@Anonymous wrote:You do not need a financial adviser -- just a bit of reading and common sense.
1. Keep current on all your accoutns.
2. Have a budget for all your monthly expenses -- separates needs vs wants. only keep wants that you really really really really want.
3. Figure what is left over and decide how to use it. In order:
a) does your employer match 401k plans? if yes then contribute up to the match.
b) do you have an emergency fund? It should last you 6-9 months and my guess is the ~3k you have (if i understood you correctly and those 3k are in 401k that is not an emergency fund at all, emergency funds are in fdic insured savings accounts) are not sufficeint. Build that up first based on what you come up with in step 2.
c) pay off the credit card debt asap startign witht he highest interest rate one
d) when you have paid off all the debt btu the student laon debt consider then what your fiancial goals are....do you want to buy a house? or be debt free? are you saving enough for retirement? this will determine what you need to do next.
In general as loans go student debts are not a bad debt to have as logn as you keep current.
Don't forget to throw in an ira after you fund your emergency fund imo.
You don't need to talk to a financial advisor, but you should talk to a friend or family member that is financially savvy to draft out a plan. I've helped a lot of friends this way. Talk through their finances and future goals for 2 hours or so, establish a specific plan, and do a weekly or monthly check-in to make sure they stick with the plan agreed upon. A lot of this is common sense. It's the consistent action that is hard to maintain, hence the periodic check-in. OP, PM me if you want my help.
@notapainter wrote:Well, I was thinking that I could use my credit cards as an temporary emergency fund while I build back cash up after paying them off, because the amount of money I'm loosing (accruing interest) keeping a balance right now. But, I do see your point.
i do know how you feel...
About 2 yrs out of school I had prioritized paying off school associated debt (you should see the interest on international student loans! actually worse than most credit cards...) and not the emergency fund.
Then this happened: a few months of unmployment and with partner ending up in the emergency room and moving across country for the new job. No emergency fund meant credit card debt (tbh for me a better option since i had better credit than international student loans assume but not the point).
Either way **bleep** happened and i was going to be in debt. But if i had my emergency fund, I woudln't have had to do **bleep** things like taking a cash advance to pay rent. And i would have spent time on partner and me, rather than spending many sleepless nights figuring how to pay for things and how to stay current on stuff. i ended up destroying my health a bit in the process.
This btw with a job lined up so i knew i was going to have an income. it took me several years to become debt free. I paid myself first in my employer matched 401k, then the emergency fund then the debt. Yes I paid a bit mroe in interest. No, I do not regret it... when another emergency or two popped up I had the money, took care of the problem, put the paying back of debt on hold until i recovered the emergency fund and then finally paid it off. in other words i stayed on track and didn't loose sleep over how i am going to juggle bills.
There are strategies to work your debt. Call all of your cards and ask them to lwoer their interest rate. Look for 0 blanace transfer offers (be careful to do your math if they are worth it) both on new cards or existing cards (the latter works better once you pay a card off). Worst case there is the barcley ring which has a low 8-9 % interest rate with no balance transfer fee nowadays too. Transfer the high interest rate cards first, then rerank your cards and pay off the high interest rate cards first while styaing current on all the rest and snowball the process.
Discover the fun things to do for almost free -- parks, picnics, free concerts, free tastings, game nights or dinner nights with friends at home, trying unique grape wines even if they were in the low price section of the wine store. I left a few boxes unpacked and "went shopping" in there for when i had the urge to go shopping. If you haven't seen that shade of nailpolish in 6 months it is new to you again 
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Occasionally treat yourself. Set goals: save 50 bucsk in interest? one time use that saved interest for a treat then go back to putting that towards debt.
Make a spreadsheet -- doesn;t have to be complex. Mine had whom i owe how much and total debt at the top. The account i was working off in red.
Then whom i paid how much each month. When i paid off an account i made it green and delighted in putting 0 in that card column for payments every month.