I was in terrible, about $30 K spread through five credit cards. Pay off the store cards first, because they have the highest interest rates, 22% or more. Then try to combine the remaining cards (visa and master) onto one card,check into credit union loans for debt consolidation, as a last resort use cash advances. Once you have all the debt tramsferred onto one card, decide how long you want to allow to repay the total. I got my debt down to $7000, and I paid it off at $500 per month. It took almost two years, but I was able to slowly climb out of the hole on my own. And, yes, I also cut up all my credit cards. You absolutely cannot keep adding to your debt. This year I got brave and I checked my credit score. I was satisfied that it was decent. And I have promised myself never,never,never, fall into the debt habit. If I really need something, like a car repair, I pay cash. Other than that,credit and debit cards are off-limits for me. I am fortunate that during this time, I had a good-paying job. I have a 17-year old daughter in high school who had jobs only the last two summers. She gets lots of credit card offers in the mail. I throw them out before she ever sees them. I had a friend whose son went away to college, took ski trips and lavished his family with expensive Christmas gifts. No one knew where he got the money. He graduated college with a $20,000 credit card bill.

Hi Robyn, Can you explain further what you mean by this statment? "As you are discovering,..." yadda yadda from me... I misread the explanation, apologies. You are in strong shape, *AND* thinking quite sharply about your equity management. Is it your opinion that using the equity in our home is a dumb idea and to only do it if we are unable to pay the other debt on time? Quite to the contrary! Retaining your net worth overwhelmingly in your primary residence is neither safe, nor growth oriented. If you are still building your tax-preferential retirement strategies, you most certainly would be wise to shift your equity from your real estate to other safer, more growth oriented methods. I am confused, because for some reason I feel like we would be better off financially if our cc and student loan debt was gone and we just had a mortage payment. What am I not understanding? A) You were accurately confused because I misread... my apologies, B) Your student loans *MIGHT NOT* be "bad debt"... they are sometimes tax advantaged, and may have very low interest rates (or may be consolidated/refinanced to very low student loan consolidated rates.) C) Credit card debt... yes, eliminate that... but leave the lines on the cards open, empty & alone. Also, how does one go about finding a well-sources mortgage broker? Well... I do be one ;~) But aside from me, you can do a web search, seek out referrals from friends, family, co-workers &/or real estate agents. What *I* would strongly recommend, in ANY case... is to seek a Financial Planner who happens to have a lending license... rather than a vanilla Mortgage Broker. In your case (and frankly, in most people's cases) the lowest rate in the wrongly structured overall financial picture can be far more costly than the properly designed & implemented plan overall... even if it comes at the cost of a premium planner. Sending you all the best! Dave Donhoff Leverage Planner

My brother and I moved swiftly and surely to isolate our mother's assets when it became clear her failing health would preclude her independent life style. That was 2 1/2 years ago. She has a revocable trust now. Assets are protected, we have powers of attorney, and the chaos that follows any death will be minimized. She has "gifted" every year since her health "crashed and burned". Her home has been emptied of its contents and her assets have been directed to its maintenance. I can only tell you, that having an elderly, frail, mentally failing parent in your home and in your care is no day at the beach. To be perfectly honest, I hate the encroachment on my personal freedom. But she is my mother, she needs my help, and who better than I to see she is well cared for, indulged, given mental stimulation on a daily basis? "Baby boomers" need to pay attention to this issue... , laws governing "look back" and estate planning change every month/year; you need to pay attention to politics! "Look back" for Mum had we tried to put our names on the deed to her home in 2003 was 3 years. With the trust it was reduced to 7 mos.. Get thee to a lawyer specializing in ELDER LAW and estate planning, ASAP. Loop holes on inheritance and the transfer of potentially valuable real estate are being closed routinely, even as we're being told that we should reduce our expectation of social security and Medicare. Smarten up! move now and isolate the assets. You'll be glad you did.

i have been credit card free since 2006, living only on cash. i have a small mortgage on my house and am still up 200% (had been 300+%) on it even here in orlando, bought early, put down a good payment, pay towards principle ea month etc... do have a car loan but learned from a mistake several yrs ago when i paid all cash for a 1yr grand cherokee. I should have gotten a loan w/ very low interest rate, put the cash in the bank earning interest off-setting the loan interest and set up auto pay and that is what i do now, i am making 2.5% over my loan interest and can still access that cash for an extreme huge emergency. the only justifiable kind of debt, other than a mortgage of 75% of current market value or less @ 5% or less, is education for a better job. most student loans should be coming in under 6% too, DH's is 2%. you also can not just study what you "like" that is what has sunk the younger generation you must study what is employable in the future. someone may like art history or literature but it is a waste of your $$ to study something you can not make atleast double a yr what your loans are. with the direction the world is going if you don't make enough $$ or have enough $$ right now you will need to make some major shift in your circumstances or your future only holds less $$. our spot in the world as controller of pricing is slipping down everyday, china and india are the controllers of the future and as demand goes up as they rise, our prices go up. those countries have been paying the price all these yrs for being the under dogs, we have always been the ones to drive up prices but now with the shift they will be. daniel pink wrote a good book several yrs ago on this trend and it is finally coming to fruition. i feel very blessed and lucky to have been raised to be a completely independent, self-supporting individual who has planned since age 19 to retire w/ enough cash on hand (not including stocks, gold or any assets) to earn a 6 figure income each yr in interest while in retirement, so far i'm on track... when my DH has his MS in Mechanical Engineering at the end of the yr i will be going back for my masters so i can make even more $$... ~ liz