Do you include mortgage and car loans in

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-08-2005
Do you include mortgage and car loans in
4
Tue, 03-15-2005 - 7:12am

your debt repayment plan?

I dont know if this is correct or if its smart, but Im leaving my mortgage, Home Equity Loan, and car loans out of my debt repayment plan for right now. I dont know if its because I have something to show for those debts or if it just discourages me to see a number so big when you add all of them together.

I guess the way I see it, my mortgage and auto loans have a structure and there is a definete pay off date if I keep current. This 24K in credit card debt does not have anything "attached" to it and there is no structure to it unless I make one. KWIM?

So, for now, Im going to just say Im 25K in debt (credit cards and a small student loan). Once that is done, then Ill tackle the interest only home equity loan that we got to pay for the down payment of our house.

Does that make sense or am I not looking at this correctly?

Nat

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-08-2004
Tue, 03-15-2005 - 8:10am
I personally don't include my mortgage in my debt, I did include my car note. I think that I'd drop dead from stress if I included my mortgage. When I'm finished paying off my cc debt, I'll work on my savings and paying off my mortgage. I'd like to pay off my mortgage in 16 years. I hate the idea of paying the bank that much interest.
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-05-2004
Tue, 03-15-2005 - 11:32am

I am leaving my 1st mortgage out of my total debt amount. I look forward to the day when I only have my house payment to think about. LOL! :-D

When I first joined this board (dec 04), I included the following in my total debt amount:

Car Payment
Credit Card
Karate School tuition
2nd Mortgage

As of this month, I now have only my credit card and 2nd mortgage.

I think it's really up to you, though, about what you want to include. If you have a large amount of credit card debt, and would like to just make that amount your total, that's great. If you only have student loans and would like to just include that, that's ok too. :-D Just whatever you are most comfy with.

Good Luck!

pat :-D

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-04-2004
Tue, 03-15-2005 - 2:48pm
I don't have a mortgage, so I don't have that to count, I do however, count my car loan as I plan on keeping it long after it is paid off, so to me this is a debt that I won't have for the long haul like a mortgage. I think it is a very personal decision what you decide to count and what works for you. If only have the cc and student loan works for you, I say,that is how you should count it then. You know that you still have the car and mortgages to pay. What works for one doesn't work for all, so choose what you feel best about. Congratulations on taking these steps to become debt free, stick around here, these gals have excellent advice, I have learned a lot from them!
~leanne

~leanne

deciding to be happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect, but that you had decided to look beyond the imp

Avatar for mahopac
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-24-1997
Wed, 03-16-2005 - 11:48am

Are you referring to how you think about it in your head, or are you referring to a debt management plan managed by a company? If it's the latter, you may not have a choice about what's included in the plan.

If it's just "how should I look at this?" so you can set up your own plan and schedule, I would consider the mortgage separate. The mortgage was used to buy an asset that is most likely going to appreciate in value.

If you used the HEL to make improvements on your house, I would also consider that separate because it was used to increase the value of an asset. However, if you used it to pay off unsecured debt while accumulating more unsecured debt, you should consider it in the same category as credit card debt.

I would consider the car loan somewhere in between the mortgage and credit card debt. You do have an asset tied to it, but it's a depreciating asset, unlike the house.

Just my opinion, of course!

Kelly