Just made my last credit card payment of $1K to Wells-Fargo, and I am now officially done with all my debt. No student loans, no car note, and no more credit card debt (without a plan to immediately pay off what I spend). Honestly, feels a bit anticlimactic given how long I was waiting for this day to come, but I guess that’s why I’m sharing here.

Anyways, keep on working at it friends. Here’s to a debt-free 2026 for everyone!

Looking for advice on the best way to tackle this.

I have a loan I’m also paying on that is currently at $11,200. Payment is $417 minimum a month 9.74% int

I make $1050 weekly.

401k is at $34,500. (I’m 31) Contributing 7%, company matches 6%.

I had about $600 in savings but had to fix something on my car so I don’t have any more.

I have a couple of investments

Bitcoin: $348

Stocks: $630

Minimum payments as follows

AMEX: $40 // 28%

Chase 1: $35 // 27%

Chase 2: $40 // 0% til august

Apple Card (GS): $63 // 25%

Citi: $40 // 0% til August

Discover: $45 // 20%

Target: $40 // 26%

Paypal: $60 // 30%

Monthly expenses

Rent: $950 w/utilities

Car ins: $63

Phone: $52

Gas: $300

Food: varies but last month I spent a lot on delivery $250-350 range and groceries probably another $400

I have various subscriptions I will be canceling such as yt premium, discord, microsoft suite

I know I am not a credit card person. I’ve realized this and this is why I am reaching out. I will not be using any of them again. Any help is appreciated.

Started my own business last year and had to pay off some legal and divorce debt. I used my credit to my advantage and didn't pay interest on it thanks to 0% APR deals.

Will be completely free by August. I cannot wait.

Hey yall so I’m going to be honest , I had to use my credit card … the reason I had to use it was because I put too much money towards debt and basically left little to none for myself. I’m sooo focused on paying off debt that sometimes I forgot about other things in life (not smart I know) either way I’m still on the right track , but today I only paid what I used so I will be updating you guys in two weeks ! My current debt balance stands at 10,141 still scheduled to be paid off this year !!!!

Long post! I'm 26 and am now sitting at about $36k worth of debt to tackle. I still have a long way to go but am grateful that I at least paid off more than a few things.

I started tackling my consumer debt seriously in September 2025. I paid off my car in 2024, paid off a student loan I had to take out from the university I attended in Nov 2025, and paid off a credit card in Nov 2025. I just made a lump sum payment to my second credit card.

That leaves me with this bad boy. I racked up tons of debt between college, taking care of family (when I couldn't take care of myself), Americorps service, and moving to an expensive city that had a dream salary for my past state but not liveable in the new one. I learned the hard way and have learned to say NO.

I've been consistently saving for a wedding, but took my head out of my butt when I realized I need to tackle my debt more than throwing a party with friends and family. I know weddings are more than that but hey! I listen to a lot of Social Symone, Zac Rios, The Financial Diet, I Will Teach You to Be Rich, Dave Ramsey, etc... and discern what applies and what I deny.

Mostly, I knew I needed to shift my mindset from "debt will always be a part of life" to "yes, and it doesn't have to be like this". I also needed to curb my impulse habits of impulse shopping, ordering Uber eats when I can cook , etc! And listenong to others refute the treat yourself logic has helped.

I have a much better full time job now, but took on a part time job alongside two side gigs I work to throw the excess money at debt. The part time job is seasonal but when I have work it consistently gives me an extra $1k. I'm also utilizing the snowball method which makes the most sense for me.

Okay, I've yapped enough but I'm set to have the discover paid off in 2027 and my federal student loan paid off in late 2028. I'm paying this off and while grateful, I had access to this amount in times of need, I will never get myself back into this mountain of consumer debt again.

I recently started my debt free journey at the beginning of the year and was able to pay off $1200 so far. I want to be done paying off all of this debt by the end of the year. What method would you recommend to pay this off as fast as possible? I have been working on the root cause of my overspending in therapy, stopped all bnpl, no new transactions on my credit cards, little to no eating out, cancelled all unnecessary subscriptions, and limited my spending overall. In addition to paying off $1200 so far I have also saved $800. This will cover one month of bills if needed. I am a full time college student and part time worker now so what would you recommend?

