Question

Hello everyone !  This is my first post on here.Hello everyone ! This is my first post on here. And I am in needing of some advice. I’ve found TBM for about a month now & is super determined to pay off debt & save better! Although it will be hard for me to do so as I am now 7 months in being a stay at home mom. I have a side hustle of baking from home doing custom cakes but that money I get basically gets put back Into the business itself. So that being said my husband was working in the oilfield but we now moved in with his parents at their ranch due to his little sister passing away last month and him wanting to give his family emotional support , my two kids are a huge distraction for them so I knew it would be for the best for now. So for a month now he hasn’t worked. He had a good amount of money saved to pay all our bills , but it’s now running low. He went back to doing Uber eats this weekend to pay some bills so we won’t get behind. But he and his dad have some stable jobs for him. We will be receiving a 10k tax return, 3k will be payed back to his brother for helping us out last year. That’s leaving us with 7k. We will be splitting it 3. 5k each. He’s paying some debt under his name. And I wanna do the same on mine. My current debt is: $3, 400k Best Buy Credit Card (29%APR) $500 VS (26% APR ) $400 Old Navy (26%APR) $70 Care Credit (No Interest) Total of $4, 370 We started the Jan Challenge & have $100 in our savings. Don’t know if that should be our Emergency fund or Savings to get a house. We haven’t started on another category since income isn’t stable yet. Same with budgeting. I’m undecided in how I want to spend my part of the tax return. I want to keep atleast $300 for myself. Should I put all of it to the highest one or should I put majority to the highest & leave my VS & Old Navy at $200 balance ? What would you do? These are my main bills he has to cover. Besides car & life insurance & phone bill. I paid my car off last year. So I just want to make it easier for him. This is the first time I fully rely on him for everything. I’ve always been independent with money. Didn’t like asking him for it unless it was monthly house hold bills & stuff for out kids. Still getting used to it. So what would you do ? Thanks in advance !  

Answer 1

I would save from the smallest card you owe and as much as you can after that (smallest to large) so that you'll have less and less to worry about rather than paying one big card and still having to pay the same amount of cards a month. From your Jan Challenge. I would save for a house. That is what we are doing right now. Then I will save for emergencies. It's just me but I like knowing all of my numbers (mortgage, internet, cell phone, utilities, so on) before saving for the emergency fund. Of course I'll put money aside for it, just not as much as saving for a house

Answer 2

I would use it all to pay off that Best Buy credit card, 29% is absolutely insane! Also, you two are a team, you should never feel bad or awkward asking for money, if your part of the team is raising kids. That’s just as much if not more work as being a working out of the house parent.  

Answer 3

Hi! First off, I’m sorry about your husbands sister! I can’t even imagine what everyone has been going through! My condolences to your family. I would personally attack the Best Buy with the money. It will drop it significantly even if you keep the 300 for yourself it will only be a few hundred left on it and it’s easier to manage and a huge load off your shoulders.  

Answer 4

Personally, I would save 1k for an emergency fund (if you pay Bill's jointly, you should each out 500 in), then pay off the small cards, and knock off a good chunk of the best buy. That'll leave a balance of around 1400-1900. Then use the monthly payments from your other 3 cards and pay off best buy with the total of those monthly payments

Answer 5

Pay off Best Buy