It’s not as bad as others, but after graduating in December with $4.5k in CC debt I have officially made my last payment as of 20 minutes ago 🥰 I hit this super hard once I started my job mid February and I’m SO glad it’s over with!!! Next is $21k in student loans .
Hello! I've aggressively paid my car and charge-off accounts within this last year. Recently I've had my student loans discharged and expunged from my credit report from the result of a Borrowers Defense case. Should I attempt to rebuild my credit from this point?
That sucker is gone! Here's to better days.
Fell down a rabbit hole via social media / reddit / online forums and discovered the concept of financial hardship programs to help pay down credit card debt. Why am I just finding out about this? Am I the only one who never knew this was an option? & if you’ve used a program like this, could you tell me about your experience?
I have 2 maxed out credit cards with high interest rates (21% and 22%-29%), and for at least a year, I’d resigned myself to never making any progress on them. I could barely eke out the minimum monthly payment, and it was like the same amount got tacked on as interest every month. Vicious cycle.
It took about 10 minutes, one phone call, and one online chat to get here:
Card 1: APR reduced from 21% to 9.99% for 6 months with lowered monthly minimum payments.
Card 2: APR reduced to ZERO from 22-29%, 60 month payment plan to completely pay it off at a reduced monthly rate.
I went from feeling completely hopeless about this debt to actually having a plan that I can act on. It was incredibly easy to get set up with these hardship programs, and didn’t require any sort of specific documentation or hours of customer service talk. I did it directly with the 2 credit card companies.
I want everyone to know about this. It really would’ve helped me a lot if I’d found out sooner, but I’m happy to be on a better track now. Thanks to the great folks who admonish the “shame” and share their stories and tips online — it really does make a difference.
i started a new job in and i make around $5500 Bi weekly, so it evens out too $11,000 monthly roughly. I was saving around 2k monthly, and i feel like i should be saving WAY more.. I only have 8/8.5k saved up but i think it’s best if I stopped aggressively saving and start chugging away at this debt.
Can someone give me the quickest / cost efficiency way to pay this consumer debt off… i’m not trying to over extend myself trying to do it but I do want to be out of it soon… end of the year at the latest.
these are majority if not all of my bills
Rent- $1400
CAR -$92.55
CAR - $405.50
Insurance - $350.c19
ATAT - 185.00
After Pay - $116
Affirm -Target - $56.6
Affirm American Alines -$59.91
UpGrade - $38.68
Student Loans- $186.11
Apple Subscriptions- $75
One Pass - $37
One main- $172.19
Turpin Orthodoniss-$131
Any questions that need to be answered, send them, i will answer.
In January of 2025, I had $33k in debt. My debt was with multiple creditors and just ate away at my pay.
Mostly using the snowball method, I paid off my smaller debts like Afterpay, family (small amounts and paid off quickly because I appreciated their generosity), payday loans etc.
I also saved a consistent amount each fortnight ~$600 by not buying anything that wasn’t strictly necessary for the house or kids.
Mid 2025 I was heavily pregnant and had my car and credit card left over. Total was ~$20.5k. I used a large chunk of my savings on paying off my car outright just after we had our daughter. With $8k left on my credit card, I rolled everything after bills and savings into it. I blocked it from accepting transactions and decreased the credit limit every time I’d paid off $1k. I redirected or cancelled any subscriptions on it and didn’t spend on it (bar one time for a vaccine outside of my son’s schedule).
Last night, I decided to end it. I grabbed ~$500 out of my savings and finally drowned it. My interest had just hit on that day and I figured it’d be incredibly simple just to close it without any further interest or fees. I immediately sent the request to close it.
It’s been 11 years since I was debt-free. It feels so good!
I am finally debt free and I'm pretty jazzed about it! Since about summer 2025 I have paid off around $16,400 and now have finished paying off my debts. Overtime, side-hustles, selling things, all funnelled mostly to the debt. There were some other life expenses and emergencies that I paid for upfront this past year and didn't use debt to pay for them.
All in all my average came out to about $1100 in debt payments a month since August 2023, but that is heavily weighted towards the last year or so.
Original Debts:
✅ Car Debt: $27199 (August 2023)
- originally 7 year car loan at 7.99%
- extra payments started about 6 months in
- moved from 7.99% to 6.5% at 2 year mark
- paid off entire loan in 2 years 8 months
✅ Personal Debt: $3000 (August 2023)
✅ Emergency Home Repair: $5000 (Feb 2024)
Since August 2023 haven't paid a cent in interest on credit cards.
I don't yet feel the excitement. The last few months when I was so close to finishing were tough. I've been trying to avoid celebrating too early. Now the next paycheque when I get all of it to myself I hope is gonna feel great. To celebrate I am going to get myself a lovely dinner.
