<prompt> Human: I looked through the sections of this subreddit and got some cool info regarding avalanche and snowball methods of paying off debt. Heres my situation...I think that the avalanche method will work best for me but I have a quick question first. I have a card maxed out at 10k, paying 26 interest. Minimum payments are 225month. I have another card maxed out at 5k but that is 0 interest for another 12 months. I want to tackle the 10k first. I went to a credit card debt counseling program in my hometown and they provided me a program that would lower my interest rate to 11 and set up auto payments for me at 250 a month. Im happy they offered to chop my interest rate in half which would enable me feel more okay with making massive payments on this account. My goal would be to pay 400-500 per month. The only thing I dont like about this program is that my minimum payments would not go down as my balance starts to decrease like it would if I just made payments directly to my credit card account. If there is a month where I pay off 600 but the next month Im strapped for cash, Im still stuck with that minimum 250 payment. If I didnt do this program, I could see my minimums go down which would make it easier on me if I fell on hard times for a month here and there. Should I go with this program to lower my interest rate or just not do it and pay off my balance dealing with the 26 interest rate? An issue with the program is that it would close my account, which I understand could hurt my credit score. Reddit, whats my best option? Im serious about becoming debt free and this 10k card gives me daily stress I dont need. I just want to know my best option for getting it done quickly and efficiently. Thank you in advance!  <response>: Taking the 11 deal will have you pay the least total amount.Im assuming you dont have an emergency fund? Even saving up as little as 1000 would give you some cushion. I would make this a priority regardless of which path you take. Can you post your full budget here? We may be able to help you find some more money to throw at the debt. 