Comments on: is there a personal finance guru out there? what is smarter pay off my bill or save whilei pay the minimum?

By: sathvik

sathvik — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 12:09:21 +0000

absolutely pay off credit cards off in most scenarios – the only exception is if you have an extremely high interest payday loan (higher than credit card interest). The general rule is that you should pay off your highest interest debts first – this will save you the most money in the long run.

for more insight, check out my free educational videos at – I have one specifically dedicated to understanding credit cards.

By: G. Whilikers

G. Whilikers — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 18:12:26 +0000

Putting all that money toward the cards will cut your total minimum payment by nearly a half, leaving you with more cash every month. That’ll help a lot if you’ve been struggling. But keep paying as much as you can handle, you’ll see progress faster than you would by paying the minimum.

One strategy: use your windfall to pay the cards with the highest interest rates first, that’s the most expensive borrowed money. After that, use Dave Ramsey’s “snowball” technique to pound away at the rest of the cards: set a total dollar amount you’ll be paying every month and stick with it. Pay the minimum on every card but the one you owe the least to, which gets the rest of your payment money. Repeat that every month and watch the cards go away one by one.

By: Thick Hun

Thick Hun — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 06:15:52 +0000

Not sure which DEATHS you need to pay off but certainly clearing your credit cards makes sense.

By: sassy25

sassy25 — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 23:59:49 +0000

Pay off the credit cards. Paying the minimum you will never reduce the debt and will pay 5k in interest each year. That is the same as flushing it down the toilet