Hi all! The title says it all.
My credit card is up to $3,700 and I know that’s chump change but for someone who makes around $22k a year (and a full time student) it is a lot.
I’ve been feeling incredibly anxious and upset with myself in the fact that I’ve let it get to this point (Christmas shopping, emergency funds, etc)
Every time I pay off a huge chunk, and I’m talking hundreds over the minimum I feel like I see no dent in it. Then life happens, and I’m in the hole again.
I should be saving this money, I just want to get to a point where I paid it off and I can build my savings again.
Any advice on how to do it effectively and efficiently?
I pay $400 a month for my part of rent.
$407 car payment.
And $375 for my hair every 8 weeks (that is the one thing I feel I splurge on) I don’t shop much.
I just want to get out of this hole.
https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics
Make a budget, follow it. Review every charge on your credit card – what of those things that “come up” are things you knew were coming and need to be planned for? Like being sick, or needing to repair your car, those things go in your budget even if you don’t pay for them every month.
If that $22k is take-home, that’s $1830/month and you’re spending 22% of your income on your car payment alone + another 10% just on doing your hair. That’s 30% of your income gone before you take care of anything like insurance, fuel, food, clothing, etc. I’d start with those two line items as places to reduce costs so you can afford debt repayment and the things that matter.
Unfortunately, you will have to stop the hair splurge until you get out of that hole.
You spend 10% of what you make on your hair.
YNAB my friend. The best software for budgeting and building a debt plan. This is more of a long term solution not an immediate one though.
Keep it simple. Spend less than you make. Take the difference and throw it at the debt. Do that over months/years and you will be debt free. You need to stay out of the habit of buying things with money you don’t have. Good Luck.
Downgrade your car 400 is 400 dollars to much for your income. Start selling plasma or work on getting a better income.
Try using either the Avalanche or the Snowball method to bring down your debt. There are YouTube videos that have extensive information on these two methods.