With $2,400 extra in your budget each month, why are you financing a car?

You are spending way too much time and energy obsessing over your credit score. You're likely also over-spending because you have the ability to charge. You "spent a little extra" because it was easy and convenient because you had the headroom on your credit to do it. Had you had the cash on hand, you might have decided not to spend it.

>leverage credit and at least get to keep my money making me income

Honestly - how much after-tax income are you making financing a $1,000 phone?

Snowballing (assuming a mininum payment of $235 on the SL and $400 on the PL + an additional $500/mo) would result in a total interest paid of $9,037

Avalanche method of paying highest interest first would mean $3,968 would be paid in interest.

I got a new Pixel 7 for free several months ago by trading in my old phone (Motorola G4 or something or other that I bought for $150 and had a street value of $5. The deal was literally, trade in any phone and get the Pixel 7.

So look at what your provider is offering in terms of deals and if you aren't super picky about having the latest and greatest features, you can get a very functional, useful phone for cheap to nothing.

I'm like you - I'd never pay $1,000 for a freaking phone.

This is where the "But its free money" argument breaks down. Spending $3k on bullshit at 0% isn't 1worth it if you would have otherwise spent $1,200 on necessities and paid cash.

People overspend when they use credit - plain and simple.

As in what is going to matter more to you - an extra $1,800 or waking up knowing that each morning, that dirt under your feet is yours and yours alone and that you're no longer making payments on anything (except to Uncle Sam)

When you look back on your life and stack up all of your chips into retirement, is that $1,800 going to matter much in your net worth?

You clearly suck managing debt and credit so your best move is to create a budget for yourself, pause your 401k for a few months and do whatever you freaking can to pay down the debt.

If you owed $5k on your car, would you walk into a bank and take out a $9k loan at 5%?

Lol SPY is down -10% in the last year.

Pissing away money is paying guaranteed interest to a bank.