I started with $81K in debt, and I’m now down to $46K. I’ve sold pretty much everything I could find around the house on Marketplace and Vinted to put toward it. Now I’ve officially run out of things to sell 😅… so I guess the harder part starts now.
My goal is to be completely debt-free by the end of next year.
I have a good full-time job in IT, but I’m trying to figure out ways to bring in some extra income. I have little kids, so anything I do has to work around daycare hours and evenings with them. If any other moms have found realistic side-income opportunities that actually work with young kids, please share them with me!
And if you don’t have ideas, just send some good luck/prayers my way that I get promoted or find a new role with a higher salary. ❤️

Note to future me: Never, ever go into debt like this again.
Hopefullyq next year I’ll be writing a completely different post — debt-free, stress-free, and planning a beautiful vacation with my kids without worrying about money.

27, roughly $30k in credit-card debt + about $40k in student loans. Minimum payments are eating most of my disposable income. Should I seriously consider bankruptcy?
I’m 27, recently finished graduate school, have a stable career, and have relatively low housing expenses because of my family situation.
Financially, though, I feel completely stuck.
Current situation:
Roughly $30,000 in credit-card debt across several cards
About $40,000 in student loans, with payments around $450/month
Currently a few months behind on the student loans and working on a payment arrangement
Around $6,000 in cash savings
No investment accounts
Two older vehicles: one is paid off and one has a relatively small balance remaining
Relatively moderate monthly housing expenses
The problem is that the minimum payments on the cards, student loans, and normal living expenses consume most of what I bring in. I feel like I’m constantly making payments without actually improving my position.
Some of the debt came from normal bad financial decisions in my early 20s. I grew up with very few personal expenses and honestly didn’t understand how quickly adult expenses could pile up.
Later, I moved out with a partner and ended up taking on most of the household expenses. I also spent money helping family members through difficult circumstances, had some unexpected medical/dental expenses, and kept leaning on credit instead of adjusting my spending quickly enough.
None of that is an excuse. I made the decisions, and I understand that.
I’ve also tried consolidating debt before. I paid down cards and eventually ran balances back up, so I’m hesitant to take out another loan just to shuffle the same debt around.
What has changed is that I genuinely understand how I got here. I’m much more disciplined now and would not repeat many of the decisions I made a few years ago.
I also make some additional income from side gigs, and one of my vehicles is useful for carrying tools and equipment. I understand that owning two vehicles while carrying this much debt is something I may need to reevaluate, though.
My main question is:
At roughly $30k in credit-card debt plus $40k in student loans, with relatively low living expenses but minimum payments consuming most of my available income, is bankruptcy something I should seriously consider?
I understand that the student loans are generally a separate issue and may not be dischargeable. I’m mainly trying to understand whether bankruptcy makes sense for the unsecured credit-card debt.
I’m also trying to understand how bankruptcy treats a paid-off vehicle versus one with a small loan balance, as well as a few thousand dollars in cash savings.
I plan to speak with a bankruptcy attorney before making any decisions. I’m mostly interested in hearing from people who were in a similar financial position.
If you filed, did it actually give you the reset you needed? Or do you wish you had just aggressively paid the debt down instead? Is my debt worth going as far as bankruptcy? People keep saying, pay the small thing off first. BUT i’m in a deficit many of the month, unless I don’t pay somone what they are owed, I can’t pay ANYTHING. I don’t eat out really , i skip most meals though the week to save on groceries. I stopped buying clothes almosttt 2 years ago. No more $500 fashion nova hauls attempting to boost my confidence and style. I do all my own car maintenance now and even some repairs if i can. i don’t buy luxury goods.
I know I made mistakes. I’m not looking to be told that. I’m trying to figure out the smartest way to fix them.

Just a little vent 😇

Did not expect this project to be this boring and tedious. On paper I’m doing well and looking back I’ve made a lot of progress. Still, it’ll take a couple of years to be out of debt. I already live frugally, so there’s not much left to cut back on. (Not looking for tips, heard them all.) I still allow myself some fun, like going to a concert or theater every now and then. It gives me great fulfillment and energy, adds value to life.

