I get this question a lot. Here’s my philosophy based on working with hundreds of folks in debt. Yes, your priority should be to get rid of debt. But if you focus all your extra cash on debt reduction and fail to save for an emergency – and there will be one because life happens – you may end up adding to your debt to handle that emergency. So save some – perhaps up to $1,000 – then stop and concentrate on the debt. If you have an old car that’s giving you some issues, err on the side of a large “life happens fund” (see earlier answer about this fund).

So for example, if you have an extra $100 a month, use say $50 to boost your life happens fund until you reach a safe savings pot. Then stop saving and put all the extra cash toward the debt. For instance, I was working with a woman who had like $25,000 in credit card debt, and about $30,000 in savings. Her credit card was charging close to 20% interest. Her savings was getting less than 1 percent. But she was scared to let go of that money. She had a fairly secure job, no other debt, etc. I told her to pay off the credit card in full. She did, and she built back her savings in no time.

As for tithing. If you believe this religious principle then, yes, you should tithe while paying off debt. For those who are not believers, I know this sounds, well, financially unsound. But faith is a personal thing and if you believe you follow your faith. Because there are always going to be something to pull you away from your beliefs. Now, if you are going to follow this advice, you must, and I mean must, have a plan that will help you get rid of that debt.