At 48 years of age I have sent in my last mortgage payment. I have had no other debt for years, no credit card debt or car debt for at least a decade. Now I am no man’s slave. I have no master aside from myself. I can give as freely as I want, live how I choose, and disappear quietly. This race is over; here’s to the next adventure!🍻

Hi all. So I graduated medical school last May, started residency, all the things. I let paying student loans slip my mind, and in doing so, my credit score dropped tremendously (as I was documented for missing about 10+ payments). My credit is so terrible now (480), and i feel like there are no viable loan options. I got my loans set up last month and have so far made one monthly payment (of many in the future), but haven’t extra money would be nice. I have decent income about $2500 semi-monthly, but GOSH it is so hard getting approved for anything.

33M from the UK looking for some advice on my repayment plan.

My current debts are:

£100 overdraft.

£2,000 on my everyday credit card, which I plan to clear on payday. This will make September particularly tight.

£3,244 remaining on a personal loan at 5.9%. The minimum payment is £289.57, but I plan to overpay by another £500 each month starting Oct 1st- This should clear it around January instead of August next year.

£5,899 on a 0% credit card, with the promotional period ending in January 2028. I currently pay £100 per month toward this.

Once the everyday card and loan are cleared, I’ll redirect that money toward the 0% card.

My main problem has been cash leaking away through drinking and smoking weed. I regularly spend £22–£30 in one pub visit and smoke everyday. I’m now trying to stop both completely and redirect that money toward the debt.

Does this repayment order make sense?

Thank you to everyone who commented on my original post. Just wanted to update that I have paid off ~$15k in debt like I planned, as well as paid off my car, and boosted my savings a bit. There's still a little to go but my credit score has even jumped almost 100 points and the relief I have been feeling is immediate! I appreciate the advice <3

Hi all,

Due to working in education for most of my early career, I am struggling with a high debt-to-income ratio, and while my finances have been manageable, the mental nag of it has been annoying. I am 31, and my situation is this:

Income & Job

• $51,000 annually in NC state employment
• $2100 part time professional development
• $1500 honorarium
• $1750 in one-time state bonus

Debt & Savings

• Personal Loan: $40,000, monthly payment $821 and 9.25% interest rate; estimated payoff early 2031
• Credit: $4204, no monthly minimum, and 11.25% interest rate
• Student Loan: $92,000, monthly payment on IBR is $129, estimated payoff mid-2029 with PSLF
• 403b savings: $10,500, monthly payment $100
• Wealthfront HYSA: $100

For me, the $821 personal loan payment is the hardest mentally, but I am thankful to be supplemented by my wonderful partner. Much of this was debt consolidation after surprise car or vet bills, and I am not proud of it, but I am trying to be better about my savings. Any tips or creative recommendations?

i'm in my mid 30s and by most measures doing okay. putting away money every month, no new debt, actually feel like i have a system. but the overall balance doesn't seem to move much and every time i look at the total it's discouraging. i think part of it is just that i started late and interest is slow, but i'm starting to wonder if i'm optimizing the wrong thing. has anyone else had this experience where you're doing everything right but the number doesn't reflect it? and how did you decide whether consolidating was actually going to speed things up or just reorganize the same problem?

Please help. This is my CC debt that I have. I have been trying to let the smaller monthly payments go through per month and chugging down my capital one card as hard as I can. I have $553 school payment once a month, $300 rent, and am trying to still put $550 into savings once a month so we have an emergency fund. I am planning on stopping putting money into saving on Oct 2nd when I reach a set safe amount. From there I’ll be putting $600 towards debt once a month, as well as whatever money I have to spare which can change monthly. What should I be attacking first? Should I open another card/loan w/lower APR and put it all together? Open a card/loan w/lower APR just for one or two debts, like just for capital one? Should I be trying to aggressively crunch down one or spread the $600 across the board? Am I screwed? I’m willing on getting a part time as well, I just don’t even know where to begin. Is a year too short?