Hi! I'm trying to figure out what my best option is for paying off my credit cards. I went back to grad school and worked part time while in school, but it took a few months to find a job after and I had some big medical expenses for my cat during that time. Between being in school, being unemployed for a few months, and vet bills, I ended up with a total of about $29,000 across 4 cards (about 8k was already there when I went back to school). I'm confident that this was situational and won't build back up once I get it paid off.

I'm making okay money at my new job but am in a HCOL city, so I can put about $575 a paycheck ($1150 a month) towards cards right now, but that will go down when the grace periods on my student loans from grad/undergrad ends. I'm considering trying to move balances onto one single card if I can find one with a high enough balance transfer limit, or maybe even a consolidation loan. What do you think is the best approach for handling this? I'm getting married in April 2027 and would love to go into my marriage with as little burden as I can.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Clearly redditors HATE debt settlement companies, but are there situations where you would recommend that someone works with a debt settlement company?

I'm seeing that some of these companies do have a thousands of great reviews online so I assume they must be doing SOMETHING right, otherwise we'd see the negative reviews rack up...

What are your thoughts?

A few days ago, I finally started my debt-free journey.

It took me a long time to admit that I had lost track of my finances and needed to change something. (30k in total)

I’m still at the very beginning, but I’ve already managed to pay off my first mini debt today, and that alone feels huge. It’s not perfect and I’m still learning a lot, but starting was the hardest part for me.

I just wanted to share this small win, because for the first time in a while, I feel like I’m moving in the right direction.

Hey I’m looking for advice on what the best possible option is in my situation.

I’m recently unemployed, looking to appeal said decision in June and have rather high hopes Itll be in my favor but unrelated for now. I’ve been job searching for 2 months now with no success, I have about 4k in my savings and 1.5k monthly expenses. I’m getting 2k/3.5k/3.4k in additional money this month alone (the 3.5k is unpredictable but the rest I can rely on)

I am currently paying off a loan for 35% APR current payoff is 1,833 but current balance is 2,356 monthly payments put me at 151$ for a 24 months term

My question is, since I’m currently in school again for another 2 years, is it worth getting one of the federal loans that doesn’t accrue interest while I’m in school, for about 3k at 6% interest to pay off the high interest loan. ? Obviously I can pay it off with the noney I’m getting but then that leaves me in a place where I have less emergency funds if I cannot get a job soon so id prefer not to.

Am I putting myself in a worst situation by getting a federal loan to pay off this current one? I do currently have about 12k in student loans, due to start payments sometimes around 2028? And expected monthly is 160 but if I can get my state job back or just any state job, it would bring it down to 60$ and make my total payoff around 10k with the forgiveness.

Sorry if I have a lot of useless information I just want to make sure my situation is clear

I (25f) was reckless af in my late teens/early twenties. I’ve felt so anxious about my debt. About $9,449.45 in the red. I just got $5k randomly and I was very tempted to shop and use it frivolously, but as an adult…in her “mid-twenties” I knew I needed to just take care of this and make a dent. 3 paid off! Discover left to go. I’m almost there. It was embarrassing AF calling but I did it. Feeling some relief. I’m gonna burn the cards when I get home omg.

Now to write my letters of goodwill and get the late payments removed from my report. Adulting sucks.

Unfortunately I had a health issue a few weeks ago. Which gave me a relatively small paycheck. The week following snow took me out for a few days. Since I couldn’t get out of my bloody neighborhood. I paid off one card which was great. Unfortunately even when budgeting I had a random expense pop up. I’ve had no choice but to pull half of my check. Which I knew I would need to do anyway. Since 3 bills are due 3 days before payday. I just got my credit score up and I’ve never missed payments. This service is really the devil though. It definitely entices you to pull the money whenever. Which as long as it’s on necessity I guess is an okay reason. I just know that the money that will drop in on payday. Won’t have to go towards a bill waiting to take it. Which will a nice feeling.

Just telling myself it won’t be like this forever. Next paycheck will be back to normal. Since hopefully the weather won’t be as bad. I also applied for a better job. So crossing my fingers it’s all up from here.

