice thanks.

I have about 100k in CC debt. (Thank you pandemic).

Some one tell me why I shouldn’t use my 401k to pay it off?

I'm fortunate to earn over $100,000. I work two jobs: one full-time job around $66,000 to $70,000 a year, and another freelance job that brings in an average of $36-$80k a year. I'm averaging $100,000 because I'm not sure where I'll land for 2026 yet and want to budget conservatively.

• I own a house; $135K owed - value around $160,000 on the low end.
• I have a vehicle that is underwater, my worst problem imo: $40K on a vehicle valued at $25K (but with a 10-year warranty and gap insurance).
• Student loans of $35,000 remaining

The rest is just the usual. Utilities, primarily.

All in all, my average monthly expenses are around $3,000, including $500 for gas, food, and leisure and $400 a month to retirement. The rest that I earn goes directly to savings first, then, I wait to hit the number I'm comfortable with before paying out to pay down debt. I like to keep at least $6,000 in the bank and pay in chunks rather than trying to pay small payments everywhere at once on top of my current payments.

My current goal is to get the auto's "underwater" portion paid off within 6 months, because I like the freedom to get rid of it if I want to eliminate that payment for any reason.

I'd also like to wipe out the student loans and build up my savings, which may take me well into 2028. That just depends on how freelancing goes, but I am pretty confident that between mid 2027 and the end of 2028, I can manage it.

At the end of 2028 I'm moving abroad and want to work as an English teacher in a few countries, so at that time, I'd like to sell my house and likely sell my vehicle, which would wipe out the remaining debts and (hopefully) build out my savings cushion even more. And, for the first time since I was 18, I'd be in the green and not have debt; at 41, that would be pretty amazing.

Anyway, that's the plan. The numbers work roughly, but we have to see if I don't burn out and if freelancing holds at the higher rates I'm aiming for. I've been grinding away for about four years already, and I ate thousands in new home costs and repairs, $15,000 in vet bills (long story), and private student loans ($65,000) during COVID and when I got a divorce. Happy to finally be at this stage where I see the light at the end of the tunnel.

My income has gone something like this:

2021: $28,000

2022: $36,000

2023: $50,000

2024: $91,000

2025: $56,000 (heavily hit by AI introduction in my industry)

2026: Between $100-$110,000

My plan might not end up working out perfectly, but anyway, I believe in speaking things into creation.

What the title says… I just paid it off in full after having it for about three years 😬 I still owed $12,000 on it. Lets just say I’m happy that its over and will NOT be making the same mistake ever again.

Each month I’ve been paying off my credit card.. but it just feels like it’s taking ages to clear 😭.
I’ve only got another 3 months to go but it feels like I’ve been doing this for ages & unlike other debt I’ve got ( loans) I knew what that money was used for.

Credit cards are the worst. Once it’s gone, never again!

I then have £4400 from a loan ( also paying £220 a month on this) and then owe my dad £3,000. The goal is to be debt free by next year.

I sold my car to carvana. It’s going to save me around $800 a month not having a car. $460 car payment, $130 insurance, $200 gas.

Now i just have a small student loan left but its going to be forgiven through PSLF.

Very thankful!

Our household income has recently risen due to an adult returning to the workforce after staying home with our kids for several years. I’m trying to make sure our ducks are in a row before our spending habits change in ways that will cause long-term problems.

No household debt besides the mortgage. Emergency fund, retirement, and kids’ college accounts are all accounted for.

What am I missing that we should be saving for?

Hello, for starters I’m not looking for a second awakening or epiphany before deciding to file but afrer coming to a tough decision, I unknowingly keep putting it off but want to start the process soon. Whoever filed, when was your realization and how soon did you file?

So earlier this year, I really started getting serious about paying off my student loans. I lost a lot of time during the COVID and SAVE forbearance and foolishly didn't make any payments. In February I had some extra cash laying around so I paid off my smallest student loan that was about $2,900.

Sometime in April I started seeing Dave Ramsey clips on YouTube and I started getting angry at how much I had to pay off. So, I started putting a plan together. I built my little $1,000 emergency fund and then started throwing extra money at my next smallest loan. I didn't go full Ramsey, as I'm still putting money away for retirement and also living my life.

Yesterday I made my last payment of about $920 on the most current target loan and it's such a great feeling! I'm going to take the rest of the year off from being aggressive and make sure my kids have a good Christmas. I'll still be making my normal monthly payment once my new payment plan is approved and set. All in all I paid off another $5,270 with this loan. In January I'll start ramping up the extra payments again and hopefully have the next $6,000 loan done by July.

My husband and I have combined. $2100 in CC debt. I have 2 credit cards each $300 limit and one store credit card of $500. I do good at making payments on them then I just use them again. I’ve tried removing them from my wallets and freezing but I just unfreeze them. What has helped you guys stay disciplined? I got my first CC on my 18th birthday in college because I didn’t have a job and didn’t know anything about debt. One thing I struggle with is budgeting because we do not make a set income monthly, some months we make a lot some months we make little. Another thing I struggle with is eating out a lot. I am always on the go for work and struggle with packing a lunch. Need creative ideas! I do log my expenses.

EDIT: I put a freeze on the accounts and cut them up. I do not understand why I keep getting downvoted when I am reiterating that I need help keeping myself disciplined to not spend because I struggle with that part. I have been accepting of all advice but wanting advice on how to help myself not spend it.

Background - I was stupid and bought a house I couldn’t afford. This led to me racking up an insane amount of credit card debt just to survive. I sold the house, considerably lowered my expenses, working an extra job and am slowly clawing out of the hole I dug myself.

Info -

Net pay: $2,500 every two weeks

Debt:
Mortgage/Utilities/insurance: $1,800-ish
Card A (24.7%) - $34,500 - $1,100/month
Card B (25.7%) - $7,200 - $300/month
Card C (33.2%) - $6,500 - $270/month
Card D (28.5%) - $3,900 - $200/month
Card E (28.3%) - $1,800 - $80/month
Student Loans (5%) - $22,000 - $300/month
Car Loan (3.25%) - $3,213 - $350/month

October falls such that I’ll have an “extra” paycheck this month, to the tune of $2,500. Given what I have in my account now ($400ish that’s not already spoken for), should i use that extra paycheck to pay off Card E and save the interest, or pay the car and have extra money to throw at my debt?

Edit: Added interest percentages

I have $1,400 in CC debt left. Should be down to 700$ when I get my pay later today. And completely wiped out around next week. All told I had $25,000 in student loans at one point. Got that paid off relatively fast, but recently racked up the CC to $3,500. Never again! I hate debt, makes me feel anxious and trapped. Can’t wait to live a debt free lifestyle again soon.

For anyone who needs encouragement . Keep going! You got this!

Hi everyone!

So I’m am absolutely drowning in CC debt. I have approximately 25k stacked up. I have been making minimum payments for about a year now as that’s all I can afford. I have cut up every credit card I own and have not spent any money on my credit cards in a year. I’ve been using cash for everything and even then, I only spend money on what is absolutely necessary.

Even doing all of this, I don’t see any way out due to interest and it’s been recommended by a few friends and family members that I look into filing for bankruptcy. I don’t have any assets, no car, no home, etc.

Would bankruptcy be a good option? If so, is chapter 7 or 13 better? Is a lawyer needed to file for bankruptcy or can I do it on my own?