<prompt> Human: I have an old student credit card with about 3000 left on the balance. I have kicked this can down the road for the past several years and I have recently gotten serious about paying it off. Mainly because I want to return to school for a more practical degree former music major here and hopefully by as early as next spring. What I have chosen to do is use half of the money I get from my part time 2nd job to go towards that debt every month. The other half I will save mainly, but perhaps may use some if a need arises. I make about 800 from my second job a month so from now to December I should have the majority of the debt, if not all of it paid off, plus a nice little savings tucked away in time to return to school in the spring. Heres my issue, Ive been told by numerous friends and co workers that this is a reckless way of paying off my debts and I should instead slowly pay the debt off over a much longer period of time. My problem with that is this is a debt Ive already been kicking the can down the road for 3 years. I figure I could use that credit to return to school for a more lucrative degree and get my life on the right track sooner... however I dont want to screw up my credit. I am admitedly ignorant when it comes to things like credit and personal finance. Can anyone shed some light and let me know if I am on the right track or not? Or maybe I am just overthinking all of this. I appreciate any feedback.  <response>: You should pay all high interest rate debt as fast as possible. Your friends are clueless, and you should never pay unnecessary interest in order to build credit. 