Need advice on paying off debt

Pay the credit cards off first to avoid accrued interest on the debt. The vehicles are simple interest, which means a fixed amount added to the cost of the vehicle.

Take card with the highest rate and knock it out.

Like wee ice mon says, you need to do some investigating into interest rates. You basically want to just pay the highest rate debt off first. I would imagine the cards are higher rates than the vehicle, especially if you bought the vehicle new.

Good luck, being debt free is powerful, I commend you for making it your goal.

First off, great job on making the commitment to getting your finances in order.

I agree with what others said. As long as you stay with this for the long term, pay off the highest balances first. But if i had a small bill that I could knock out with a few months payments, I might do that first just for the satisfaction of it.

Thanks for all the advice. I've started leaning toward the cards first and after looking at the rates on the cards, I'm more in favor of paying them off first.

Thanks again and feel free to add any additional advice/tips!

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Highest interest rate first, and that is almost certainly the credit cards.

Paying off the cards has the additional advantage that you don't need an emergency fund while you're targeting them. If an emergency does happen you can charge it back up.

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I would go with this plan. By paying off your credit cards first you've eliminated the debt with the highest interest rate and given yourself a safety net in the case of an emergency. That way you can feel a little more comfortable aggressively paying off your wife's car afterwards. And if something does come up, then use your money to pay the credit card off again and then get back on track with your wife's car.

Unless you consolidated all of your debt at a favorable interest rate - something I don't have experience doing - I think the above is your best course of action.

Either follow Dave or don't. His process is based on getting you geared up to pay off debt. Paying off the little ones first and giving you a feeling of "can do" to motivate you. Seems to work. I listen to him all the time even though I'm debt free. He does good work.

Dave Ramsey's method is also the quickest way to more financial freedom which is not the same as being the best fiscal choice as far as saving money.

Everything comes at a price and so does financial freedom. One big benefit of the snowball method is that you are freeing up income that can be used for other things but not forced. As you eliminate each debt, that is something you are no longer forced to make payments on.

The more of this "freed up" money you have, the more you can cover a bad month or unexpected expenses that pop up for those of us living in the real world. If you have plenty of disposable income after allocating all your required expenses, this shouldn't be a concern for you. But if you are living paycheck to paycheck, freeing up the budget to handle the unexpected does end up being a good fiscal choice if it prevents you from having to use a CC or take on a bad loan again.

Find what your priorities are before deciding.

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I am trying to follow Dave Ramseys debt snowball

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This is the biggest problem with his entire program. You should always always always pay off the debt with the highest INTEREST RATE first.

You're confused. You're supposed to shite on Dave Ramsey, not explain why his system has merit in certain situations.

He wants you to hit the smallest DEBT amount first. 3 cards at 6k or car at 6k...seems the cards are all 3 less than the car. Start with the cards, smallest one first and hit them hard and fast. They'll all be gone in a year and you'll feel great. That small of an amount on a card doesn't really add up real fast as far as rates but if you have 2 that are similar in $ amount then pay off the highest rate first. Other than that start with the smallest amount first.