One year ago I had €55,050.40 of debt.
Today I’m at €46,112.28.
That means I’ve already paid off €8,938 in one year.
I know I still have a long road ahead of me, but for the first time I’m trying to stop only focusing on how far I still need to go, and actually acknowledge the progress I’ve already made.
For a long time I carried a lot of shame around debt. I kept beating myself up for the financial mistakes I made and because of that, every payment almost felt “invisible” to me. I never really gave myself credit for staying consistent.
Right now I’m paying €750/month toward my debt, and I’m increasing that to €1000/month. In the coming weeks I’ll also receive around €6500 from tax returns and bonuses, and I’m throwing all of it directly at the debt.
I’m not debt free yet. Not even close. But I’m no longer standing still.
If someone reading this feels overwhelmed by their debt: progress is still progress, even when the numbers are big and the finish line feels far away.
One year ago I owed €55k. Today I owe €46k.
That matters.
27 and about to be completely debt free. I have one credit card with a small limit - just gas and groceries. I do not own a home, but hope to in the next few years. With 0 debt I’m nervous about how that will impact my credit score and my ability to buy a home (I do plan on having a mortgage). I’ve read a few articles, but I find they typically reference having multiple CC open. I’m not open to having credit cards just to keep a “healthy” score. Does anyone have any experience or insight about how to approach this?
Also, any insight/advice on how to approach being newly debt free (-mortgage) is appreciated. :)
This has been a very slow burn, I still have about $15,000 to go. BUT some small celebration first, I was floating at $22,000 in CC debt distributed between 5 cards and felt like I’d pay off a couple thousand but then be right back up. I finally got a budget book, adjusted my lifestyle, and started dumping on my cards with APRs. I’m now done to 2 cards (whooo), one that I’m hoping to have paid off by June, and then my largest card, that has $14,000 but 0% APR until July of next year.
I’ve been putting about $1200 a month towards the second to last card, but am wondering how I should go about the big card. Since it has 0% APR for almost a full year, I’m considering setting some money aside as an emergency fund. I feel like it’s the luck of the draw, I’ll pay down my debt, something stupid will happen like a tire popping or my dog needing the vet, and then it’s right back up, but if I develop an emergency fund I won’t have to use my credit card. Or should I just continue dumping on it until it’s gone, and using it if there is an emergency? More context - I’m hoping to get around $4000 in bonuses later this year, and most likely a decent tax return, all of which I plan to use for my credit card.
Since university I have always been in some kind of Afterpay debt. An endless cycle of paying it off and getting into more debt until my next paycycle. Constantly borrowing money from my future paycheck meant little left for savings. Just last week I said goodbye and closed my account - in NZ this action is permanent and I cannot open another account ever again. 💖
Hello everyone! I was wondering if anyone here has made a balance transfer from their Care Credit card to the Navy Federal platinum card and how their experience was. I recently started the transfer process on May 6th and the balance has fully posted on the NF platinum card today but Care Credit currently shows nothing on their end. I do plan on talking to both banks but I just wanted to see if anyone else has experience on this specific situation. Thank you! 😊
I get paid this Thursday. Should I pay off my credit card? I owe $3k and that’s how much I get paid this Friday. I’ll have 200 dollars cash for emergencies and I’d have to wait til next pay period to fund my emergency fund. I just don’t want to incur interest on my credit card. We shall see.
About 2 years ago my ex left me with no notice as he got addicted to drugs and frankly went a little crazy. It was really tough, and being a single mom, on a single income with no child support, I slid into debt. I spent a year renovating my basement (YouTube ftw) to suite it and rent it out. Total debt in November of 2025 was 18k on a line of credit. I realized I couldn’t keep living like this and hustled to pay off debt.
Rented my suite, took in bottles, drastically cut all bills, worked extra, found free things to take my kids too to keep us busy not spending money, sold everything we didn’t use, cut grocery bills in half by learning to cook everything from scratch.
There was some set backs but as of today I can say I’m debt free and will put the same effort in the next 6 months so I can build an emergency fund.
It’s had some unexpected benefits, I’ve lost 20lbs from no take out/eating out, plus all of the hiking/swimming free activities - I am in the best shape I have been in since COVID.
Just needed to share with someone, because I am proud, especially since I was at my lowest point just 2 years ago.
Long time lurker of this sub. Due to external factors 1.5 years ago; I made horrible financial decisions. Racked up more credit card debt than I can think of. I still managed to make minimum payments to avoid late payments.
My credit score dropped to low 500’s. I was disgusted with myself.
As of a few hours ago, I made my final credit card payment and I’m debt free. My credit score is estimated to shoot up to 790 after this. And I’m just happy to be saving money for myself now.
