Bouncing back

[CureFan69]

Thanks Win... thats a great idea, I'm going to call my bank tomorrow to ask for an increase.

Thanks to everyone for your advice!

[jimmyengland]

if you have a fico score 743 i dont see why you wouldnt qualify for a mortgage now... i wouldnt pay off the sl either and as far as everyone rambling on about saving the 20% to avoid pmi thats stupid. IF you are disciplined enough and are not over aggressive i would think that you could buy the house now make payments on that and the student loan and be far better off and use both as deductables. Eg if you are renting now you are paying 700 bucks a month. if you were buying a 100000 house you will also be paying 700 month (at least where i live taxes, insurance, pmi etc) and at least 150 of that would be going to the principal. Do u all realize that pmi is 35 bucks a month on 100k??? It is going to cost him/her way more than this with rent currently. This is also providing that you would qualify for a mortgage (im not sure how it is exactly right now with the creidt crunch etc)

Also i agree that you should have a min of 6 month emergency fund and you should be investing 15/20 % towards retirement.

[momof1in150]

If you have a stable job, a score of over 720 and at least 3% down you can qualify for an FHA home mortgage. Talk to a mortgage broker and they will sit down and talk to you about your options.

[swanson719]

The problem with buying a house before you are ready financially - i.e debt free at minimum, 20% down better - is that you end up delaying the payments on whatever debt you have. For instance, you keep the student loans. $20,000 at 5.2 fixed over the next 5 years, though they are more likely longer than that. At 5 years the interest, would be $2,750. At 10 years, the interest $5,700. Not only that, but this is a few hundred a month out of your pocket that could be going towards home repairs, or more importantly, extra principle on the house. A 15 year mortgage always pays off in 15 years. That extra principle you put on the mortgage has over a 50% return during the first 3 years. If you pay off the $20,000 over the next 2 years, which is reasonable if you really apply yourself at it and get on a strict budget, and you could even keep investing 15%, then save the last year for a fully funded emergency fund, you would be able to walk into a house with a 3% down payment, but have the full emergency fund and no other debt. Or wait a little while longer, maybe 6 or 8 years, and buy a house in cash. Think of that - how far ahead of the curve would you be then, and how much in interest would you save? Literally tens of thousands by waiting a few years. That's years of your life you get to work and enjoy your money instead of sending it to the bank every month. 8 years of renting, or 15 to 30 years paying the bank? I think it's an easy choice.

[CureFan69]

I've come up with a plan that will allow me to pay off my SL debt in just over 2 years... I think this is definitely the way I'm going to go.

Quick question... of the Dave Ramsey books, which one would you guys reccommend first? Thanks!

[ActYourWage]

Dave Ramsey's "The Total Money Makeover". It is actually on sale right now (5-2-09) for only $10 plus s/h on his website.