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Debt ratio back under 20%, and this & that

April 1st, 2016 at 10:18 pm

I do a monthly net worth calculation. Last year, my debt crept up a bit the last quarter when I spent more of the money from the HELOC I took out than I had originally planned to spend. As of this morning, my debt ratio (liabilities to assets) is back down under 20% (19% to be exact); a month ago, it was at 23%. That will go down further when the April mortgage and loan payments hit the accounts this weekend. The big goal for this month is to get the 20K loan I took out last May down to 10K (it's under 12K at the moment) and then use another loan from my 403b at a much lower interest rate (4.58% rather than 10.99%) to transfer that debt. I'll then lower the payments slightly to build up the emergency savings fund a bit and give myself more liquidity. I'm still feeling confident that I'll have the non-mortgage debt paid off by 2019 and the mortgage paid off by 2024, well in advance of retirement sometime between 2027 and 2030.

The weather was almost balmy today--high of 76, and I went home for lunch. Tomorrow it starts dropping and the lows early next week are back in the 20s with the arrival of another polar vortex. Hopefully no snow, however!

Tomorrow I'll stop at the annual Home Show--I need a bit of landscaping done once I finally can get my taxes filed and get my refund (see my Health care marketplace entry for why I haven't filed yet).

And Sunday there are a couple of activities at my congregation I will attend, and a friend from there will bring me an electric mower that his neighbor gave him that he doesn't need. Just in time as the last lawn mower I was gifted seems to have some problems and I was getting ready to take it into the shop!

I've lived in my house a decade and this will be my third hand-me-down mower. Haven't had to buy one myself yet!

Very glad that Friday is here this week. Going home now to go to bed early--never really felt awake all day.

4 Responses to “Debt ratio back under 20%, and this & that”

  1. Nutria Says:
    1459590111

    then use another loan from my 403b at a much lower interest rate (4.58% rather than 10.99%) to transfer that debt.
    What about 0% CC balance transfers? Naturally, you'd have to be careful not to borrow more than you can pay back before the deal expires, but that helped me really hit the debt.

  2. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1459600408

    Good job on getting your debt ratio lower!

  3. Dido Says:
    1459733681

    Nutria, I did do the 0% balance transfers for a while, but there's a fee to take those on and you have to find a new deal every 15 to 18 months. I'd rather have an amortized schedule that I can try to beat. Compared to my total retirement account balances, the amount is quite small, about 3%, so I'm not worried about it.

    FT, thanks!

  4. Nutria Says:
    1459750979

    but there's a fee to take those on and you have to find a new deal every 15 to 18 months.
    Still cheaper than 4.58%. A 4% fee over 16 months becomes effectively 3.00%. I used 0% transfer offers plus a temporary drop in my 401(k) contribs to eliminate $30K debt in 3 years.

    And isn't borrowing against your 403(b) akin to borrowing against your 401(k) -- which is a BIG no-no?

    I'd rather have an amortized schedule that I can try to beat.
    I built my own home-rolled amortization schedule which was a multi-column spreadsheet showing each card, the APR, payment, months, etc.

    But everyone has their own comfort zone, and school employees are less likely to be fired than IT workers...

    Anyway, big congrats on your declining debt-ratio. Smile

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