Question

WWYD?  Let's say you have a substantial savings account.WWYD? Let's say you have a substantial savings account. But, you also have hefty consumer debt. Savings is not enough to pay off debt, but could make a decent dent. Do you take a certain % of your savings and throw it at debt, leave it in svg and keep tackling the debt? We also have a 0% CC we are thinking of using to consolidate a big portion of the credit card debt. I just don't know what to do.  

Answer 1

Personally we like to try and keep 3 months income in the bank but right now we are at 2 months because we had to use some and I’m not particularly keen on filling it back up yet while we have so much debt. I’d say trying to balance debt payoff and saving has been the hardest for me. I just can’t pull myself to use any of that savings on debt.  

Answer 2

I would say use your savings to pay the debt down and leave yourself at least at a minimum $1000 in your savings acct

Answer 3

Keep 1 months worth of bills in savings and then throw the rest at your debt.  

Answer 4

I’d keep 6 months of living expenses in savings (Emergency Fund). Anything beyond that could go to debt.  

Answer 5

This was us, we had a good savings. We had $20k in student loans and CC. We used all of our savings to pay it off. We were left with a bit, but we were able to save and replenish our savings quick. It was nerve wrecking, but when we paid everything off, we felt so accomplished and did not regretted it.  

Answer 6

I would keep a $1, 000 emergency fund and 3 months of expenses that include everything you spend on. Then once that’s funded then use the snowball method and lay down your debt

Answer 7

Leave yourself some money in the savings (I personally don’t think $1k covers an “emergency” but to each their own. ) to cover anything that may come up and put the rest toward debt. If you have a $10k savings, I’d put half towards debt, for example.  

Answer 8

I have an EF with $1000 for myself, and each of my kids. Those are fully funded. I now focus on my debt. I have school loans, (fixed and caught up) CC debt, down $6000 to about $2500. And my car note. I have been in a no money situation and never again.