CF Financial

[ice grillin you]

elizabeth warren....thats it thats the list

[Munson]

Bernie Sanders

[PhillyPhreak54]

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/6117340

Just finished reading this and came to see igy's post on Warren

McConnell is trash

[Diomedes]

Bernie Sanders

Sanders and Warren.  That's it.

[Sgt PSN]

Find me a politician who will legit fight these corps and I'll not only vote and donate but volunteer for them. Citizens should not be allowed to be farged by big business.

We need a few hundred politicians on our side before there could be a legit fight.

[Tomahawk]

But make sure to vote anyway

[ice grillin you]

this sucks....they were together forever it seemed....i love my amex....farg citi

Costco announces Citi will become exclusive issuer of its co-branded credit card & Visa will replace AmEx as exclusive card.

[Munson]

So...I know the graduated payment plan for student loans over 10 years would amount to me paying about $1300 more over those 10 years IF I make the minimum payments every month. But if I'm looking to pay more (and/or a lot more) than the minimum every month, then I don't think that matters, correct? My total paid over the lifetime of the loans would go down if I'm paying significantly more than the minimum early on?

I just like the idea of having a smaller "monthly expenses" line I have to give a mortgage broker if I look to buy sometime in the next few years, which picking the graduated plan would allow me to do.


Any thoughts?

[hbionic]

Do you really plan to own in a few years? Because, the ball starts rolling now, not in a few years if you truly want to buy in a few years.

How much debt do you have?

How much do you want your mortgage payment to be? Impounds included (taxes & insurance in the payment)?

How much do you have saved now? How much will you need to buy a home? (Down Payment plus the same amount for closing costs)

Most importantly, how much can you save now by making only the minimum payments to your debt vs. accelerating the payoff on your loans?

I think you need to answer those first...then you start seeing the path to your goal materialize.

[Munson]

Do you really plan to own in a few years? Because, the ball starts rolling now, not in a few years if you truly want to buy in a few years.

How much debt do you have?

How much do you want your mortgage payment to be? Impounds included (taxes & insurance in the payment)?

How much do you have saved now? How much will you need to buy a home? (Down Payment plus the same amount for closing costs)

Most importantly, how much can you save now by making only the minimum payments to your debt vs. accelerating the payoff on your loans?

I think you need to answer those first...then you start seeing the path to your goal materialize.

Will probably be looking to buy in 3 years time, 4 at the latest. By then, even with the graduated payment plan for student loans being on 'step 2', the minimum payment would be lower than if I take the standard repayment plan. My hope is to actually have most of, if not all of the loan paid off in 4 years time. The balance is at $19,780 at the moment, and I have 6 months until two of the loans start accruing interest. The biggest loan with the biggest interest rate, at 6.8%, is the one I'll be concentrating on first, though I'll be throwing a little extra at each loan each month (all federal loans all from the same loan servicing company, but 4 'different' loans, 2 subsidized and 2 unsubsidized, with 3 different interest rates...slightly annoying, but got low interest rates on 3 of the 4 loans, so not complaining)

Though this will only allow me to get a few thousand stashed away from a down payment, I am lucky that my significant other's parents paid for her college which has allowed her to build up quite a savings. So I have no doubts we'll be able to afford a down payment large enough to get a reasonable mortgage in a good area, I just want every advantage I can get to get the lowest interest rate possible when the time comes, and having a smaller debt to income ratio helps with that as I understand it, which is why I want my minimum payments to be as low as possible.

Where I live in Delaware is a good area for buying, where homes in good neighborhoods are affordable. So I'm lucky on that front.

Of course, a thousand things could screw up the best laid plans...unexpected break up, unexpected expenses, The Fed deciding they finally want to raise the interest rates just in time for me to buy, etc....but I like at least attempting to have a plan going forward.

[Dillen]

I'm repaying student loans too and have been throwing in way more than the minimum per month. If your loans are anything like mine, paying extra doesn't change the monthly minimum, it just cuts out payments at the end of your loan. My monthly is around $130 on a 10 year loan. If I pay $1000 one month, that will cut off the last 7 months of the loan (give or take, whatever it is), it doesn't adjust/lower the monthly min based on the outstanding length of the loan. I mention this because if a true "monthly expenses" line matters when you're looking to buy, then that line will be the same until your loan is paid off or restructured. But yes, you would have less debt and less extra $$ you are forced to pay.

[Munson]

I'm repaying student loans too and have been throwing in way more than the minimum per month. If your loans are anything like mine, paying extra doesn't change the monthly minimum, it just cuts out payments at the end of your loan. My monthly is around $130 on a 10 year loan. If I pay $1000 one month, that will cut off the last 7 months of the loan (give or take, whatever it is), it doesn't adjust/lower the monthly min based on the outstanding length of the loan. I mention this because if a true "monthly expenses" line matters when you're looking to buy, then that line will be the same until your loan is paid off or restructured. But yes, you would have less debt and less extra $$ you are forced to pay.

Yeah, for some reason the calculator on the website was showing that I'd be paying a couple thousand less in interest, but my total paid wasn't going down at all. I'm assuming it was just a glitch with the calculator.

[Seabiscuit36]

Pay off as much as you possibly can now.  If you're getting close enough that you can squeeze it into a year, then take out a 0% loan from one of the Credit offers, pay off the loan at the higher %.    We financed my wife's Masters solely thru 0% offers. 

[Munson]

Pay off as much as you possibly can now.  If you're getting close enough that you can squeeze it into a year, then take out a 0% loan from one of the Credit offers, pay off the loan at the higher %.    We financed my wife's Masters solely thru 0% offers.

Hah, that's a great idea.

I get sent offers all the time from my credit card companies for 0% loans, will definitely keep an eye on that.

[Seabiscuit36]

The main thing is to just use that card just for that loan, otherwise the bucket allocation can foul up where your payments go.  The one thing to take into account is the transaction fee, some cards are 0% but have no cap on the fee.  So on your calculation, consider that fee as interest paid up front. 

Also if your purchasing a home sooner than later than keep in mind this is considered an unsecured debt and will have a different effect on your home loan.  Good luck.