If You Have More Than $10K in Debt, Make These 5 Moves (2024)

FAQs

What is the 50 30 20 rule for debt? ›

Our 50/30/20 calculator divides your take-home income into suggested spending in three categories: 50% of net pay for needs, 30% for wants and 20% for savings and debt repayment. Find out how this budgeting approach applies to your money.

You make one payment 15 days before your statement is due and another payment three days before the due date. By doing this, you can lower your overall credit utilization ratio, which can raise your credit score. Keeping a good credit score is important if you want to apply for new credit cards.

1% of the balance plus interest: It would take 29.5 years or 354 months to pay off $10,000 in credit card debt making only minimum payments. You would pay a total of $19,332.21 in interest over that period.

Getting by on $1,000 a month may not be easy, especially when inflation seems to make everything more expensive. But it is possible to live well even on a small amount of money. Surviving on $1,000 a month requires careful budgeting, prioritizing essential expenses, and finding ways to save money.

In the golden rule, a budget deficit and an increase in public debt is allowed if and only if the public debt is used to finance public investment.

The 80/20 rule says that you should first set aside 20% of your net income for saving and paying down debt. Then split up the additional 80% between needs and wants. When using the 80/20 rule, calculate the amounts based on your net income - everything leftover after you pay taxes.

One of the most rigorous rules in their favor is the 7-in-7 rule. This rule states that a creditor must not contact the person who owes them money more than seven times within a 7-day period. Also, they must not contact the individual within seven days after engaging in a phone conversation about a particular debt.

A minimum payment of 3% a month on $15,000 worth of debt means 227 months (almost 19 years) of payments, starting at $450 a month. By the time you've paid off the $15,000, you'll also have paid almost as much in interest ($12,978 if you're paying the average interest rate of 14.96%) as you did in principal.

Is 10k debt a lot? ›

There's no specific definition of “a lot of debt” — $10,000 might be a high amount of debt to one person, for example, but a very manageable debt for someone else. Calculating your debt-to-income (DTI) ratio gives you a rough idea.

Seek Credit Counseling

A counselor might suggest you enroll in a debt management program. They would work with creditors to reduce your interest rates and pay off credit card and other debts in three to five years. It's one thing to get out of debt.

No emergency savings: The top reason to make saving a higher priority than paying down debt is to build your emergency fund. Over half (59 percent) of people say they're uncomfortable with their level of emergency savings, according to Bankrate's Emergency Savings Report.

High-interest credit card debt can devastate even the most thought-out financial plan. U.S. consumers carry $6,501 in credit card debt on average, according to Experian data, but if your balance is much higher—say, $20,000 or beyond—you may feel hopeless.

The 50/30/20 rule can be a good budgeting method for some, but it may not work for your unique monthly expenses. Depending on your income and where you live, earmarking 50% of your income for your needs may not be enough.

Applying the 50/30/20 rule would give them a monthly budget of: 50% for mandatory expenses = $2,500. 20% to savings and debt repayment = $1,000. 30% for wants and discretionary spending = $1,500.

The rule is often used to point out that 80% of a company's revenue is generated by 20% of its customers. Viewed in this way, it might be advantageous for a company to focus on the 20% of clients that are responsible for 80% of revenues and market specifically to them.

The 50-30-20 rule recommends putting 50% of your money toward needs, 30% toward wants, and 20% toward savings.