<prompt> Human: So backstory, my younger sister and I were talking about possibly taking our parents to a cruise either this Christmas or summer 2018. We then started talking about our finance and she was asking how much money I was saving a month because she wanted to figure out if she was saving enough. Thats when it hit me that Im too careless with money. I lied as I was ashamed. My sister looks up to me and I didnt want her to think any less of me. I do know that I need help though. I told her I was putting in 500but in reality I am not a month and she asked why it was so low we both know how much we make annually. She saves 1,500 a month living in New York. I know I basically fucked myself for spending way too much money. Money I dont even have by maxing out credit cards. Im slowly paying them off but I feel like theres a more efficient way in doing so. Im thinking about consolidating all my loans through a federal union as they have low APR.Thoughts on how I should approach this?Breakdown of monthly expenses: I have way more expenses than on the picture but starting this week, I will do my best to stick to a budget. I will also start writing down all expenses to ensure I can hold myself accountable if I end up spending more than my budget. EDIT: I get paid twice a month. Thus the frequency next to it 2. Sorry about that. Car situation: I moved to the US roughly 6 years ago. Went and finished school here for about 3 years. We needed an extra car at the time because of schedule situation. One car for me, my mom, and my dad. So my mom decided to get another one on the condition that I will pay for it as soon as I graduate and get a new job. Assistant: You bring home 2240 monthly, but your minimum expenses are 3762? I just want to check that Im reading your chart correctly.Human: My bad on that. I get paid twice a month. So after taxes, I get 4,480 monthly. Assistant: So you have some wiggle room to make extra payments. Thats a much better situation!Id start personally by putting 1000 into an emergency fund so unexpected expenses wont automatically go on a credit card. Then Id tackle that debt with everything I have.Also, if you can get those cards transferred to lower interest or consolidate with a personal loan somewhere with lower interest, it would save you some. But I think your biggest best thing to do for yourself for the rest of your life is to live within your means. Throw all the extra at the debt, and it will be gone in not too long. If you have anything to sell, Id look at that too, and put the proceeds on the debt.Human: 1,000 as emergency funds done. Yeah, Im looking at credit unions and their APRs. But I think at this point any credit union under 10 APR is better than what I currently have. I do agree. I was reading other posts on here saying that writing down every expense helps out a lot so Im going to start doing that. Assistant: So if you really do have an extra 600 or so per month, this puts your month debt payment at 1600month. You might find that no one will approve you for a consolidation loan. If thats the case:So you pay the minimums on everything except one card Im assuming that the 150 isnt the minimums, and just a payment youre deciding to pay. I suggest the Amazon card. If you do that, it looks like youll pay that off in 2 months. Then you move to the next card -- maybe the one with the next lowest balance.After you pay off a couple cards, you might qualify for better loans0 cards.Human: I do have extra 600 a month, just way too careless with money. Correct on the assumption. If Im reading this right, you suggest pay minimum on the rest, and then put everything on the lowest balance until its paid off? Will I end up paying less interest charge by doing this?  <response>: In this case, yes, since the Amazon card has the highest interest rate. To pay the absolute least amount in interest, you would pay minimums on everything except whatever has the highest interest rate. Then once thats paid off, add all that extra payment to the next highest interest. So Id pay the Amazon card off, and then the Capital One. By then, hopefully, youll qualify for some better rates to transfer the debt to or consolidate. Instead, you could pay off the lowest balance card first, to free up more money faster. But in your case the lowest balance is also the highest interest.We dont know your auto interest rates or your student loan interest, but Im assuming its less than the CCs. Of course, if you qualify for a personal loan already without paying anything off first, then by all means transfer the debt to a lower interest rate. 