“Should I pay off my debt first or start saving?”

Jasmine. Girl. First — take a breath. You are not behind. You’re 28, you’re asking the right questions, and you have $400-500 a month to work with. That’s more than enough to change your entire financial situation within a year. I need you to really hear that. Now let me give you the real answer, not the “it depends” cop-out: Do both. But not equally. Here’s what I want you to do, starting this week:

Step 1: Build a $1,000 Starter Emergency Fund First

I know, I know — your friend says attack the debt. And she’s not wrong about the interest. But here’s what happens when you throw every dollar at debt with zero savings: your car needs a $600 repair. You don’t have it. You put it on the credit card. Now you’ve undone two months of progress and feel like garbage. A $1,000 cushion isn’t your full emergency fund — it’s your “break glass in case of emergency” fund. It keeps you from going deeper into debt while you’re digging out. At $400-500/month, you can have this done in 2-3 months. Put it in a separate savings account — not your checking. Make it slightly inconvenient to touch.

Step 2: Then Go All-In on the Debt

Once that $1,000 is sitting safely in savings, flip the switch. Every spare dollar goes to credit card debt. Here’s where it gets good: That 24.99% APR card? That’s your target. Pay minimums on the other card, and throw everything else at the high-interest one. This is the avalanche method — it saves you the most money in interest over time. With $400-500/month going to debt after your emergency fund is set, you could be debt-free in roughly 16-18 months. That’s it. By 30, you could have zero credit card debt and a growing savings account. Read that again.

Step 3: Then Build Real Savings

Once the debt is gone, take that same $400-500/month and redirect it to savings. You’ll barely feel the difference because you’re already used to that money being “gone.” Within 6 months you’ll have $2,400-$3,000 saved. Within a year, you’ll be looking at a fully-funded emergency fund.

What NOT to do:

Don’t split $250 to savings and $250 to debt every month. I know it feels balanced but it slows both goals down so much that you’ll lose motivation. You need to see real progress somewhere to keep going. Momentum matters more than math sometimes. Also — don’t close those credit cards after you pay them off. Keep them open, use them for one small recurring charge (like a streaming subscription), and pay it off in full every month. This helps your credit score recover.

Your quick math:

Months 1-3: Build $1,000 emergency fund
Months 4-20: Attack debt aggressively ($0 → paid off)
Month 21+: Build real savings with the same money
By 30, you’ll have zero debt and a growing safety net. That’s not behind, Jasmine — that’s ahead of most people your age. The fact that you wrote me this question means you’re already doing the hardest part: facing it.