Comments on: Dominating Our Second Mortgage in 2010

By: Carnival of Debt Reduction » A pre-Christmas Carnival of Debt Reduction

Carnival of Debt Reduction » A pre-Christmas Carnival of Debt Reduction — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 08:31:33 +0000

[...] No Debt Plan is ready to dominate their second mortgage in 2010. [...]

By: Ken

Ken — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 01:15:45 +0000

Our road to debt freedom has been rocky since moving into our new home in July 2009. We are still discovering ‘added’ costs of being homeowners. Hopefully early 2010 we’ll have a better handle on what can happen in 2010. We’re open to any and all advice.

By: Golfing Girl

Golfing Girl — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:26:32 +0000

Like you, we did the 5/15/80 mortgage with our current home. However, for us, it was a smart move. We had a house that wasn’t selling in another state but knew we wanted a home here as we were starting our family and found the perfect one at a great price. Getting the 2nd mortgage enabled us to avoid PMI all together. We knocked out that 2nd mortgage in a few short years (as soon as the other house sold). And being accustomed to the 2nd mortgage payment, we simply applied that amount to the first mortgage payment to knock down the balance on the first.

When rates dropped, we refinanced for a 15-year mortgage. The new payments were still lower than the 1st plus 2nd mortgage payments we were used to paying. We have continued to make the original payments (1st plus 2nd) on the 15 year mortgage so we’re hoping to be mortgage free in less than 10 years. FWIW, we have no other debt, have a 6 month EF, are putting 24% into retirement, and have a modest 529 plan for our daughter.

We’re trying to make Dave Ramsey proud!

By: Mrs. Money

Mrs. Money — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:16:25 +0000

We did the EXACT same thing! This year, we ended up consolidating our first and second mortgage though. It is so nice to just have to worry about the one payment now! Good luck paying yours off!

By: Kevin

Kevin — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 04:10:12 +0000

Megan, thanks again for stopping by. I love reading comments like yours.

I am bound and determined to be different from my peers… in my 20s, my 30s, and so on. As Dave Ramsey says, normal is broke!

By: Megan

Megan — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 23:43:29 +0000

Good luck – and thank you for starting this blog! I haven’t been reading for very long, but I’ve learned a lot. It’s really opened my eyes.

I made a dumb financial move six years ago – I bought a car with a five-year loan. I knew it was a dumb move about two days after I signed the loan agreement, and I swore to myself every time I wrote a car payment “NEVER again.” Now, DH and I save up for our cars that we’ll need to buy. If we need o get a car loan, we’ll get one with two years, max.

The thing, though, is if you learn these lessons in your 20s, you’ll do well. There are people in their 40s, 50s, and 60s (and older!) who still haven’t learned. And that’s so sad.