Agressively paydown debt?

Question

I have CC debt from college (paid for part of my school with it). I have a dillema though, I can either aggresively pay down the debt which would leave me with $200 bucks a paycheck for savings, buying things I want, basically extra after EVERYTHING is paid and be debt free in 12 months.

Or

be debt free in 18 months and have $433 left over from every check.

Or

be debt free in 3 years and have $650 every paycheck

I am 24 right now and I want to save money but it feels like if I go too aggressive I won't have much money to save after I pay all of these bills. The credit cards are (8.9, 5.6, and 6.9 APR...so its not TOO high) and I would live to save up to buy a house/condo within the next 2 years. Is the 3 year thing a bad Idea?

Answer 1

Pay down your debt as quickly as possible, this will also help you with a mortgage application.

Answer 2

Get out of debt as soon as you can.  Then your money (all of it, not $200 or $650, etc) is yours to do what you like with it.  Also, sacrificing now will save you money in the long term because you'll pay less interest.

Answer 3

Pay down the debt, CC rates will go up.  Once car is paid off (the best raise you can give yourself) roll that payment into CC payments.

Beside paying down the CC will help your rate on a bigger purchase.

Answer 4

3 Years is definately a bad idea I would go as aggressively as you can stand. Once you get ahead if you have a month that you need extra cash you can make a minimum payment but if you can stand it jump on that with both feet and get it knocked out. The feeling of being debt free is worth more than you can imagine. The champion of finances is daveramsey.com check out some of his archives of people doing it right and hear stories of people doing it badly wrong. His radio show is an inspiration to put things off until you can afford it. His slogan is "live like no one else so later you can live like no one else."

Answer 5

Take advice from someone who has gotten into credit trouble.. PAY AWAY YOUR DEBT. If you pay out in 12 months and have 200 a check to put away.. you'll have months 13-36 to have no debt and save up faster in the long run. God forbid something happens to your income, you dont want to miss those payments cause they pile up fast.