According to Ashley (who emailed me her opinion and advice this morning),

People tend to try to pay off their debts by throwing everything at it including the kitchen sink. What happens when you do that (unless you’re going to commit to being a full-time hermit crab or guarentee no emergency will come up in your life, you won’t have any money in savings to cover any emergebcy and you’ll end up putting it back on a credit card. You simply won’t have a chance if you haven’t saved anything.

Example: your car needs new breaks or you have to go to the dentist, or the house needs a repair…maybe your BFF is having a birthday party and you’re scrambling to put together a gift because you have no money in savings. You’ll resort to having to use your credit card because you have no money in the bank or just enough to pay your expenses, but nothing for a rainy day.

Work on your budget now, live below your means and get to three months of fixed expenses in your savings account. By then you’ll be more financially and a bit more mentally stable regarding debt that you can start tackling the debt more aggressively.

Thank you Ashley for answering this question for all of us!