<prompt> Human: Hey,Last week I received my annual bonus of about 12,000, and wanted to see how to best allocate it. I am a sporadic contributorlurker on here, but wanted to use a throwaway to talk about my own problems my friends know my username. When I said 26k in debt above, that doesnt include student loansmortgage. I have a significant amount of debt student loans, car, credit card, and a mortgage. With my raise, I can basically break even each month on paying everything, and putting 4 into a 401k. That is with an extra 300 going against my credit cards. Monthly Expenses: Mortgage: 1800 with FHA PMI for 2 more years Car: 300mo, only 1700 left about 4 interest Student Loans: 1100mo around 70k left, 6 years left UtilitiesPhone: 200 Furniture: 120mo 1200 left, zero percent interest FoodLeisureGym: 500mo usually fluctuates updown 50 Credit Card 1: 4000 - 13 interest Credit Card 2: 5200 - 0 10 more months Credit Card 3: 6100 - 0 11 more months Credit Card 4: 8500 - 0 3 more months, then 13 Between the four cards, I pay 700month minimum is close to 450I have read a few similar threads, where people start with the highest interest to be the most cost effective, and threads where people pay the smallest debt first to have more monthly flexibility, plus a mentalmoral victory of reducing the line items. I am torn between both, but also want to consider a third option. I have seen some debt consolidation programs that will consolidate your debt, close down your credit cards and save you a reasonable amount of money on interest and possibly your overall debt. A few years ago a cousin of mine reduced 14k to around 8k, and paid it off in 2-3 years. I realize this can cripple your credit score for a significant amount of time and shouldnt be taken lightly, but I am seriously considering this option. I have a house with a great rate, and a car I plan on keeping until it dies. I realize the value of a good credit score, but dont see myself making any major purchases in the next five years. I realize anything can happen though loss of job, medical emergency, etc. I dont want to rush into this.Part of me wants to take 3000 and pay off my car and furniture, to free up 420 in expenses right away. I want to take the other 9000, and see about consolidating 2-3 of my credit cards and closing them down. I would keep one of the ones with zero percent and try to pay that off ASAP, but would like it for emergencies. If one of the consolidation companies could make 17k in credit card debt go down to 11-12k and I am not sure this is even possible, and I could make a lump sum payment to close them off, I would have an additional few hundred in breathing room a month. With the extra 500-700, I would chip away at the credit cards and start putting more into savings. Once the credit cards are gone I could tackle the student loans, but I will save that for another post!Any thoughts? I realize this is a long post, but I wanted to weigh all my options before doing anything. I realize it might not make sense to put a dent in my credit score if I dont have to, but I am starting to get significantly stressed out about the situation and think there would be some value to peace of mind and a clear plan to follow.Thanks for the help, its very appreciated.  <response>: The obvious option is to pay off CC1 and CC4 CC4 will have 500 left over but close enough however mathematically this might be better:The option I would take is to knock out CC1, pay the car off moral victory and also frees up 300month in minimums then throw the rest at CC4.You then have 3 months to cover the remaining 2,200 on CC4.However with 900 3x300 no longer paying on car, 750250x3 from the excess to minimum you are currently payinh, and the 240 803 from no longer paying off CC1 you get 1900 without changing anything.If you can find an extra 100month to cover the last 300 you wont be paying interest until CC2 clicks in 10 months from now. 