<prompt> Human: The subject pretty much explains it all. Due to a bunch of emergency situations in the last year moving from Chicago to Boston for work and personal reasons, some significant car repairs, other necessities -- Im generally pretty frugal I have about 5k in credit card debt. Some of this debt is shared with my fiancee, but for the sake of this discussion, lets pretend its all my own personal debt.1k of the debt is on a bank-provided credit card with an interest rate around 11. 4k rounding up, here is on a card that is 0 until June 2014, and then will be something similar to the above, hovering around 10-12.We also have a wedding coming up in May. My parents have graciously agreed to pay for nearly half of it, under the stipulation that it would mean a slightly more formal and organized affair. For awhile now I have been going by the idea of sacking away 700 a month to save for the wedding, 800 if I live SUPER frugally for the next 6-8 months, but after another necessary car repair yesterday and another 1k on the credit card, Im starting to feel the weight of this debt. Ive been a pretty financially secure person for awhile, so Im naturally inclined to switch gears and start making big payments against my credit cards.But then the question is: if I do that, will I have enough money for this wedding? Can I just put THAT stuff on credit? That makes me feel kind of sick too, but were pretty simple people and can likely manage a great wedding on as little money as possible.Whats the best solution here? My fiancee just got a new job that will provide some good credit payment money, too, but for the sake of this discussion, lets pretend that her income isnt a part of it. What would be the best practice? Pay credit now, take on more credit debt later, or save now, pay credit slowly?Assistant: Eliminate your credit card debt first. Then start using your card properly by paying off your balance in full every month. If you cant afford to put it on your card and pay it off, it shouldnt go on the card.Human: So, whats the suggestion then if there is a major cost that comes up and I dont have the money? Car repairs are the most current example of this -- theyre commonly over 500 or so and I typically dont have that kind of money in reserve. I want to build an emergency fund, but I keep having to dip into my reserves for things like this.Edit: For the record, I never use my credit card unless its a necessary cost and I define that pretty strictly that I cant pay on one paycheck. Ive reached an income bracket where this shouldnt be the case for much longer, but in the meantime I have debt that needs settling.Assistant: Do you have savings at all? Or should we assume you are paycheck-to-paycheck?Human: I have a sad little 500 in savings. I had 1500 a few days ago, but had to send a downpayment to our wedding photographer. So as of right now I have basically nothing. A few months ago I had over 4k, but its been a rough year, financially speaking, which beat the hell out of my savings.I wish I had a huge savings account, and so my hope is that once all of the smoke clears around this wedding I can start sacking away the same big chunks of money into my savings account.I have some stock currently valued at around 2500 in a major tech company, and Im trying to figure out whether it makes more sense to hold it for the long term or sell it off. The stock is doing fairly well right now, and Im past the 18 month waiting period to avoid larger tax penalties. Part of me has considered cashing that out and paying off debt with it, but the rest of me thinks that thats a dumb idea and I should look long-term with it.I also have 25k in a well-performing 403b and a little over a thousand in a newer 401k, for what its worth. Id rather not touch this money.  <response>: Doesnt sound like you can afford a wedding right now by yourself. Lots of vendors dont accept credit. 