Rank Your Debts

[buildingmore]

I'm in the the process of trying to build more for my life (thus mu username), and the first thing I decided to do is be honest where I stand and the debts I have. I have 10 in total.

1. Mortgage: $354,000
2. Student Loan: $65,000
3. Student Loan 2: $38,000
4. Car 1: $32,000
5. Car 2: $18,500
6. Credit Card 1: $13,000
7. Personal Loan: $10,000
8. Credit card 2: $8,000
9. Credit card 3: $6,500
10. Credit card 4: $1.900

That's the damage. What are the debts you have?

[Randomsaver]

I'm in my early 40s. I used to have #2-#10 but the past 15 years I've started paying them off. There is an inverse relationship between age and debt, the lower the age the higher the debt and vice versa. Which one would a person rather be -- a low age with high debt or a high age with low debt -- I think is up for debate.

I'm down to #1.

#1. Mortgage Principal Debt $192,000; if with interest, it will be $239,000.

The reasons mortgage is last thing on my mind is a) it's got lowest interest rate among my other debt and b) it's too big.

Right now, if I continue to do what I'm doing -- which is working and avoiding gambling -- Father Time will see that one day I'll be debt free.

[autoxer]

1. Mortgage: $168,000

buildingmore, what's your plan for tackling the debts?

[scfr]

buildingmore, what's your plan for tackling the debts?

I'm also interested in hearing your plan for tackling the debts. I think you will find that the folks here on the forums can provide suggestions and lots of encouragement if you are serious about getting rid of the debt.

P.S. - I am debt free, including owning a home free & clear.

[Berryskud]

My debt

I'm not too bad so far. I pay off my credit card each month. So all I have is a mortgage which is about $300,000. That's the biggest and ugliest

[snafu]

buildingmore, you're carrying $ 39,400. in consumer debt and the worse is yet to come. How much did you pay in interest in 2014? How much interest was paid on the mortgage? How much of your payments for the year was applied to the principal? How many years will it take to clear those two student loans? I'm guessing Car Loan #1 is a relatively recent addition to your burden.

[buildingmore]

buildingmore, what's your plan for tackling the debts?

I'm doing a debt avalanche while trying to cut expenses down to the bones. It's not something that will be accomplished in a year. It's long term. But at least I have decided to finally face the problem and put together a plan of paying it off.

[disneysteve]

We owe about 50K on our mortgage and about 9K on a car. My wife and I are 51 and 50 and have a daughter in college.

[Bob B.]

Current Debt -

House - $38,962
Mini Van - $11,818
Pickup Truck - $1,737

November 2010 was quite a different story -

Hose 1 - $106,600
House 2 - $70,000
CC 1 - $9,376
CC 2 - $3,530
CC 3 - $4,330
CC 4 - $1,090
CC 5 - $4,255

My participation on this site was quite a large part of my turn-around. But, the biggest part was personal commitment and discipline.

Also, a huge part was that we were able to sell house 1 as a short sale.

OP - take part in this forum as you work to reduce your debt. Take advice that is given. Commit to turning things around. Cut expenses, and raise income if you can.

Good Luck!

[Randomsaver]

When people say "mortgage" or "house", does that mean principal only or principal + interest? I think there's a substantial difference between the 2.

[disneysteve]

When people say "mortgage" or "house", does that mean principal only or principal + interest? I think there's a substantial difference between the 2.

When listing the mortgage, I think most people mean the outstanding principal balance o the loan. Yes the actual amount is higher with interest but its a lot harder to put an exact number on that.

[corn18]

Just like every other debt everyone has listed. They don't list the car loan or credit card debt as principal + interest. To DS's point, it is harder to put a number on interest, but not that hard.

Listing it as principal + debt would certainly illuminate the reason debt can be debilitating. If my online debt accounts listed principal and interest due, that would scare me a lot more.

The banks could easily list an interest amount with each principal amount. For instance, when you go online and see your mortgage that has a $400,000 principal balance with 25 years remaining, it should say $400,000 principal and $220,000 interest and list the total on the account summary page as $620,000. Certainly not a difficult calculation for them. Auto loans have a fixed term and could do the same thing. Credit cards currently use the minimum payment method to tell you how long it would take to pay off the credit card.

Tom