A while back I was in pretty bad credit card debt due to school, repairs, and, to be honest, several years of not great financial decisions. I ended up getting approved for a personal loan last year and was able to pay off almost all of that debt. However, I moved back out on my own a few months later and due to paying rent, power, etc, along with having to do a few thousand dollars of work on my car and continual medical expenses, I am now in worse debt than I was before.
I’m trying to get approved for another personal loan to consolidate my payments but I’m trying to find other solutions in the meantime to help me get at least a little ahead. I have a good credit score and a full-time job; however, I’m still barely getting by.
Does anyone have any advice, tips, or tricks?
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I feel your pain. Pick the smallest item you owe. Pay a little more on it than the others, use any rebates (Do you do Ibotta? Ibotta to Paypal to your own bank account), refunds etc. to pay off that debt. It will seem like a drop in the bucket - but will give you the feeling that you have accomplished something in paying off that debt. How many savings accounts do you have? I use three 1 for medical 1 for taxes and 1 for personal enjoyment. They do not give me much interest - but they are there for rainy days - I used direct deposit and started out small - $10 - $15 a month and as my salary grew, added more. That also gave me a feeling of accomplishing something and provided a rainy day fund for me. If you are paying off debt - your need to balance it by paying yourself in the future by saving. Every night put your change in a jar - I take a jar (in turn) to the different banks every 3 to 6 months and add between $100 and $300 to the savings account. I don’t spend change - I pay myself with it.
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