paying off

When to Use Savings to Pay Off Debt

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?

Debt repayment is not an expense

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