I've read that you should focus on the high interest debts first. But then I've read that you should pay off the smallest debts first.

Which do you agree with?

good post Rach:yes

smallest debts then once something is paid off, use that $$ to pay extra on the next debt

I would like to do the Smallest to Largest.....It's hard when you see the number of the largest and want to bring that down....

But, I agree with the theory of paying off the smaller debt first.

I have no clue. I am paying the things with the highest interest rates first. Most of our balances are around the same amount of money. My cari s the biggest balance and payment every month, but it is also the lowest interest rate so I am leaving that for last.

When I think about, it seems paying off the smallest debts first would equal out to if you were to pay the highest interest debts first. When you pay off those small debts, you can then take that payment and tack it on to the higher interest ones, thus you're really not paying more money on the higher interest b/c it's getting paid off in about the same amount of time as if you would of focused on that first. :shrug

When I think about, it seems paying off the smallest debts first would equal out to if you were to pay the highest interest debts first. When you pay off those small debts, you can then take that payment and tack it on to the higher interest ones, thus you're really not paying more money on the higher interest b/c it's getting paid off in about the same amount of time. :shrug
Yes, but the positive energy generated from paying a bill off is contagious!!!

Higher interest first and then lower interest..But then again it depends how much you have on each account...Like we had a no interest credit card and so we took time paying that..And focus on paying our car loan because it had a higher interest. It all depends on how much you owe...

When I think about, it seems paying off the smallest debts first would equal out to if you were to pay the highest interest debts first. When you pay off those small debts, you can then take that payment and tack it on to the higher interest ones, thus you're really not paying more money on the higher interest b/c it's getting paid off in about the same amount of time as if you would of focused on that first. :shrug

:agree also you get the satisfaction of actually paying off a card, rather than months or a year(s) of having to keep paying on that one card, when you could have paid off a smaller card sooner and had more money to pay the larger balances.

We always do smallest to largest. I like to feel like we are getting somewhere and seeing a small bill go away completely is such a rush:grin:

We have always paid the smaller bills first.

We have paid off ALL our debt using the smallest interest rate first. It gives a sense of accomplishment.

I have no clue. I am paying the things with the highest interest rates first. Most of our balances are around the same amount of money. My cari s the biggest balance and payment every month, but it is also the lowest interest rate so I am leaving that for last.

Definitely pay the highest interest first. It will save you money in the long run! Just because you pay off smaller debts first, doesn't mean you aren't still taking it up the yahoo with those high interest rates, and you WILL save money in interest that way. Hundreds to thousands of dollars depending on your interest rates!

small debts first!

We just pay our bills.

For me it depends the case. If the smallest one is not much difference than the higher interest one then I do the highest interest one. For example:
smallest one is $690
highest interest one is $840
then I would pay the $840 one first cause is not much of a difference. It also depends how fast you can pay them down.

I pay off high intest rates first, then I work on everything else. If you have $$ in your savings better to pay off the high interest rate debt then to have the money sitting in your account collecting low interest. You will end up saving more money if you pay off the debt then you would be saving money. (I hope that makes sense) LOL

It depends on your personality. If your motivation to keep plugging away at debt is to see available cards, then paying off the smallest balance first gives you that little push. If you're idea is to save money in the long run, paying off the high interest cards would be better.

It depends on your personality. If your motivation to keep plugging away at debt is to see available cards, then paying off the smallest balance first gives you that little push. If you're idea is to save money in the long run, paying off the high interest cards would be better.

Thats an interesting point...we focus on having small balances on all our cards, but I dont really care if I have 0 balance on them.

I read somewhere awhile back that you should never have more than 35% of the total limit used on any given card you own.

According to the financial planners you pay off the high interest rates first.

Higher interest first and then lower interest..But then again it depends how much you have on each account...Like we had a no interest credit card and so we took time paying that..And focus on paying our car loan because it had a higher interest. It all depends on how much you owe...

Yep. It also depends on what your goal is. Do you need/want the cashflow or become debt free? The one time we were drowning in debt we started with the card that had the highest interest rate. It doesn't do any good to pay off a small loan first if the one at the highest interest rate is costing you the same amount or more as the small loan.

interest is a killer so i would go with higher interest first

I work on smallest to largest. And when we get a lot of money like tax time or bonus we either pick a bunch of small bills to pay off or we pay off one big bill.

Higher interest first.. cause that is what is eating up most of the money..
I did that with one of my credit cards that had an outrageous interest rate.. paid that off and then took that money and paid of the remaining 3 that were smaller

i go from the highest interest to the lowest interest. my student loans are the lowest but i think the most owed on as well. anyway i pay off the credit cards first.

I pay the most pressing debt first and if I have a little to spare I try to pay off the smaller ones.

smallest debts then once something is paid off, use that $$ to pay extra on the next debt

Thats what I do!

I vote for smallest to largest. Only because once you pay off the first smallest, it makes you feel like you accomplished something by paying it off. Then move on to the next smallest, by applying your normal payment plus the payment that went toward the first one.

And it goes on and on, until you get to the largest one. (You do still have to make your normal monthly payments on the rest, though.)

It's been working for me with my student loans. Another 2 months and we'll have paid off my next to the last student loan. You can't imagine the excitement I feel about this!! And once we FINALLY pay off the final one, we'll apply that monthly payment toward our savings and IRAs.