Debt Dumpers 2025

[Tygerlilly]

Not to corrupt you.. I know we're the Debt Dumpers thread but the I Love Credit Cards thread could probably show you how you can get cc points to cover the flights.

Yes, I've lurked in that thread for a while now. I'm just not in the situation yet to play the credit card game. I'm insanely jealous of everyone who can travel hack tho! Hopefully in a few years I can get to that point to join in!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I discovered this Debt Snowball calculator. It will show you when you'll be out of debt and shows the payments along the way.
https://undebt.it/debt-snowball-calculator.php
You don't have to create an account to try it.

Even if you're not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel yet, hopefully this lights your way.

 

[Tygerlilly]

I discovered this Debt Snowball calculator. It will show you when you'll be out of debt and shows the payments along the way.
https://undebt.it/debt-snowball-calculator.php
You don't have to create an account to try it.

Even if you're not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel yet, hopefully this lights your way.

Decided to play around on it a minute and did a very rough estimate at the CC debt we have and input it all. If we follow only the snowball with doing an extra $30/month above just the min payments, we can knock our CC debt out in a year. Obviously I want to do that faster, but interesting to see it can happen fairly quickly.

 

[barkley]

Decided to play around on it a minute and did a very rough estimate at the CC debt we have and input it all. If we follow only the snowball with doing an extra $30/month above just the min payments, we can knock our CC debt out in a year. Obviously I want to do that faster, but interesting to see it can happen fairly quickly.

those calculators can be addictive AND encouraging-have a few extra dollars at the end of the month? plug into the calculator how many days that will eat off the end date and it becomes a habit. we used a similar type for our mortgage and anytime I got a little rebate check or a utility bill ran a bit lower than expected I would plug in the numbers and see the days dropping off and the end date getting closer.

 

[firefly_ris]

Has anyone here ever put a large, lump sum on their mortgage principal, and then had the loan re-cast? Did you feel it was worth having it re-cast or if you did it again, would you simply keep with the remaining schedule as-is? Just trying to get some ideas together.

 

[FreeTime]

Has anyone here ever put a large, lump sum on their mortgage principal, and then had the loan re-cast? Did you feel it was worth having it re-cast or if you did it again, would you simply keep with the remaining schedule as-is? Just trying to get some ideas together.

I worked for a lender where we handled recasts. I would personally keep the schedule as is and just apply the lump sum payment.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Has anyone here ever put a large, lump sum on their mortgage principal, and then had the loan re-cast? Did you feel it was worth having it re-cast or if you did it again, would you simply keep with the remaining schedule as-is? Just trying to get some ideas together.

I never did but would just say to make sure it's applied to principal or they will consider it a future payment by default. Sure, it's nice to be paid up through February but if the goal was to reduce the interest being charged, you have to tell them it's going to the principal.
You probably know this already but just saying for anyone lurking.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

When we refinanced in 2020 my husband just applied additional monies towards the principal, ensuring it's a payment strictly made to the principal only, to maintain the loan repayment term as opposed to pushing it out further. But we didn't do a recast. He didn't make a large payment just an additional payment each month to better align with what it was previously on the loan term. This was a more conservative approach as it meant if we needed the additional money we could take it.

In our case we've refinanced twice, once about 1 1/2 years-2 years into the loan as the home appreciated enough in that timeframe the PMI could be gone (which wasn't super super high to begin with). For context our home was a new build and the value is first calculated off the price the home was when you signed the contract. Then each January 1st the state requires the homes to be re-valued at "fair market value". We also got a slight reduction in interest rate (which was a combined goal with the PMI to be removed). The 2020 refinanced was purely to get a lower interest rate although it wasn't like a dramatic (when thinking about how high the interest rates have gotten) drop since our interest rate was already pretty low (in historical terms).

I think recasting vs just applying additional payments on the principal can come down to your own comfort level. But I can also see it could depend on what other debt someone may have. To me mortgage payment is a more steady payment structure, something like CC debt or a medical situation or a car situation can be a more sudden uptick in an expenditure.

Both my husband and I paid our Federal student loans each month even when there was a pause in interest rates and payments but knew that if we had to we could take that money and use it elsewhere. I also paid an additional payment (almost equal to a full month's payment) towards one of my private student loans each month knowing that if need be the extra $50 I was spending could be used elsewhere if need be. I also applied a large lump sump payment towards my other private student loan which helped lower the monthly payment for about 6 months or so....until the Federal government increased the interest rates which affected my loan so that ended up being nearly nullified. Luckily our student loans have been gone for several years now.