Changing my game plan 1/2 through?

[my4fireflies]

So I've been paying down a ridiculous amount of credit card debt. I've paid off 22k of my total debt in 1 year and 10 months.  Long story short, we lived on one income and credit cards when our sons were sick and I was unable to work because I stayed home to care for them. I now have been working for about 4 years. I work two part time jobs. One of my jobs is about to end, and I'd really like to not have to work 40+ hours a week. We have 4 children, 2 with special needs and I actually feel like I might lose my mind if something doesn't give. I don't know the date that this job will end. It's in home elder care. Could be today, could be 4 months from now, but clearly my client is declining rapidly.
So, I have been snowballing my debt payoffs. Now I'm at a crossroads. I owe just about the same amt on a credit card as I do on my car. The minimum on the credit is $160, car payment is $400. Now logic tells me I save money by paying off the cc with the 19% interest rate, but fear tells me to pay off the car so when my job ends I can pay less on minimum payments in my budget. I have ranked my debts in the order I ORIGINALLY had planned to pay them. Let me know what you think.  My current budget is as follows:

CC #1 @22% balance: $1700   current monthly payment: $800
CC #2 @18% balance: $8000 current monthly payment: $180
Car      @ 6% balance: $7500 current monthly payment: $400
CC#3. @ 0% balance: $1300 current monthly payment:  $135
College@5% balance$21,500 current monthly payment:$315
 

[kpd905]

Are you paying extra on credit card #2?  Or is $180 the minimum?

I would pay the minimum on everything but CC #1, throw all extra money at that card because the rate is horrible.  Then move on to CC #2 when #1 is gone.

[ooeei]

You know that the math works better on paying the credit card, so whether that is worth it to you is not something we can decide. 

FWIW: 

Interest per year on $8000@18% = $1440
Interest per year on $7500@6% = $450

So assuming you pay off one of these this year, and one next year, the difference between the two is about $1000 depending on the order you pay them in.

[frugaliknowit]

I think it would be helpful if you added a "minimum payment" collumn to your analysis and also inform us as to what your monthly budget is for the snowball.

[erutio]

Are you able to open up a new 0% balance transfer card and consolidate cards 1 and 2 onto it?  That would lower your interest rates and minimum payments temporarily and give you some wiggle room.

[Goldielocks]

Are you able to open up a new 0% balance transfer card and consolidate cards 1 and 2 onto it?  That would lower your interest rates and minimum payments temporarily and give you some wiggle room.

I was thinking something similar, but just open a lower interest credit card or get a loan at under 12%..  Now that $22k is paid off AND you have two jobs, you should qualify for a personal loan at a lower interest rate.

Get the loan NOW while you still have that second job.

Move CC1 and CC2 onto the new personal loan... then close them down.

[my4fireflies]

I like the idea of the personal loan. I looked into  transferring the cc debt to a promotional card. After the transfer fee, the savings wasn't all that much, AND if anything goes awry and I don't get the card paid off in time I am kinda screwed on the interest. The minimum payments are:

CC #1: min: $75, I currently pay $800
CC #2: min: $160 I currently pay $180
Car, CC #3, and school loans are all at minimum payments right now.

[kpd905]

I like the idea of the personal loan. I looked into  transferring the cc debt to a promotional card. After the transfer fee, the savings wasn't all that much, AND if anything goes awry and I don't get the card paid off in time I am kinda screwed on the interest. The minimum payments are:

CC #1: min: $75, I currently pay $800
CC #2: min: $160 I currently pay $180
Car, CC #3, and school loans are all at minimum payments right now.

Stop paying extra toward CC #2 and direct that $20 to CC #1.

I plotted all of your debt into Unbury.us and put in your $1830 of total payments in avalanche mode.

It has the following payoff dates:

CC #1: February 2017
CC #2: October 2017
Car: December 2017
CC #3: September 2017
College: November 2018

Depending on when your 2nd job ends, and if you might try to find another one for a bit, you could be debt free relatively quickly.  I would at least get rid of CC #1 and then maybe do a balance transfer with #2 if your job ends.

[KCM5]

How much money do you make from your second job that you'll be losing?

It's all well and good to do the avalanche mode (fantastic, actually), but that only works if you can pay more than your minimums. Will you be able to pay more than your minimums once this job ends?

[my4fireflies]

I will not be able to pay more than the minimum when this job ends. My hours vary depending on what the client needs, but I make between $800-1600/mo. I live rurally, so I anticipate that finding another job may take a few months. Ideally, I'd like to not have to find work, but I don't mind working with an end goal in sight. I need and WANT To keep my other part time job. That $ is already an absolute in the family budget.

[erutio]

I like the idea of the personal loan. I looked into  transferring the cc debt to a promotional card. After the transfer fee, the savings wasn't all that much, AND if anything goes awry and I don't get the card paid off in time I am kinda screwed on the interest. The minimum payments are:

CC #1: min: $75, I currently pay $800
CC #2: min: $160 I currently pay $180
Car, CC #3, and school loans are all at minimum payments right now.

I'm sorry, but I'm not buying the math here. 
A 0% BT card for 18 months will probably have a 3% transfer fee, so 3% of 9700 is $271.   The 18-22% interest over the 18 months will be well over $1000, even with the extra payments.
Unless you can't qualify for one of those cards right now, I'd say that is still the way to go. 

