I have been reading Dave Ramsey's book and he suggests paying off cc debt by paying off the smallest one to show a reward. But then I was watching Oprah last week and Suze Orman suggested paying off the card with the highest interest rate first and then working your way down. I was wondering what others have done and if anyone has any suggestions. Also, is it smart to transfer any balances to 0% offers or just pay them off as is. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer. 2009 is my year to get back on track and I'm willing to work as hard as necessary!

Personally I would pay off the card that I am being charged the most interest on. However I can see Dave Ramsey's plan being great too. I think it depends on how YOU view things because you're the one that has to look at the bills. Not to mention that each card you pay off, that amount now goes into the next card up and it snowballs so that's a good feeling too. But that will be a personal decision because the reward you feel depends on how you view things.

As far as transferring the balance, determine if the fee is worth it, because they do charge a fee for that. Is the fee way less than what you would have paid in interest and if you transfer the balance can you avoid charging that card again? I transferred balances and then charged again so you must be sure that YOU can make it work for you. Also sometimes its 0% for a limited time or like 3.9% for the life of the charge, determine how quickly you can pay off the charge, it might be better to go with the 3.9% or whatever it may be.

Good luck!!

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The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you're willing to work. ~Oprah

We started by paying off the smallest amount first. Then take that payment and applied it to the next smallest............. I need to feel like I am making progress, so this way was the best for me.

For my dh and I, we had read Suze's books way before we ever heard of Dave Ramsey. I like Suze, but her advice just didn't hit home with us. When we started listening to Dave it was like a slap in the financial face. We didn't have any credit card debt when we started listening to Dave and reading his books, but we did have 2 large auto loans and 2 large student loans. We did have over $42,000 in credit card debt when my dh left for Iraq in 2003, but I paid that off while he was gone. So, we knew how to pay off debt, but didn't think the auto and student loans were bad to have. After listening to Dave we changed our minds. We paid off everything we had except our mortgage and screamed "WE'RE DEBT FREE!" on Dave's show on Fox in June.

In my opinion, Suze's math adds up better, but in reality, most of us need the psychological boost of doing it Dave's way. Regarding transferring to 0%, that really depends on your situation. In addition, I know many of the 0% offers now have hefty transfer fees with them. How long will it take you to pay off the cards? How much do you have on them? Those questions and others need to be considered before you know if you should transfer.

I love Suze, but I'll go with Dave this time.

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Suze makes sense money wise, Dave makes sense emotionally. I personally love love love Dave. If you are a person that needs the motivation to be frugal etc I would do Dave's plan. This way you feel the rewards (a debt PAID IN FULL SOONER). If you aren't that type of person then do Suze's. I would dare to say if you have debt and are just now trying to be frugal/paying it off then I would do Dave's plan in a heart beat. Most of us need the reward/motivation of saying it is "paid in full" - even if it is only a $200 CC - it feels good to have it gone.

I agree. I say decide which one feels best with you and go for it. Some people are motivated by numbers, other by progress. Either will work so decide which one feels better for you.

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Mom to dd (age 9) and ds (age 11)

I like both too, but when we did this last year, we went with Dave Ramsey. It has served us well!

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Huge Dave fan here! I found this site about a year and a half ago. It was here I heard so many people talking about Dave that I finally got his book. It was SO eye-opening for me. SO motivating too. DH was so busy with work that he claimed he didn't have time to read. He would say tell me what to do and I'll do it. This worked for a while since he was willing to give up his credit cards & debit card. (as long as he had some cash). This worked fine for about 6 months when one day we had a conversation about buying his next car. Yes, he wanted out of debt, but he said "everyone has a car loan, right?" That was when I ordered Dave's book on CD. DH listened to it at night with me and that's when he was hooked!!!

Paying off smallest to largest is SO much more motivating. I have an excel spreadsheet where I have all my debts listed. I was able to watch each one disappear. SO MOTIVATING!!!

As for transferring amounts. I used to do this all the time. Transferred a lot. Of course I was then able to rack up more... so you have to be willing to cut up the cards!!! Go to CASH ONLY - it really does help. Once it's gone, it's gone! Of course the problem is now, it's harder to find a card to transfer to where they don't have CRAZY fees attached. It used to be 3% with a limit of $50-$75. This made it easy. The last time I transfered it was 3% with NO limit. I had to search and search until I finally found one with a limit. So be VERY careful there!

HOPE THIS HELPS!!!

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WE'RE DEBT FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

I agree. Suze's way is more financially sound, but Dave's way will keep me feeling good and feeling motivated.

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Marlene

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