How to allocate a large cash gift

[wildcatfan]

A few months ago, I was offered a position making roughly 10k more than what I currently make. I love my current job and after some in depth conversations with my boss, decided to stay with the promise that the money situation would be handled shortly, either through a promotion or some other form. He recently came to me and told me that he would like to personally give me a large cash gift since a raise at work, or promotion would not be possible right now. I can't find anything ethically wrong with receiving a gift of this nature from a superior.

So my question is, where do I put the money? I've got limited savings, but enough for some unforeseen circumstances (~$1000) and have been working on paying down the debt emergency my wife and I created shortly after college. Also, are there better options than these that I'm not thinking about?

Credit Card 1: $300
Credit Card 2: $3400
Personal Loan 1: $4900
Personal Loan 2: $5200
Student Loan: $16000

[Pooperman]

Start with the highest interest and work your way down. If interest is less than 3% and will never go up, ignore it and invest. If you have 0% CC debt, I may go for those first simply because the apr on those can get insane if unforeseen circumstances happen more than planned for.

[SwordGuy]

The interest rates on the debt matters.  So does your cash flow.  How hard is it to get by each month?
So does your current pay down rate.  If you'll be done with the debt in a year anyway, you might make a different decision than you would if it would be 5 years.

[Will]

You should go to http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx and enter all your numbers and it will tell you.

[Calvawt]

That seems like a strange turn of events.  Did he explain why it was not possible?


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