If you goal is to reduce your monthly minimum payments as you say in the original post, what you could do is make the BT, then start making the extra payments on the car, while making the min payments on the CC.  In 18 months, you could apply for another zero percent BT transfer card and make a BT one more time.  With as aggressive as you have been paying down your debt, I think you'd have that CC debt paid off by the end of those 36 months. 

[KCM5]

I will not be able to pay more than the minimum when this job ends. My hours vary depending on what the client needs, but I make between $800-1600/mo. I live rurally, so I anticipate that finding another job may take a few months. Ideally, I'd like to not have to find work, but I don't mind working with an end goal in sight. I need and WANT To keep my other part time job. That $ is already an absolute in the family budget.

In this case, I'd find a 3% balance transfer offer and transfer as much as you KNOW you'll be able to pay in their timeline without a 2nd job (18 mo? 2 years? I don't know what these generally are). If it's all of CC#1 and CC#2, then hammer on the car loan. Otherwise, hammer on the higher interest loans.

And find another 2nd job once this one ends. I know it'd be great not to have to, but right now you have to. Once you have the CCs paid off, then you can reassess.

[letthelightin]

When I was looking at paying off my car loans & student loans a few years ago, I ended up using this calculator from Vertex42 (it's an Excel download). It's really versatile, and you can use it to compare payoff dates/total interest paid using different pay down strategies, making one time extra payments, etc. I still regularly use this calculator- it's one of my favorite internet finds ever!

Here is the link to where you can get the calculator: http://www.vertex42.com/Calculators/debt-reduction-calculator.html

As far as a paydown strategy goes, if I were in your shoes, and was fairly sure my job would be ending soon and another would take a while to find, I would definitely consider paying down the car more quickly. I am a bit more risk averse and would be ok with paying a little more interest to have more breathing room month-to-month in the case of a job loss. I think opening a low % balance transfer credit card is probably also a good option, although I don't know much about them and would research that more before diving in.

Best of luck to you! 

[kpd905]

Before going for the 3% balance transfer offers, go for a 0% balance transfer offer with Chase Slate.

[my4fireflies]

So here's what I did:

I paid off the jeep loan and the pellet stove cc/loan in Dec/Jan. I transferred the remaining cc debt to a low interest card, introductory 1.99% for 18 months. The APR on that card is 7.5% after the introductory rate. On my current plan I will done paying off the 8K in cc debt by the end of June, long before the into rate is up. The only thing I will have left then is the school loan. I am going to build my savings AND double my payment on the school loan. I am not comfortable with only 1K in emergency savings. I will do this until I have 3 months worth of living expenses saved, then I will hit the school loan with everything I've got to finish it off.

So, how'd I do? Am I doing this right?

[KCM5]

That's fantastic! Nice work!

Are you still at your second job?

[my4fireflies]

Yes. I adore that job, even tho it's minimum wage and only 15 hours a week. I'm a librarian's assistant at our teeny tiny town library. It's very relaxing, no drama, low key. It's social at times, and it doesn't feel like work at all. My plan is to keep that job, dedicate more time to simple living, de-cluttering, growing/canning our own food, and raising chickens and turkeys for meat/eggs.  I already do all of this, but now I will be able to dedicate more time to it to be even more cost effective. I also need to spend more time assisting my 2 autistic 19 year old twins to become more independent, learn how to access services that can help them live independently. They don't drive and we live rurally, so they have been "stuck" at home until now.

[letthelightin]

It sounds like your plan is working out well so far! How do you feel about it? It was a great feeling for me when I was finally able to start paying off my car loans and student loans; I hope this has been a similarly fulfilling experience for you! Thanks for the update, and keep up the good work!

[my4fireflies]

I feel pretty good about this. Just paid off another cc, on to the very last one. 4.9K balance. Originally I was thinking it would be paid off in June but may have to wait til the end of July. Dh and I have small vacations planned in June (he is going fishing with a buddy and I am going to Mother Earth Festival). This will delay the debt pay-off by 2-3 weeks and now that the Jeep is paid off it is making a HORRIBLE noise .lol  I forget what dh thinks it is but he is figuring 1K to fix that. That will wipe out our savings, and Uncle Sam is owed $500 in April. But the most AMAZING part is WE HAVE ENOUGH $ to handle all of this without being in jeopardy of losing our home!

[Mr. Green]

I feel pretty good about this. Just paid off another cc, on to the very last one. 4.9K balance. Originally I was thinking it would be paid off in June but may have to wait til the end of July. Dh and I have small vacations planned in June (he is going fishing with a buddy and I am going to Mother Earth Festival). This will delay the debt pay-off by 2-3 weeks and now that the Jeep is paid off it is making a HORRIBLE noise .lol  I forget what dh thinks it is but he is figuring 1K to fix that. That will wipe out our savings, and Uncle Sam is owed $500 in April. But the most AMAZING part is WE HAVE ENOUGH $ to handle all of this without being in jeopardy of losing our home!

That feeling of knowing you can make it through the rough spots makes it all worth it.

[marty998]

Congrats on the improvement, well done in the face of adversity :)

[Cassie]

Since your 19 yo sons have a disability please contact your local Vocational Rehabilitation office for assistance. It is a federal program that is administered by the states. It will either be called the Bureau of VR or Department of VR depending on your state. They help people with disabilities enter the workforce and can provide job training, job coaches, etc. They can also refer you to services such as training to ride a bus, how to live with minimal support such as group homes or how to live independently.  It is based on income if you have to pay at all but most people don't pay a thing unless they have a very high income. YOur taxes pay for this program and you should definitely look into it.  I spent 25 years working in this program and there are many success stories. Good luck!