Overhaulin' - Paying off debt?

Paying off debt?

I calculated all of my debt today, with student loans, car and personal loans, I owe $ 53,000.00....I don't have any credit cards...I really want to pay this off as fast as possible...what can I do, to do that...I make all of my payments on time...but my credit score still sucks...how can I make the score get better ? I wish I could have 53000 and pay it all off in cash ...lol...I want to start off fresh... I am a single mom of a little girl, I work 40 hours a week, but am still living paycheck to paycheck...this is really stressing me out... does anyone have an idea how to solve my problem and make our life easier...I want to have a future and leave my little girl with something in life...:(

Public Comments

gotta try and cut out everything you really dont need, and dont pay the minimum balance when bills come in pay over as much as you can even if its a few bucks, its very hard to get out of debt especially when you have "life" bills (food, gas, rent etc.) but its possible just takes time
this will take you a while, but you can do it, the thing to keep in mind is that you are getting better-off every month the usual advice is to try to make sure you pay off the highest interest loan first, that should not be that difficult to determine pay minimum amount on the lower interest loans and pay as much as you can on the highest one then when you get one paid off you still pay that same amount to the next highest interest loan there are books that explain this with examples and so forth; car debt is one of the worst because a car is worth less $$$ every day & every mile
Hi, there is really no simple answer except to reduce your spending and allocate a great portion of your take home pay to paying off debts. If you haven't done this already make a plan starting with a budget. One of my favorite is the 60% solution for 20 Something's. Allocate 60% to your basic monthly living expenses, 15% to savings, 15% to paying down debt and 10% mad money i.e., do whatever you want with it. Take a hard look at where you are wasting money, i.e., spending on things you don't absolutely need and then stop. Maybe you need to look at a cheaper place to live, getting a better job, asking for a raise, saving money on child care expenses by sharing costs and responsibilities with close friends or family members. Is the majority of you debt in school loans? What rate is your car loan? Are you renting? Are you saving all you can on taxes? What state do you live in?
The answer is simple. You need to increase your income and/or reduce your expenses. Easy to say, but probably hard to execute. Income - Does the father of your child contribute to the child's care? If not why not? Can you get a better job, work more hours, get a second job? Expenses - Car loan? Can you sell the car, replace it with a cheaper one? How about where you live. A smaller or cheaper place? A roommate? Other expenses? Too numerous to get into all of them here, but can you cut more of them? There is no simple answer. Sacrifices need to be made. I wish you the best of luck.
I don't want to sound pessimistic, but you would need to have some sort of credit, so that you can borrow, refi, consolidate your bills. Or do you have a house or other property, that you can use as collateral? Lastly, what I would suggest, if you can' t utilize any of the above ideas, is to talk to and try to make arrangements for smaller interest rates, then if you can get a hold of some extra money, maybe you can pay off one item before time, then take that extra money and start paying off the next bill. And so on, and so on until all your bills are paid off. Unless someone is going to lend you the money, or help you pay some of these items off, this is the only way I see you doing it. You can still try to put some extra money away for you and your daughter, and hopefully you have a 401k plan at work.
As long as you continue with on-time payments and don't pile up new debt, it'll get easier as time goes on because the balances will go down, your score will improve so you'll be able to re-finance. There is no magic solution to make it easier quickly, just discipline, discipline, discipline.
You're going to have to find some ways to budget more money into reducing your debt. There's a great resource for learning about budgeting here: http://www.thepennymine.com/budgeting-basics/ Once you've reduced your monthly spending you should also decide whether it's worth getting a second job to which you put all of the funds from that job towards your debt. It will definitely be tough if you choose to go that route, but even working an extra 10 hours per week could end up saving you thousands of dollars of interest over the years. Use the article I posted to learn about budgeting and do your best to pay off that debt for both yourself and your little girl. Good luck!
Take up a second job. You can try freelance writing, bookkeeping, software, transcription or customer service work at home jobs. These companies do not require any fee and pay well . List of companies(with websites) offering genuine work at home jobs is available at http://www.pcworkathome.net . Many of these companies have been in business for several years
Well I don't have much to add to what others have said except to say that you shouldn't additionally burden yourself with the thought that you should be "leaving" your daughter with "something." In fact, life with a little difficulty is what more people need today. She will understand the value of hard work, necessary committment, the value of a dollar, and more, much better than others who grow up with everything given to them, many of whom have lives that fall apart once adult-hood hits. So at least realize there is a value in the challenge, as long as you handle it with maturity and without the moral hazard of somehow cheating your way out of it.
As an addition to all that has been said above, find a financial planner/advisor/analyst in your are and have them take a look. They should be able to recommend a few changes that could have a ripple effect on that debt and to help stop the paycheck to paycheck syndrome.
Its not going to happen overnight - You are single - one girl - you should be getting alot back from taxes every year(because of earned income credit) put that towards these bills - the lower one first - I'd save the student loans for the end - do the personal loans first - car loan - and then student. And, cut out things you don't need. what I do is - i pay my bills- pay myself into savings - and then the rest is money we spend on food etc.
Look at all your debts. Work out what debt has the highest interest rate. Then, pay minimums on all the other debts, and extra on the one with the highest rate, until it is cleared. Then, move that extra money onto the second highest interest rate loan, while paying minimum repayments on the others. Keep doing this. It will take a while, but it's the most efficient way to pay off your debts. It will save you the most interest and use your money in the most efficient way. Your best bet will be to just focus on paying more on the debts. Try to live on 90% of what you make, and put that extra 10% into the debts. Keep doing that until you're debt free. The faster you pay out the debts, the sooner you can get in control of your finances. Once you've paid off the debts, have your employer transfer 10% of your income at least into a high interest rate savings account. That means you don't see the money on payday. After a few weeks, you'll be used to living on less money, and your savings will be earning some interest. Consider getting a boarder or renter into your house to help with the bills and cut your expenses. Even a student who stays 5 days a week could cut your costs substantially. Look online at University and College websites and post some ads in the paper. When you start getting on top of your debts, apply for a low interest rate credit card, with a very low limit. Use that card to pay for something you get regularly, and only that thing. I suggest fuel for your car. Then, pay it off the same week. Pay an extra $1 so that the lenders can see you're a good repayer. This will improve your credit history immensely, meaning later on you can get a homeloan. Consider selling your car if it's a late model vehicle and buying a much cheaper, older model. Car loans are a terrible waste of money. They mean you pay far more for something that is continually becoming worth less than you paid for it. You wouldn't pay $100 a week for something that was only worth $10, over 5 years, so why have a car loan if you can afford not to? Plod away at getting rid of the loans. This is the best and only way to start fresh. Then, when you're debt free, save what you'd spend on the loans, or more. Invest this either in mutual or managed funds, or consider saving it for a downpayment for a house. That sort of security is the best start for your little girl. Just model being good with money, and she'll learn all she needs to know. Don't go for loan consolidation. That will ruin your credit score and hamstring you even more. Do this yourself, and you'll be better off. Best wishes
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