I’m a 29 year old in the US who has about 6k in credit card debt and no emergency fund. I really want to change my financial situation, but I’m waffling between building up my emergency fund or paying down my credit card debt. For context I have a FICO score of the high 700s. (idk how if I’m constantly near the limit for my card).
I was making some good in-roads with saving and paying off my credit card debt, but I had some medical issues a few months ago and I haven’t gotten back on track. I’ve found that since then, I’ve been in this cycle of putting $200 towards my credit card and then having to use my credit card to spend $200 on something. So my question is, at this point, if I can only choose one goal in the short term, should I be working on beefing up an emergency fund or paying down the credit card debt?
I’m unmarried and have no kids, my rent is $1500 a month. My car is paid off and I only have $50 in student loans a month from a no interest loan. Other bills are Internet, a streaming service, my cell phone, and my transit pass (which comes out of my salary pre-tax). I make around 66k a year. My biggest emergency concerns are the event of losing my job or my cat having a medical emergency. (I’ve got insurance for her, but it’s a reimbursement type plan so I do still need to pay up front). I know I need to cut back on take-out and clothes/accessories shopping as part of my savings goals.
I know there’s always the method of trying to get a higher salary job, but while I’m not a federal employee, I’m in a field that has a lot of ties to federal funding, so I don’t want to take my chances and leave a currently steady position only to move one that might pay more but do lay-offs in the near future.
Thanks!