I hope this is motivating to others who feel like they do not see a light at the end of the tunnel. Trust me, once you put your mind to it, you won’t stop.
Cheers to all of you.
It’s been a rough 4 years, however I am not using any of these CC’s anymore. I can finally rely purely on my bank account.
I have an extra $500/month to contribute towards debt and my question is whether to follow the 3 year payoff plan the CC statements have and pay them all off in 3 years exactly at the same time, or do I put the $500/month extra purely on the high interest $13K one until it’s paid off and then snowball that payment into the $7K one, then keep the snowball going into the $15K one and finally pay off the $8K one last following the “pay off high interest first” method.
Thanks in advance, r/DebtFree. All input welcome and I’m not at risk of bankruptcy for now.
Hello! I am seeking some advice on what to do next to pay off debt.
I have the following debt to repay and I am now getting stressed out because while I can make the minimum payments fine, I do not want to live with this forever:
I do make enough money to pay the minimum payments comfortably. However, I do not want to be in debt as I get older. I am 30 now and want to attack it.
All my major debts are with one bank, CIBC.
I have a few options:
I am at the point where figuring out what to do has become stressful and is providing me with anxiety. Coupled with the fact that budgeting with senior dependents is not the easiest thing to do, I feel like I cannot process my best options and make an informed decision no matter how much research I do.
Any advice on how to move forward would be so helpful and thanks if you took the time to read this.
EDIT: My mom and I both own the home.
My (32M) wife (27F) spent the last 8 years aggressively paying off our mortgage ($280K) and our vehicle loans (totaling $60K) and we finally became debt free on March 17 this year. Started building our emergency fund (crazy we never had one or had to have one during this time) and saving for our adoption fund (somewhere between $40-50K - private adoption). Wednesday our AC (central air) started messing up. Had someone come check it out and fix it, messed up again yesterday, he came back again. $1400 later, messed up again today so had a bigger company come in and they showed me pictures and the duct work is really bad, both inside and outside units severely leak refrigerant. Overall, a very bad system. So…here I am financing a $30K system at 9.99% over the next 10 years. A minimum payment of $352/mo. I could have gone with a 5.99% for 5 years, buuuutttt did I mention we have to come up with all that money for our adoption fund before the end of the year (6-7 months) because we will most likely have our future child placed with us at that point? It’s usually 12-18 months, but the agency we are working with told us they were super excited for a young couple to adopt so it’ll probably happen at the end of the year. I just feel so defeated right now. Probably going to have to take out another loan for the remaining adoption fees. Just opened a Roth IRA on Thursday too 🤣
Hello. I'm reaching out because I need advice on what to do or where to go/start. The stress of my finances is making me feel unwell mentally...
I'm in debt. I have a few personal loans, a nearly maxed credit card, some medical bills, and a car payment. Everything adds up to around $15-20k, give or take (not including the car payment- that's the only loan I view as a necessity, so I'm fine having it). I need to do a newer budget to see for sure how much I owe now.
I make $60k annually before taxes/deductions, so I should be able to pay everything off pretty quickly, right? Well, I'm terrible at money management and having so many monthly loan payments/bills kills my funds, so I have to keep borrowing money (whether it be from family, payday apps, short term loans, etc.). I have no money in savings either.
I feel so stupid because it should be as simple as "don't spend all your money, do a budget, etc etc." But I'm just stupid and can't even manage to do that.
I basically just need someone to point me in the right direction. I do my monthly budget, have been rejected for consolidation loans, am trying to navigate debt relief/financial plan assistance. I just don't really know what to do. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Especially if you can provide direct resources or steps.
Hello! So for some backstory, I’m on disability, have been for the last year now.
In 2021 I lost my full time job and began really struggling to maintain part time work due to severely worsening health.
I have two credit accounts that are now closed- their last payments were fall of 2023.
One account for $1560 USD
Another for $1,458 USD.
In 2019 I got lied to into putting oral surgical debt onto high APR cards, and the surgery was urgent, so my options were limited, which meant they became credit card debt and not medical, and could be counted against my credit. So that means they get to sit on my credit report now. I was 19 when the debt went on there, I truly didn’t know better and know my rights around medical debt at the time, I learned a hard lesson. But when I no longer could work safely and was housing insecure, I had to default on the remaining debt on both cards.
Is it worth it to try and settle the debt now for a percentage? I could feasibly get a loan from family to cover 30-50% of each. My credit took a major hit from them and is only starting to recover. What is the pros and cons of settling and where would I even start? I’m needing to buy a car this year and I know I should have never let it get like this for this little debt but finances were so dire I was couch surfing for a year.
Thanks