Do you have equity in the home at this point? If so, I would look at a HELOC or home equity loan, not a refi. A HELOC or equity loan would just be for the amount of equity you have built up in the home over the last 3 years and hopefully would cover a roof replacement. A refi would probably cost you way too much at this point and raise your interest rate on your entire mortgage to todays rates. If I had to do this, I would much rather only be paying a higher interest rate on a HELOC or home equity loan and pay it off as quickly as you can to have it gone quickly. I am considering this for some home improvements we were planning on making in 2024. I will be taking out a home equity loan of $50k for 15 years, but will make triple the payments to get it paid off early with less interest.

Definitely going over the difference between W-2 employees and 1099 employees. A lot of people are doing side hustles like door dash and uber, but don't understand how the taxes work on those 1099 jobs. They end up in a mess come tax season.

Maybe a lesson on cost of making just one meal. Last summer I sent each one of my 14 year old twins to the grocery store with $25.00 and ask them to buy food to prepare a meal for our family of 4 to eat that night. They had to come up with a meal in their head, find the ingredients and do the math to make sure they stayed in the $25.00 budget including any taxes. They both came home stating that was really hard to figure out what made a good meal and what food actually costs just for 1 meal for a family of 4. We had pasta with garlic bread and salad for one meal and the other did tacos/quesadillas with spanish rice. It was a very good learning lesson for them, especially when they complain that I didn't get something they wanted at the store when I shop.

Personally, I don't know of any HYSA that is getting 3.9% interest or better. If it was me, I would just pay off the loan and be done with it. Then each month put that car payment back into your savings account to build it back up to the $18k. I went into hyperdrive back in 2020 paying of my remaining $16k of student loans that were only at 1.75% interest. Logically, it made more sense to invest the money since my interest rate was only 1.75%, but I really wanted them gone since I had been paying on them for years. The day I made the final payment and was able to print out the zero-balance statement I was overjoyed. I can't tell you how good you feel to have the debt gone. It has been almost 18 months since I have paid it off and I still get giddy, knowing I can say I paid off my student loans (I originally owed $48k).

But I also paid off my car loan 2 1/2 years early because I hate that kind of debt, so I am a type of person that will advise to pay it off. Currently, I have zero debt outside my mortgage and make plenty to invest these days. Sounds like you are doing the right thing living below your means. You can save that $7700 back up quickly with how you live.

My credit union is currently offering 7.24% for a used RV rate, but you need to put at least 10% down and have a credit score of 730. So, I would guess they would still possibly do the loan, but maybe require more like 20% down and charge 12-14% APR with a lower credit score and a higher DTI ratio of 40%

My first thoughts are stopping helping out other people. You are not in a position now to help anyone other than giving them a couch to stay on if they are losing their place. Financially you need every penny you can get your hands on.

Second, you probably need to sell absolutely anything you can. Things you don't use anymore. A car if you have one and can take public transportation or ride a bike instead. Plasma donation. Sell your eggs if that is something you would consider. You need to find some kind of extra job that pays daily, such as tip money. You need to get your hands on some cash now to pay your landlord some money every week until you get caught back up. If you have credit cards stop paying them. I don't say this lightly, I don't encourage anyone not to pay on their credit cards, but if it means you can keep a roof over your head, you need to do that. Credit card companies cannot evict you. They can make your life miserable, but they can't put you out on the street.

This sounds like a hair on fire situation and you need to treat it like that. Do everything you can do keep your place/find another cheaper place to live and minimum food in your belly until you can get caught back up to have some breathing room. You will probably need to work that second job for a while, which will suck (I have been there), but you need to get back to normal. Once you get your rent caught up, then focus on getting those payday loans gone before you think about touching credit card debt. Payday loans are almost as bad as long sharks, but they don't break your legs.