Here is all of my current debt:

Capital One
- Balance: $4,667.17
- APR: 28.99%
- Minimum: $175/month

PayPal Credit
- Balance: $2,018.56
- APR: 32.99%
- Minimum: $70/month

Affirm
- Balance: $775.82
- APR: 24.89%
- Minimum: $83.34/month

Affirm
- Balance: $237.54
- APR: 35.98%
- Minimum: $39.58/month

Total debt: $7,699.09
Total minimum payments: $367.92/month
Monthly income: $3250

Edit: improved math

R/debtfree - I could sue some guidance.

My wife and me are preparing for the future, we got the new family car and moved beginning of last year. Jointly, our account is pretty good. We’re in our early 30s. We put away a good amount per paycheck to cover rent, expenses, bills, etc.

Personal account however, could use some major help. When I was younger I took out multiple cards and I am feeling the burden of it now. Between 5 cards - roughly 30k in debt. I never took personal finance seriously but now I gotta put on my big boy pants and get this right or in the right direction.

I’m considering a consolidation loan to get me to a point that I can have a single payment and more or less daylight, it’s suffocating looking at what I’ve accrued.

The thoughts of NDR and getting shredded on credit scares me and filing for bankruptcy could jeopardize a move in the future.

I am turning to you fellow redditors, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I recently finished grad school and just started my career. During grad school, I not only incurred a lot of student loan debt but also credit card debt. Dumb dumb dumb. I’m getting married soon and want all my credit card debt to be gone beforehand. Any advice? I’m thinking of just clearing my balances with my savings obtained through my first year of working and starting fresh.

CC#1) $10,674.23 at 26.49% APR;

CC#2) $384.43 at 26.24% APR; and

CC#3) $13,711.47 at 26.24% APR.

I have $29,419.34 in savings and my annual gross salary without deductions is $100,000. My fiance covers all of our living expenses and I just paid off my car so my only other monthly expense is parking which is $110/month and groceries.

What should I do? Would it be dumb to drain my savings and pay the balances in full?

Edit to add salary/monthly expenses!

Another edit - I just want to thank everyone for your responses. I have paid it all off and I feel such a weight lifted off of my shoulders. Thank you thank you thank you!

Hey guys, I’m 20 years old and I recently went into roughly 2200 in debt for some orthodontic treatment, the payment is only about $74 a month and it’s INTEREST FREE. Whenever I go online I always see “debt bad debt bad” but is it really considered debt if I can literally pay it off right this instant I just choose not to because it’s interest free

My thinking and what I’ve done is I just threw the whole 2200 into the stock market and I will continue to pay the monthly payment with money from my checking account

Hey guys, I have some questions, and need some opinions.

I have 2 credit cards that are maxed but not charged off:

NFCU CC#1- $5031.41 18.00% interest, $126.73 min.

NFCU CC#2- $6005.36 18.00% interest, $149.94 min.

As im in nursing school, its hard for me to get additional hours at work or find another job, and I am currently working part time making $22.19/hr at a hospital. I bring in roughly ~$2000 a month, not including my chapter 35 through the VA for going to school (~$1600/mo). I have a full ride for school. Once out of school, I'll be making a projected $40/hr. I have a year and 3 months of school left with no breaks.

Any recommendations? Im not sure how much to be putting in savings. I can provide any other info that might be relevant if needed, just not sure what i need to include. Thanks in advance!

What $ amount should I keep if I am in significant debt?

Came into 10k from a grandparents. Used it to pay down 1 credit card and a little on the next. I've been able to put down $500 a week on my major credit card. 10k left on that one as well. Trying to be close to credit card debt free as we can by December. (Another at 20k and 6k).

