I have received my refund check and now I am trying to think of the best way to spend it. My only goal at this point is to get out of debt. I am trying to decide on whether to pay of my 2 credit cards (6500 total, 100/month) or a consolidation loan (8000 total, 400/month). I was considering just paying off the credit cards and leaving a 500 balance on both. With the loan, I could pay some on them and pay off the rest over the year, but I would have not savings and be struggling with the same budget I have now for the next year at least... any advice?

Hello c:

Pay off the credit card, and AVOID further loans... You DID say you wanted to get out of debt, didn't you?? Getting another loan is NOT getting out of debt.

excon

I would say if you have enough, pay off the consolidation loan, then start paying that extra 400 a month on the credit cards, and they willl be over half paid off by next year.
** also stop using the credit cards of course

I would pay the credit cards off first, if they have a higher interest rate than the loan. If the loan has a higher interest rate I would pay that off first. Then when one of the items is paid off I would pay more than the minimum payment on the other item to pay it off faster.