Any tips on consolidating debt and paying off debt faster? Unfortunately have a ton of school debt, and credit card debt and at this point willing to do anything to get out of it as fast as possible

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So here is something that worked really well for me and I was able to payoff $80k in 2 years.

1) Refinance your student loans. And Apply to couple of 0% interest credit cards with 0 annual fees (Chase Freedom, Amex Blue Cash, Citi Rewards +, Discover IT etc). Use these cards for your daily expenses and as emergency funds ( you can add these cards to Venmo and transfer funds out if and when required for emergency).

2) Use these cards for your daily living expenses and make sure to turn on AutoPay to these cards so that the minimum balance is paid every month until the 0% interest expires.

3) Contribute towards 401K as much as your company matches. This is free money on the table and don’t let it go. Once you finish your loan, reevaluate your retirement needs with a financial advisor and follow their advice on 401K contributions.

4) Get a comprehensive Health insurance plan from your employer depending on your health condition. You don’t want those medical bills stopping you from crushing your student loans :)

5) Start paying off as much as you can towards your student loans from your pay checks. Hang a huge whiteboard in your room and give yourself a Star, or cross off the amount every time you make the payment. Take all the bonus money you get and throw it towards the loan payments. With your annual compensation package - you should be able to pay off the loans in 2-3 years.

6) Learn to live frugally and minimize any big purchases till you pay off your loans. Remember “we all buy things we don’t need, with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like!”

7) Apply for travel credit cards to earn airline miles and hotels points. So every time you hit a milestone in loan payments you can have a guilt free trip to your favorite destination.

8) Always remember to tell yourself that you are not paying off your student loans but rather “buying your freedom from your student loans - so you can do whatever the F$$$ you want in life once you are free.”

All the best buddy! You got this and you got all of us to support you in your journey! Onwards and Upwards!

Take care!

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There is no magic, tackle high interest debt first, try to refinance debt whenever possible, increase income (side gig, new job) and lower expenses (keep some leisure stuff dont cut the extra fluff)

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Refinance your student loans, if possible. Shop around for the best interest rate. Then as D1 mentioned, tackle the high interest rate debt first (typically credit cards). I found that setting up a direct deposit into a separate account helped me curb my spending - when I couldn’t see it, I wouldn’t spend it.

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Tight budget and dont’t use credit card anymore.

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I always recommend Dave Ramsey for debt payoff he really focuses on the mental aspects and that’s where most people mess up.

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1. Refinance your student loans to get a lower interest rate. Be careful if you have government loans. Refinancing can take away certain protections like income based payment plans and loan forgiveness. Personally I refinanced all my private loans and left the government loans as they are.
2. Credit cards tend to have very high interest rates. If you qualify, a personal loan can help you pay back what you owe at a lower rate. Another option would be to get a new 0% APR card and do a balance transfer.
3. Assuming you’re fresh out of college, you’re already used to being broke. Allocate as much of your income as possible to paying down your debt, starting with the highest interest rate.

Making consistent payments of more than what you owe will lead to reducing your debt. It may be a tight few years, but it’s more than worth it in the long run; and you have something to look forward to in the future. I tell myself all the time that in 3 years I’ll have so much extra money for whatever I want; just have to stay consistent.

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