Hey guys,
Thanks so much for the above advice. My spending is clearly my biggest problem; I've began to address this by getting a roommate and sticking to a budget - but I still have a ways to go. Before finalizing a strategy, I wanted to first take the original commenters advice and add some extra details about my income, spending, and interest rates of each of the debts below - in order to know how 'how big my shovel is.' If possible, could you let me know if these details provide any further insight to my situation and might possibly affect the above strategies? Again, at the risk of this seeming like a double-post, I was originally interested in exploring the idea of a low APR loan loan that would:
- Help pay-off what I owe immediately and avoid the heavy interest
- Help my Credit Score
BUT, based on the badass comments above, it sounds like there is a more effective 'hybrid' strategy I should follow here. Let me know if the added details below might inform a debt strategy any further.
Updated Debt outline w/ Income:Immediate Concern: $14,192In Collections from shoulder surgery - $3,000 (20% interest) - MONTHLY: $100
Credit Card Debt - $4,800 (Chase Sapphire) - (16.99% APR) - MONTHLY: $145
Fed Taxes owed : $4,075 (4% interest) - MONTHLY: $150
^ this will go down to a little over ~$1,500 after I file taxes in Jan 2018
State Taxes owed: $2317 w/ high interest - MONTHLY: $100
^ this will go down to a little over ~$1,600 after I file taxes in Jan 2018
Medium Concern Total: $1,200CMRE Bill: $1,200
Long-Term Concern Total: $6,568 FFEL: Subsidized Stafford Student Loan: $3,012 - (5.75% Fixed) - MONTHLY: $63.00
FFEL: UnSubsidized Stafford Student Loan: $1,263 - (6.55% Fixed): MONTHLY: $30.00
^
Student Stafford Loan - $2,293 (6.8% Fixed) - MONTHLY: $54.00
MY INCOMEIncome: $4,086 a month (after tax)
Spending: ~ $3740 (includes above monthlies)
Leftover = ~ $346
Again, It seems to me that if I moved this debt over to a low APR loan or CC, this would immediately remove my Collections amount and allow me to pay down my Chase CC debt, leaving me with a low monthly payment that I can raise as I increase my income. Then again, not sure how getting this loan would affect my credit, or if this strategy is just not worth pursuing. The low APR CC along with raising my monthlies sounds like a good bet, wanted to double-check here with you.
Regardless, my main focus now is reducing my spending as much as possible and moving this saved money into the high APR debts ASAP. If there is any other insight or advice out there, I'm all ears!!
Sorry for a repetitive post, but I just wanted to make sure all pertinent information is available before moving forward.
Thank you again, hopefully there's a way I can repay the favor to each of you down the road :-)