Hi, there, I’m 32, living in China, and have some savings. I was diagnosed with T2DM at 30 but managed to get into remission. However, in the last half-decade, I’ve accumulated about ¥110,000 in credit card debt. My annual income is a little more than ¥110,000, but because I have some savings (about ¥50,000), I’m still not bankrupt. I plan to start budgeting in 2025. Currently, I need to pay ¥7,000 to my credit card each month, but this will decrease to ¥5,600 starting in February, and probably to ¥4,500 in the middle of the year. My question is, should I continue using my savings to pay off the credit card? And should I routinely return ¥7,000 each month even when I don’t really have to pay that much?
Firstly, I’d use a spreadsheet or Google Sheets (or manually input in something like Fina Money), then track and categorize every expense daily. Get an average over the first few months of spending in each category and then set goals off of that. I would pay off the credit card balance each month if possible and not spend more than you earn.