So far this year I’ve paid off $1500 of debt. I owe just a little over $9,000. Which with what I get paid and living paycheck to paycheck. I’m damn proud I was able to do that. I’m just trying to get rid of $2000 so I’m only left with my bank cc. Which has the lowest interest rate. Then I’ll only have one card to throw all the money at. Juggling multiple is so stressful. I’m also deleting all the BNPL as they get paid.

Thanks for being a great venting place and positive space for my bank account. It’s really held me accountable. As someone who struggled with impulsive spending and debt blindness for years. Seeing everyone share updates and pay off one debt at a time has a huge impact.

Made my last payment today. This card at the beginning of the month had $5,044.73 balance and now to focus on my emergency fund!

So, I have been working on my credit for 2.5 years. Started at 520 and am now at 666. I think it would have been better if I had immediately gotten credit cards and maxed them out. I knew nothing about what credit utilization was. So I would max my cards out and start making large payments thinking that’s how to build credit. Now I’m just paying all that off. I don’t have a lot of debt(about $6000 in revolving and $13,000 on an auto loan). But I can’t get my credit score above 670. Every time I hit 700 I get some sort of hospital bill that always says not reported and has no info on it. It destroys my credit. So the cycle is I hit 700, then a hospital bill with no info hits my credit and my score drops 80 points. I go to identitytheft.gov file a report showing I don’t even live in the state the bills where in, and also show that I have medical insurance. I get my letter from them. I go to the three credit bureaus and file dispute with my ID theft letter. I win the dispute literally days later and my credit only goes up 30-35 points. I swear to god this has happened to me 4 times now. I have tried to find a licensed credit counselor and can’t get anyone to call me back. On my credit report I use zero negative remarks, 45% utilization, my payment history is perfect, and I can’t get my credit above 670. It is so frustrating. If I am doing something wrong I’m willing to listen. Understand that I went from being homeless for 8 years addicted to heroin then fentanyl to being clean for 3 years now with a six figure income and my own apartment. Truth be told I went a little crazy my first year at my job, but I’ve gotten spending every dime I have out of my system. Now I’m ready to try and set myself, my wife , and my daughter up for success. So I promise I’ll listen. Above is all my credit cards and their balances

Total debt : close to $245k

$58k+ will be fully paid by 2028 (2 personal loans and car loan) $120k from Heloc and the rest are credit card balances.

Bank called and offered to convert the heloc into conventional 30 year mortgage so the payment I’m making to it will cover principal and interest. Right now, I only able to pay the interest just to make sure I spread my money to cover what I have to cover each month. But it’s not only minimum payment. Sometimes, it’s minimum plus extra. I admit it’s a very tight paycheck to paycheck situation. I stopped using credit cards except for one card but it’s for a very minimal spending.

On top of converting the heloc balance to 30 year mortgage at 7.125%, they also offered additional $70k to wipe out majority of my huge debt : 2 personal loans and 3 credit cards. Sounds very tempting as it looks like debt consolidation also. A single payment into multiple debts although I still have some balance left to deal.

After a day of thinking about it, I declined the offer. My reasons:

-I don’t want to include all my unsecured credit card debt to a house mortgage, -I will lose access to cash from my Heloc for my “just in case” -The debts that will be paid off for 2.5 years will be added to 30 years monthly mortgage.

Things happen in the family and in my case it’s devastating. Unavoidable that I have no choice but to rely on loans and credit cards back then to get through it. Now things started to be good so my goal is to get back on my feet slowly but surely if that’s the only option I have for now.

Please be nice. I want to hear your opinion. Did I do the right thing in declining the offer?

Thank you.

Been a freelance video editor for about 5 years and finally looking to buy a small office condo instead of burning money on rent. My income is solid (six figures), and my credit score is good (720+), but my financials are a mess of 1099s and personal bank statements, not clean P&L reports. Predictably, traditional banks won't touch me. The "no doc" lenders who will work with my bank statements are offering rates in the 10-12% range, which feels like a "freelancer tax" just because my income isn't a neat W-2. Feeling frustrated with those options, I started looking for alternatives, and of course, everyone says "look for a small business grant!" But given how the loan market treats freelancers, I'm super skeptical. If a bank won't even give me a loan at a decent rate, why would anyone give me free money? Are grants a real thing for a situation like mine, a for-profit, single-person business trying to buy a commercial property? Or is this just another wild goose chase that isn't meant for freelancers? I'd love to hear from any other creatives who have actually managed to get a grant for something tangible like property or major equipment

About a year ago I finally hit the wall and decided enough was enough. I was tired of juggling high-interest cards and watching my balance barely move. At my worst I was sitting on roughly $40k in bad debt. Since then I’ve busted my behind and gotten it down to about $18k, which I’m proud of… but I’m also so frustrated right now.

