What is the smartest way to get rid of this debt?

I have quite a bit of credit card debt. Should I use my savings to pay off this debt, or would it be smarter to use it as a down payment on a house, and then a year or so down the road take out a home equity loan to pay off the debt?

What is the smartest way to get rid of this debt?
Pay off the higher rate cards first. You are paying more in interest on the cards than you are getting for any money you have in savings. Your savings account probably earns less than 3% and you are paying over 20% on your cards. Use your savings to pay down the card debt.


Using home equity to pay off credit cards is a good plan if you already have equity. In your case, by the time you get equity, you will have paid twice as much for the card debt (20% per year for 5 years is 100%). Don%26#039;t wait, the interest is too high on what you owe. Also, get rid of the credit cards.
Reply:Pay your debt down. Save your savings. Buy that house but don%26#039;t use it for collateral for anything! See what expenses you can cut out and make those payments.





I paid off all of my debt in one hard year of counting change, strict budgeting, and just plain spendthrifting. Its SOOOOOOO nice to not have to make monthly payments anymore!
Reply:Pay it off. Never use your home as collateral to pay credit card debt. If you default, you lose your home.
Reply:mate been there, debt keeps rising and if you dont pay they may even take you to court. pay it off and start with a clean slate again, its less on your mind
Reply:right now i would pay off the debt!!!
Reply:If you truly want to get rid of debt, you need to pay it off. Getting a home equity loan is simply transferring the debt from credit cards to a mortgage. I would recommend paying off a good chunk, if not all, of your credit card debt before getting a home. This will help you get a better rate on your mortgage and will pay off more in the long run.
Reply:I would never use c.c at the first place.
Reply:Pay the debt off, and put the card away...