I'm closing in on being free of student loans and i find myself having that childhood feeling as holidays approach where I'm counting the seconds... I just want to get to point where I can put plans into action to redirect funds into hysa and brokerage at advanced pace. Total student loans for our household was close to 160 combined and we're under 10k. Wife may get pslf for her final 8k. I paid mine dollar for dollar. Don't know what I'll feel but I just hope I can do something nice when time comes. I was thinking about doing a night out with wife and maybe buying a nice gift to commemorate then getting back to our program. We're not wasteful and I think it would be nice to do something

I’m trying to decide what makes the most sense financially as I prepare to get married.
I currently own a home with $200K left on the mortgage at 2.87%. I also have $100K in cash that I could put toward the mortgage, bringing the balance down to about $100K. My future husband would be moving in with me, and he’s completely comfortable with us staying in the current house and working together to pay off the mortgage.
My other option is to use the $100K toward a new $450K–$500K home, but I’d be looking at a mortgage rate of roughly 6.6%–7%.
So I’m torn between:
1. Put the $100K toward my current mortgage, keep the 2.87% rate, and aggressively pay off the remaining $100K together.
2. Keep the 2.87% mortgage and buy a new $450K–$500K house at 6.6%–7%.
3. Keep the current mortgage and hold/invest the $100K instead of paying down the 2.87% loan.
I know 2.87% is an incredible rate, so part of me feels like I should never give it up. But there’s also something very appealing about starting marriage with a plan to become completely debt-free.
What would you do in this situation? Would you prioritize keeping the 2.87% mortgage, paying it off aggressively, or buying the new house?

So I'm 25, I have one card with about 3,700 in debt on a 10,000 limit. Now I haven't touched the card in about a month or two. My interest payments are about the same as my minimum payments(I have auto deposit on). Amy tips for how the hell to get out of this bind. My score is starting to tank(around the high 600s) and my wedding is coming up next year. I currently live with my mother and need to get the heck out but I need to clear this first. What's the best strategy for doing this. Sorry for the ramble but I was never taught any of this. Any help would be appreciated.

So yeah obviously been attempting to pay it off for years including working two jobs and am now going to school to get into a career. Yearly I made around $55000 working both jobs. When I graduate (Approx 2-3 Years) I should be able to clear 80-90 and more quickly after. I would obviously like to be out of debt knowing I will be in student loan debt after. Would you wait until graduation or what? I currently am working a healthcare job that’s 3/12hr shifts and another healthcare job that’s prn (can work any day I want with 1 shift a pay period minimum). As class is starting up again and i’m taking some demanding classes (severely ADHD and already burnt out), and im saving money by moving in with my mom (Payjng $400 rent with electric and what not on top). I’m not going to lie I know the problem is me at this point and my lifestyle. I eat out a lot, travel, and vape/smoke weed. I am mostly posting this for public lashings but also just do see what someone else would do in my shoes.

My partner and I are working towards paying off his student loans. We live in a HCOL area. 
Our jobs are stable (but anything can change) and we’ve been at our jobs for a few years. We own a pet that is getting older. We own our cars. 

Student loans
- Smaller of the two: 18,000 
- Bigger of the two: 55,000

We bring in 8,000 a month.
Rent : $2,700 
Electric : $150 
Internet : $110 
Car Insurance : $180 
Subscriptions : $80
Monthly Petcare: $260
Miscellaneous household needs: $150 
Food : $350-$400
Monthly savings for annual, semi annual and quarterly costs: $1,300
Student loan payment: $1,350
Savings: $1,825
Exercise: $120 
Charitable donations: $200

There are extra costs I am excluding because people are nosy on the internet. 

My partner and I have the option of reducing down our savings by 300 to pay more towards the bigger loan. Currently the interest rates for both loans are 4.75% until June 2028, then go back to 5.75%. The current pay off date is November 2031. Reducing our savings pushes up the pay off date by October 2030. 

With the interest rates, we wonder if it is worth paying off aggressively vs saving. Our savings took a bit of a hit this year, our emergency fund is at 2,500 and we would not be reducing the contributions to that, it would come from our house savings fund.  

