Finally three years after a very unexpected and tumultuous divorce, things are chill now and I can really focus in on fixing my credit. Three years ago I was at 720. As it stands now, I'm at 604. Not good, right? But I've managed to raise it 50 points over the last couple of months by combing through my credit report and disputing some discrepancies and some late payments that actually weren't late payments and it looks like I'm on track towards understanding my credit.
Unfortunately over the course of the last three years I'm now in about $20,000 debt. Half of which are legal bills (my ex was a real bad dude - hence the sudden divorce after domestic violence) and the other half restarting mine and my four kids lives over. I'm able to pay each month just fine and usually more than the minimums and I'm looking into paying off the smaller balances with higher interests first and moving on to the bigger balances after.
My conundrum right now: I'm getting a large tax return ($12,000) and need to use at least half of that to purchase a new (used) car. My car is 11 years old and taken a turn for the worse, gets horrible gas mileage at 15 mpg and my mechanic says it's time for an update. Having a reliable car is important, of course.
Should I just chance the car stuff and go ahead and use the full amount to pay off some debts or should I go ahead and use half to put a down payment on a car and finance the remainder? My financial adviser recommend doing as much as an auto loan could help rebuild credit as well, but it's tempting to pay off such a huge chunk of debt right away.
The good news is that I have a very secure career and make good money for where I live and my ex is finally paying child support ($849 a month) towards our four children.
I don't want to mismanage this incoming money and regret it. Thanks for any insight.
Submitted February 05, 2019 at 11:16PM by AccioGoodAdvice http://bit.ly/2t5qWDs
