How we financed my surgery
 

We got $7500 from our credit union @ 6.50 % for 48 months, $4500 from Citi Card @ 0.00 % until 2016, and $20,000 from Discover Personal Loans @ 15.99 % for 84 months. We didn't want to put a second on our house. The paperwork is crazy to refi anyway!
Our payments will start out at about $780 per month. God willing if I am able to go back to work, we may just put my whole check towards this and knock it out in a year and a half! My husband will have to cover us for a while. I just don't want to be in debt with this for 8 years and not travel for fun ever again. :angel:

I understand the need to raise the money quickly and why you did what you had to do to get it. After your surgery, you might want to consider handling it differently. My thoughts on this are that a second or a complete refi on the home (assuming the equity supports it) makes more sense because it's tax deductible whereas the other loans are not tax deductible. I would think the 15.99% interest rate is going to generate interest much higher than the cost to refinance your home pretty quickly so that is something to consider. Mortgage rates are much lower than 15.99%. If interest rates start rising this year as expected then locking in a fixed rate now will be better than having any variable rate on debt. Just thought I would throw out my two cents because finance is what I did for a living. Good luck Cheryl. I know that your health and the surgery come first!

http://www.bankrate.com/finance/home...e-roundup.aspx

So true
 

Hi Cynlite, Yes, I wanted to move fast. We have looked at a company called American Financing.net May try to get that done soon. Thanks for the commit...

Please review my attachments
 

Cheryl, I agree with Cynlite completely. As someone who specializes in finance, she is more qualified than I am to discuss this. However, look at my attached amortization schedules in pdf format. One of the files has "home equity" in the name. That loan is based on the entire $32k over 7 years. Look how much less it is than the Discover loan!! Also, keep in mind that the interest in the home equity one is fully deductible for the life of it. If it were me, I would look to pay off the Citibank loan at 0% as scheduled. One can never do better than 0%. I would refinance the Discover and Credit Union loans. When looking at my schedules, review the last column to the right which shows cumulative interest paid over the life of the loan. Btw, I have e-mailed you the Excel template so that you can play with these numbers and put in extra payments of principal in if you like.

Good luck!!
Gene

Those are great spreadsheets Gene!

Cheryl, this is a good time to refinance homes if it makes sense financially because the rates are so low. I read recently that lots of people are doing this now to lock in fixed rates because after all these years of lower interest rates, it is anticipated that the Feds will start raising them again. I would imagine this will happen in a very controlled manner so they don't upset the financial markets.

Here's a graph of 30 year rates so you can see it visually:

Average 30 Year Fixed Mortgage Rates

I can't believe that Discover can get away with charging 15.99% interest! However, anything unsecured by collateral is going to be more expensive. I'm sure you will bail on them as soon as you feel better and are on the road to recovery. If you have your car paid off, that's another option to use as collateral but, not tax deductible.

I'm looking forward to reading how well you are doing very soon!

Cheryl, congratulations on coming up with the coin. As we're within striking distance of paying off our house, I certainly understand the reluctance of moving backwards from that goal. One of the things I've learned on this site is that every financial circumstance is no less unique than each medical situation. Good luck, you're almost there!

I am blessed to have such great resources
 

You are all a credit to this site. I have received such valuable information and support. I can't thank you enough! :D I will print these spreadsheet to show to my husband! I wish I would have had more time to do this a better way! :o I just needed to move fast. My arms and hands are so bad. I will get on this when we get back if all goes well...:angel:

update
 

We have contacted American Financing; so we will try and get this done when we get back.

Shop around
 

Cheryl ~ Check out this website and video if you are interested in refinancing your home. It will help you to find who has the bests rates in your area. Not all lenders are created equal! There are a few things to consider. 1) What is your all in rate with points and other fees 2) What is your monthly cost? 3) Is it a fixed or Variable Rate:

Mortgage Refinance - When To Refinance Your Mortgage | Bankrate.com

Lenders can confuse borrowers by making them think they have a better deal than they really have. They do this by throwing in other fees or points to lower the annual percentage rate (APR) or changing the structure of the loan. It's important that you have an apples to apples comparison. If you get confused, make the lender give you an APR for all options that include all fees or lump sum payments. If it were me, I would try to find the lowest fixed rate and avoid the adjustable rates with ARMS if possible. Let me know if you have a question and I'll try to help you if I am able.

When I got laid off, I refinanced my home with a new fixed rate, 15 year mortgage. I wanted to lower my monthly payments but, not lose all the time I had in paying down the loan on my house. I thought I would go back to work after a few years of caregiving my Mom and then make a few big payments towards the mortgage but, then my health turned for the worst and that didn't happen. My point is that we never know what will happen so, the decision to refinance has to make sense taking the present and various possible futures into consideration. I've almost got my house paid off now because 15 years went by quickly for me!

I know this is a lot to take on while you are in pain and anticipating your upcoming surgery. I'm looking forward to hearing how well you are doing after it's all done. I sure wish I was in your shoes right now! I want to have my surgery scheduled so bad but, it's just not possible yet. Sending you a big hug and know you are in my prayers.