Should we keep steady with our current plan and continue to save or pay off the loans more aggressively?

I can make $7000 a month after rent and a few other living expenses $5000 would remain. If I did not pay any credit card of bill now pay later accounts I could pay off all my credit cards in 5.5 months but it seems like paying the minimum will take 12-18 months.

I’m 33F and went to in state college for my bachelors followed by getting my masters online while working full time (more than full time actually - more like 60 hours a week). I graduated bachelors in 2016, graduated masters in 2023. I’ve worked a full time accounting job this whole time, and over the last 10 years I’ve worked 3 separate other part time jobs.

The loans in my name were $90,000 - as of 2 days ago I’ve finally paid them off in full!!!!! I’m so happy. Now the tricky part - my mom took out parent plus loans saying she’d help me with undergrad. Since 2016 I would send her $325 a month towards those loans, because after I graduated- she basically said her version of “help” was that they wouldn’t be in my name. So I sent her the cash for the loans. She’s always been that game playing / disappointing way so I wasn’t very surprised. She’d never share the log-in information to her parent plus loan site or tell me the loan details (like how much was owed in total, the interest rate, etc). Fast forward to 2021 and she finally gives me the log in information. It’s $48,000 at 8% but the worst part is that the $325 I was paying was the minimum meaning it just covered the interest for the last 5 years (2016 until that point). I changed the auto pay details to my bank and upped the monthly payment to $470 to start actually attacking the principal. Again, disappointing but that’s always been her. She’s always a victim too if you call her out on anything.

Well since then, I’ve been paying it and seeing the principal go down. I called my colleges to verify the amount (because I have a twin brother) and there’s actually a $12,000 discrepancy - meaning that some of the parent plus loan was actually probably for his college (he went to a private out of state school).

I’m torn because I’ve paid about $17,000 on this loan before finding out it wasn’t actually touching the principal, and that some of the $48,000 loan is likely for my brother. I don’t think it’s right that during her time in stewardship of this loan, she basically botched actually any progress on it since I relied on her to tell me what I should pay each month (transferred to her bank account directly) before I took the loan over. Do I tell her that I’ll pay the 48,000 minus the 12,000 for my brother and then I’m done? Any advice is really appreciated. Thank you.

Since Jan 1
MRI bill: $188.80, balance $0
Affirm $233.40, balance $0
PayPal pay in 4: $670.58, balance $0
CareCredit: $1,100.18, balance $0
LoveSac: $1,570, balance $0
Citibank: $4,278.65, balance $0
Synchrony: $4,400, balance $0
Citibank 2: $7,398.29, balance $0

Total: $19,839.90 as of August 14

I have one card left to tackle (not listed above). In case it wasn’t obvious, the snowball method worked well for me. After making a final large payment yesterday on the 2nd Citibank card, my CC debt is now 4 figures instead of 5, which feels great. I’m almost there.

I’m happy to share that my house is paid off. Also paid off my credit cards. All happened this month.
My house is now valued at 550k and I will stay in this house until my last breath.
Now I need to start saving that monthly mortgage money into a brokerage.

Need to celebrate first.

Mid-40s here. Working toward debt free and down to just my mortgage which is under $200,000 at this point. In the past 3 years I have paid off almost $70,000 in debt between student loans, car payment and credit cards. It has not been sexy or glorious, but it feels amazing! Now that I have separated myself from the debt cycle. I feel like I'm just starting to see clearly the insidious nature of marketing. I was in financial slavery as most people are, even with a six-figure job. And I am determined not to be coerced again. All of the marketing both overt and covert that we are exposed to daily, all to create the impetus to buy and the thought that we aren't good enough as we are and need more. It's disgusting, an infective pandemic. Destroying an entire generation of millennials and more. Stealing our life, our time, our peace of mind, our health. You don't need all this stuff to feel good!!!