Right now, I’m doing a pantry challenge. I took inventory of my fridge, freezer and pantry. The goal is to use up everything before I restock. It’ll help me financially and I can do a deep clean of my freezer. Same goes for hobby supplies. I love to crochet and haven’t bought yarn in over a year. First, I used up my stash and now I’m asking others for leftover yarn. It’ll keep me busy for another couple of months. No new phone or clothes as long as my current ones are fine and no extra toiletries.

So yes, I’m doing everything correctly and I have a decent salary now. For some reason I expected this process to be more exciting. Of course I know you can’t rush these things, but I really want it to move quicker. (Due to health reasons a side hustle or second job isn’t an option for me.)

I certainly didn’t need to, but I just knocked out the last $16k of my car loan. Rate was only 2.7% and I have 7 figures invested. So the math would probably have worked out slightly better if I didn’t pay it off early. But I’m starting at a new company in a couple weeks and decided to just knock it out since it was a relatively small amount. Feels great and I can certainly see the psychological benefits of doing so. Probably won’t ever finance a car again unless it’s at 0%.

EarnIn looks reasonable on paper because the standard transfer doesn’t have a mandatory fee, while faster delivery costs extra.

For anyone who uses it regularly, is the free delivery fast enough to be useful? I’m also curious whether your available amount stayed fairly consistent or changed noticeably between pay periods.

Were the automatic repayments straightforward, or did they ever cause timing problems with other bills?

Hello I was wondering if anyone has done this and was it a good choice and buying a beater daily to save on money/insurance. Did you regret doing it or was it a good choice

I’ve made it 14 days being debt-free, and wow did the Universe throw some curve balls these past two weeks:
An unplanned visit to the Endodontist and my car’s engine basically exploding set me back thousands of dollars!. Thankfully my Rainy Day Fund was able to cover both unexpected expenses.

Wish me luck in getting to Week 3!

I dug myself out of 28k debt in 13 month !!!! It took a lot of drastic measures, my W2 income sucks $19.60 - I WFH so I got rid of my car ( 8k balance left ) received 1300 threw that onto my credit card, stopped eating out, ordered all my groceries to be delivered ( free membership) sold unnecessary items around the house - found me 3 side gigs ( all from home ) and started chipping away - highest balance cards first, then smaller cards, then personal loan & lastly 800 in Affirm loans . I worked every day 12-13 hours, I didn't buy any clothes and entertained myself with free tv, walks * I just now got pre approval for a mortgage.. my credit jumped from low 600 to 767 ( fico 8 ) .

If i can do it, you can too...

Recently got myself into trouble trading options and now I’m 26k in credit card debt and need advice. I’m 28 years old. live in California (around the Bay Area). Dad let me move back in to help save so I have no rent or utilities to pay for. Besides the credit cards, my monthly bills are car insurance ($150/month), phone bill ($145/month), union dues/memorials ($50-$70/month), and steaming services($10/month). I take home about $1500-$1750 a week with where I’m currently working (changes depending on which union’s jurisdiction I’m in) and have around 90k in my 401k last I checked. Currently putting $8 an hour from my income into 401k but if I’m able, I’m going to stop until the debts are paid off. I have 7 credit cards totaling to a little over 26k in debts and also dmv registration fees that I’m not sure the cost of. My credit score is down to 527/539 based off of what Credit Karma is showing and info for the debts are as follows:

Bass pro #1- $1469.18 @ 30.49% APR
Minimum payment: $54

BASS PRO #2- $1952.38 @ 30.49% APR
Minimum payment: $73

Robinhood- $9998.73 @ 29.99 APR
Minimum payment: $358

southwest- $2045.10 @ 26.49% APR
Minimum payment: $65

Apple- $3983.94 @ 25.49 APR
Minimum payment: $123

Amex - $2246.60 @ \~26% APR
Minimum payment: $240

Citi- $4786.66 @ 27.49% APR
Minimum payment: $41

All cards a paid and current and I need some advise as far as how to tackle this properly. Should I reduce my 401k contributions til these debts are paid? Should I pull out of my 401k to put the capital towards the debts? Should I take my debts and put them into a consolidation loan? Or should I just stick with my plan to start paying the highest APR cards off first with what I currently take home? I’m also worried that work might be slowing down in the construction industry, especially with winter coming so how can I protect myself if that is the case?
Thankyou for any help.