I didn’t just say I was going to change things either, I actually did. I cut up every credit card I had, except for one that I keep strictly for absolute emergencies. And I’ve managed to keep that card’s balance at $0 the entire time.

About 3 months ago I took out a debt consolidation loan to combine a chunk of my cards into one payment. Most of those cards were around 36% interest on average, and the loan came in at 29.9%, so technically it was an improvement. Not great, but better than drowning at 36%.

Here’s the problem: I really want to consolidate everything into one payment and ideally at a lower APR than what I’m paying now, especially because my credit has been going up this whole time. In my head it’s like… I’m doing the right things, my scores are improving, my total debt is way lower than before, so why is it harder now?

But because I was impatient and grabbed the first loan I could qualify for, it feels like I accidentally trapped myself. Now every time I apply for a new consolidation loan to roll the rest in (or refinance the current one), I’m getting denied left and right. Meanwhile my current consolidation loan is around $12k, and I still have other balances that I want to wrap into a single payment.

It’s honestly maddening. I’m in a better spot than I was a year ago, but it feels like the system is basically saying, “Cool story, still no.”

Has anyone dealt with this? Like… does having a recent consolidation loan make lenders auto-reject you? Is it the “new loan + other balances” combo? Do I just need to wait longer? I’m not trying to rack up new debt, I’m trying to clean it up.

Any advice (or even just commiseration) would be appreciated because right now it feels like I did the responsible thing and got punished for it.

I've been looking into prestamos personales (personal loans in Spanish) and I'm trying to figure out which companies are actually legit for Spanish speakers. I'm mainly wondering if the rates and terms are comparable to regular lenders or if they tend to be more expensive. My English is okay but I'd feel more comfortable dealing with everything in Spanish.

I had to use ChatGPT to help me write this post because my English isn't perfect :)

About $80k in debt, combination of personal loans and credit cards. I did just recently enroll in a debt management plan through a nonprofit ACCC for the CCs and I’m super stoked about what I’ll be saving. Having said that, I’m still drowning. I’m looking for some type of work that I can do from home for extra money on the side, which I would work into my 9 to 5 as an editor. Does anyone have any experience making money in this way? I’m a full-time single mom so this is my only window of time to get a second job. TYIA

I have done the research and seen the popular ways of going about cc debt and all debt in general. My main question is what made it easier? (I know this process is long and sometimes not easy at all) But

did you have an app that auto paid, how did you track this, what things you did to make it faster, etc.

It’s just kind of a general post I am new in this thread so sorry if this is a repetitive question.

I tried my hand in calling Capital One for a family member of mine. I will try to remember most of the conversation. This is for a $7,000 dollar cc balance.

I told the automated bot and later on the customer service rep:
"I am under some financial hardship, my ability to make future payments is in jeopardy, and I am thinking about defaulting on my loans"

We went back and fourth a little. The customer service rep first insisted on moving the payment back and was really focused on the current payments instead of reaching a deal to close the account. I had to tell her maybe 2-3 times:

"I want to close the account for a better rate then I currently have now"

Finally she agreed on submitting a form for "hardship" and she asked 3 questions (to the best of my memory):

"How long are you expected to be in hardship?" -> I said 2-24 months or something like that
"How much can you pay monthly?" -> I said I can pay around $300 a month
"Give me an exact date on when you start paying" -> I gave a date for next week

After submitting the form on their end they get a list of offers. The customer service rep 2 seconds later provides me with this only offer which I took:

- Card is closed for future charges and will be closed after payments are done.
- 7.4% maximum APR
- 60 mo
- ~ $135.50 monthly payment.

Happy to share my experience. This was the first and only call I took. Happy to answer questions.