paying off

When to Use Savings to Pay Off Debt

Posted July 10, 2009 - 04:00 by Philip Brewer

Personal Finance

Emergency vehicle

One of the most common questions over on the Wise Bread forum is some variation on, "I have $X in savings but $Y in credit card debt. Should I use the savings to pay down the debt?" The answer, of course, depends on your situation--and there's a reason why the question keeps showing up. Here's how to do the analysis.

full story 20 comments

Debt repayment is not an expense

Posted August 21, 2007 - 13:51 by Philip Brewer

Personal Finance, Budgeting

Credit cards

Over and over again, in budgeting articles and even books on personal finance, I see sample budgets that include debt repayment as if it were an expense. This shows a fundamental misunderstanding of what debt is. Your debt repayment is not an expense, it's an internal transfer. The only part that's an expense is the interest. The rest of the money was spent some time in the past, when you incurred the debt.

full story 17 comments

I've got my eye on you, WaMu

Posted 2 years ago by Sarah Winfrey

Filed Under: Credit Cards

Going Crazy

What happens when you try to transfer funds to or from any account having to do with WaMu? Nothing good, apparently (thanks to Consumerist for that link). For all their talk about customer service, WaMu hasn't done too well for my husband and I over the last month.

Continue reading "I've got my eye on you, WaMu"

Permalink | 15 comments

Have more to say? Join the discussions at Wise Bread's Finance and Frugality Forums.

Finance Blogs - Blog Top Sites