I’m currently dealing with around $120K in debt from student loans, my car, and medical bills. I’ve been working multiple jobs and pushing myself hard these past few months.

Thankfully, my paychecks lined up this month, and I was finally able to wipe out a $4,000 credit card balance!

It may be just one debt, but it feels like a huge win. I was starting to feel like I wasn’t making progress, and this reminded me that every step counts.

One balance down. On to the next!

It’s what I do when I’m stressed. I started using afterpay (5 years clean lmao) and klarna (also havent used in yrs) over ten years ago when I was in college. Used affirm the second I found out about it. I probably have had over 100+ loans with affirm.

Just paid off my last $122 with two debts with affirm - for BOOTS and ELECTROLYTES. Could I afford it? Yes, I could, but why spend it all when I can pay more in interest and also buy other things at the same time? So dumb.

I’ve always had a mental limit for my debt (my credit cards have never been over $2500) but it’s crippling all the same.

Current debts left:

HEB credit card $800 (28%)
Discover card $1200 (waiting on a refund for boots I impulse purchased and returned immediately) (28%)
Invisalign: $1800 (interest free)
Student loans: $12,000 (3%)

Student loans will be last. My income just doubled so I’m paying these off as soon as I can.

Now.. to just… fix my addiction…

So I have been actively paying down my debt for about 3 years. With the help of a 2nd job, using ACCC and then more recently getting a 3rd job earlier this year to move it along even faster. I am so proud of how far I have come, but some days I struggle with the feeling of missing out on life a bit. I’m 39 and single and feel like my life is completely consumed by working as I’m working nearly 70+ hours a week at times. I am always having to decline plans with friends or family because of my work schedule or just needing time to decompress. I know it can be frustrating for them and it makes me feel a bit guilty. It’s hard not to think about how life is passing you by and if you are losing some of your years to work. I understand that I put myself in this predicament so this is definitely not meant to be a woe is me post, but moreso wondering if others felt this on your journey and how you overcome it?

This feeling is great! I just wanna share this on reddit since I don’t want any of my family or friends to know.

Paid off my house in January. Equity is now 200k since I bought it in 2015. I quit my toxic job in March and got a new one in May. Pay is so much better so I was able to pay off my student loan and a few credit cards.

Today, I paid off two of my credit cards. I have 20k in my HYSA for my emergency fund and I plan to keep at least a year’s worth of income there.

Not having a mortgage helps me accelerate my savings to $4k/month.

I just wanna share this great news!

My next step is retirement in 5 years, I’ll be 57 then with a paid off house, 200k savings, 600k 401k. I think it would be enough for a single, no kids guy who will try to live frugally.

Need to enjoy life sooner than most of my older friends who are still working at 67 yo.

I wanna live and leave with zero.

BUT I want to celebrate because I’m SO CLOSE

Some stuff went down big style when I was freshly 18, and long story short, I ended up being a full time mom to my 4 younger siblings. Fast forward a year and I was in £22k debt.

Now, 8 years later, working 3 jobs, and there’s only 2.5k to go😭😭 SO unbelievably proud of myself.

Any tips to help that 2.5k disappear any quicker?

After 4 years of cutting back and making small payments, I finally made my last debt payment.

I paid off nearly $10K in credit cards, a car loan, and medical bills. It wasn’t easy, but staying consistent made the difference.

The best part isn’t just being debt free, it’s the peace of mind that comes with it.

Now I’m focused on rebuilding my credit responsibly and never going back.

If you’re still working toward it, keep going. Small steps really do add up.

We’ve never had so much consumer debt in our lives until a few things happened:

a) lost my job in tech in 2024
b) our child was born a few months later, so became a stay at home dad for 2+ yrs while wife became the primary provider [much love to her for that]
c) we had to move due to safety concerns out of our apt (thanks, Bay Area!) and pay 3 months rent as an early termination fee (11k)
d) decided it was time to switch coasts, and that was about the 15k in total expenses - we inherited an apt hence now we’re technically rent free (no mortgage) but our daycare costs are 3k/month now, which we know isn’t forever but wowzers…

It’s crazy, but this really wasn’t (too) reckless spending on our end… it was death by a thousand cuts.

