connection to ham radio is?
Maybe you need a new group: rec.boring.nolife.discussion

Mike Coslo wrote:

N2EY wrote:

In article , Mike Coslo
writes:


some snippage

If you look at the total dollars spent, you can still pay less money
on some of the higher interest lower cost loans than lower interest
higher priced loans. (although I'd never suggest doing that) It's
just the sheer amount of dollars.



Yep. That's why you have to calculate the options.


So the best bet is to pay all the loans off as quickly as possible.



Not always.

Suppose you're in a situation where money is tight but you can expect big
increases some time in the future. (example: kids are small and one
parent is
home with them, but when the youngest reaches school age both parents
will be
working full time). In a case like that, having a lower monthly
payment may be
the best alternative even if it requires a longer loan term.


Well, a qualified yes. I've found people, including myself,
sometimes too optimistic when dealing with "future" things, like
earnings and expenditures. While what you sat is true, I'll take the
tack of either paying the thing off ASAP, or go without. Maybe even save
for what I want. (Modern Heresy Alert!)


Best way to not be a fool is to not go heavily into debt in the first
place. I have a 5 percent loan, but I'll pay it off quickly, I think.


I wouldn't but thats me. What I would do is see if you can
refinance at


all

to a lower rate. I have actually seen a interest rate recently
somewhere


in

the 3 percent range!! Talk about a cheap loan, hell, I would
refinance/remortgage my neighbors house if I could legally get away
with


it!

LOL


Sure - because a house is something you need anyway, it's insured
and not
likely to wind up obsolete or useless in a few years. Most of all,
almost


no

one can afford to buy a house for cash.



Instead of paying off that low interest loan quickly, one is smarter
paying
off the higher interest loans like automobiles, department and
credit
card
charges, and other loans/debts.


Again, it's better to not get into a situation where you would
have to
choose which loan you're paying off early.


Well, its not paying the principle that kills ya, its the interest
that


does

over a long time. The lesser the interest rate, the less I am
interested


in

rushing to pay it off extra early. Either way, one needs to do
the math


or

find someone who does understand real estate finance and other
financal
calculations to make sure in their own individual circumstances.


Exactly - it's all in the numbers for your particular situation.
The biggest financial boo-boos people make a

- confusing "wants" and "needs" (you may need a car, but you want a new


SUV)

- not having a budget, or not having one based on real data
- looking at their income out-of-context and saying "I can afford X"


without

doing the numbers.


Don't forget succumbing to the credit card problem. It's soooo
easy to



live life large when you have 10 credit cards with a 20 thousand
liimit on each card.



That's simply another version of looking at their income
out-of-context and
saying "I can afford X" without doing the numbers. If you can't afford
to pay
off the credit cards at the end of the month, you really can't afford the
purchase made on them.

I consider credit cards as "payment cards", nothing more.

One of those nifty little life secrets I've found out is that if
you are willing to avoid spending credit money like a drunken sailor
while you are young, you will have much more money for your toys when
you get older.



New verse to an old song:

What shall we do with a drunken sailor
What shall we do with a drunken sailor
What shall we do with a drunken sailor
Ear-lie in the morning?

Put 'im in charge of an Exxon tanker
Put 'im in charge of an Exxon tanker
Put 'im in charge of an Exxon tanker
Ear-lie in the morning!


HeHe!

- Mike KB3EIA -