I have a bit more than that...or I did a few months ago. I sat down and examined the interest rates on the four cards I am paying. I changed the 25% apr card to a different card at 9.25 % apr...guess the interest rate just slipped past my brain somehow.
I will reduce three of my card payments to just over minimum, and pay $300 a month to the 25% apr card for three months to pay it off.
Then I will switch off and pay $300 a month to the next highest interest rate card, and so on.
When I was younger I got in over my head with credit card debt, at some point you just have to stop spending and pay the bills. After taking a few years of real work to pay them off, I started putting money in savings instead of spending it. I travel for work and have 2 cards I use for that, they never go more than 30 days without being at a zero balance. Check out a guy named Dave Ramsey, he has a program called The Money Make over. I have a few friends that it has worked for. You will never be wealthy if you spend more than you make.
I'd pay it down, never be late with a payment and consider the difference between 'want' and 'need.' If you needed it to survive it is what it is. If you wanted stuff that's not the way to handle credit. Your credit score will become more important the older you get. Gotta' take it seriously. It can be really helpful or really detrimental. Good luck.
Start FinancialPeace university or watch some of the thousands of Dave Ramsey videos on you tube. Tons of people call in with hundreds of thousands of debt and find a way out. It changed the way I thought of money and now I have no debt, savings and a knowledge about money I never thought I would have.
I've went through worse. My second DUI alone cost me around 15k in fines and counseling along with dui classes and everything. That's not including the loss I took when I wrecked my car. I almost paid all of it off. I only owe them like 1k and I'm done. My first DUI cost me around 6k so yeah you'll be fine
Sounds about the same boat I was in. I just poured every extra penny I had into paying them and now refuse to touch them under any circumstances because I can’t be trusted.
I borrowed the down payment for my condo ($12,000) from my retirement fund. The payments, PLUS INTEREST) were automatically deducted from my pay check and put back into my retirement fund.