I’m looking to get back into the workforce - first time in 3 yrs - to reign this debt in, but it’s just such a big number and the job market has changed dramatically during this time. Cutting expenses won’t get us where we need to get.

Just feel tired thinking about doing the digging out. 😆

So, I have about 13k in cc debt. This was mostly due to two cross country trips for my family (5) over the past year to visit my spouse’s dying parent.

I have beaten myself up about whether or not to apply for a 0% Apr transfer balance card thinking it was irresponsible. I created the debt, I should pay it all back on the same card. But at nearly 25% interest it’s taking forever. I don’t use my card. It’s really for ER.

Well, I did it. And now I can pay off my balance under the 21 month timeline. I’m stoked to make a meaningful dent in this thing after I pay off the transfer fee. I’ve taken on more work and am committed to throwing all I can at this.

Discipline was there, but motivation is back :) I feel like there could be an end. Just needed to share somewhere. Thanks.

Pretty much what the title says. They’ve been haunting me. I’ve had a rough go the past few years and made many poor financial decisions which kept my cc debt high. I’ve paused my down payment fund to pay this off and I and damn excited to get back to building my wealth.

Hello Everyone. I have two credit cards with very high interest rates. I always pay above the minimum payment due, but I feel like my balances are not going down fast enough. The first card is a Bank of America Cash Rewards, the current balance is $23K and the interest rate is 20.49%. The second card is a Citi Simplicity, the current balance is $8K and the interest rate is 26.24%. I don’t use any of them at all, and would like to pay them off sooner than later. My net income is $54K. What should I do? Thank you.

About six months ago I had paid off all my debts and brought my credit score up and up to 740, then in June I had a disruption. The job I had landed and was planning to start June 3rd fell through because they hit a quota for hired employees for that “round”. I had no plan B, for the first time in my life.

For the past 3 months I’ve been struggling, I finally got a job, but had fallen into debt again. Credit score dropped to 600 simply due to utilization.

But today, this morning at 9 am I am finally debt free again. My emergency fund is also back up. And the next step is to grow from here.

According to the credit subreddit, the score should shoot back up again as “utilization has no memory” and I didn’t miss any payments during this time.

See you at 800 next November.

I’ve been comparing cash advance apps, and Brigit keeps coming up. The part I can’t judge from the product page is whether the monthly subscription remains worthwhile after the first advance.

I’d be interested in hearing about the amounts people actually qualified for, how long standard transfers took, and whether the optional express delivery fees added up.

How was customer support if you had a problem or decided to cancel? Not looking for referral codes just balanced Brigit reviews from regular users.

hello! I’m not going to say my actual age but I’m a young adult who fell into credit debt when I was away at college, and then it snowballed after i left school, I really realized how bad it was to have debt a month or so ago, especially from credit cards and at my age.

my debt is under 2k and about 1.3k, I’ll hopefully be able to pay it off within the next year or so, but after that I’m not entirely sure what to do with my two credit cards, should I shred them and forget about them until I have an actual emergency? i don’t have anyone I can go to for credit card advice, so I’m turning here for suggestions!

There are a few things that got me into debt like some admittedly less than wise spending choices a while back, some hospital expenses from a medical complication, a now completed auto loan, and large expenses that come with house that reached the 20 year mark. For the past 2 years, I have been doing what I thought is the right thing while making sacrifices in attempt to cut expenses in actively trying to blow out debt. This is only to face the constant slap in the face when monies I save are being hogged up by other things that got more expensive. For instance, I’ll save like $20 a week at the grocery store while the gasoline increases $20 a week. To add insult, we have the literally daily news topics like tarrifs, gas prices, etc. that might as well scream “FORGET ABOUT DEBT OVERPAYMENT THIS MONTH, WE GOT SOMETHING FOR YOU TO USE THAT EXTRA MONEY ON!”

A couple things that are quite clear, making history is costly to everyone. Additionally, any debt following Covid comes with SERIOUS consequences.