#refinancing -refinance

[bitchesgetriches]

Hi! First of all I want to thank you - you've been instrumental in instilling my confidence in my financial journey. Your articles are so informative and easy to follow. I really appreciate all the work you put in.

Secondly, I have a question about balance transfer credit cards. I'm in a place where I'm paying off my highest card consistently, but the interest is still killing me. Not only that, but my balance is around 60% of my limit, which is hurting my credit score. I understand that most transfer cards charge 3-5% per transfer, but if I could pay the transfer off in the given ~18 months of 0% APR (which I believe I could), it could help me significantly, even given the 3-5% hit.

Although you've instilled a lot of confidence in me, I'm not confident enough in this decision to pull the trigger without further advice. I'm always leery of opening a new card. I would greatly appreciate any wisdom you have to offer!

Thank you so much for all you do!

Hi honey! Thank you for your kind words.

And if you don't have the confidence to pull the trigger without checking in... you have our permission to do a balance transfer. The temporary 0% APR of a balance transfer credit card can give you a huge headstart on paying back the principle without drowning in interest like you are now. Even with a 3-5% transfer fee, the math will likely work out in your favor.

Here's more info on how consolidations, refinancing, and balance transfers work:

When (And How) To Try Refinancing or Consolidating Student Loans 

Did we just help you out? Say thanks by donating!

[christophe-barraud]

US 30-Year Mortgage Rates Hit A 3-Month High - Christophe Barraud

In a context where treasury yields keep spiking, US 30-year mortgage rates rebounded this week, hitting the highest level since mid-November.

[indizombie]

In November 2016, Modi performed a high-voltage stunt: He outlawed 86% of the country’s cash, presumably to unearth illicit wealth. People queued up for days to return their worthless notes. New currency was in short supply. Small businesses couldn’t pay workers. Ultimately, demonetization was a fruitless exercise. Most of the outlawed money came back to banks, but the pain Modi inflicted on society helped launch his cult. As Arvind Subramanian, then Modi’s chief economic adviser, would argue later in a book, sacrifice, “as a necessary condition for achieving a larger, loftier objective,” resonated with the population because it harked backed to Mahatma Gandhi’s strategies during India’s freedom struggle. That elevation of Modi in the public consciousness was a turning point in the citizen-state relationship. Unquestioning devotion was in; critical examination was out. Gone was the pre-poll promise of “minimum government, maximum governance.” The dirigisme of the ’60s and ’70s was back. “We are now entering the politics of ‘permanent revolution’,” Pratap Bhanu Mehta, a political scientist and commentator, presciently warned after Modi’s currency ban. Since then, the government’s whimsical decision-making has intensified. Don’t like what a consumption survey shows? Suppress it. Getting flak for a slowing economy? Publish unbelievably rosy GDP data. Think Covid could get out of control? Impose a nationwide lockdown on four-hours notice. Before IL&FS went belly up, the overextended Indian private sector was putting up a brave face, chanting “Modi, Modi,” and trying to retain its best assets with cheap refinancing. Now the entrepreneur just wants to avoid going to jail. Economic power is concentrating in fewer hands. When I was growing up, telecommunications was a government monopoly. Then came a bustling wireless market hosting a dozen operators. Now the player count is once again down to three effectively. One of them is in serious stress, and the other says it may not be able to bid for 5G spectrum next year. Another private group is establishing a chokehold on seaports and airports, which also were once the state’s preserve. Conglomerates may also be allowed to enter banking because government-run lenders don’t have capital to grow. For my generation, swapping one form of concentration with another doesn’t look like progress.

Andy Mukherjee, ‘Why I’m Losing Hope in India’, Bloomberg

[princemannikin]

Angelica, during "Take a Break": Oh my god, have you seen yourself lately?

Hamilton: Not since my last out-of-body experience.

[furryalligator]

Rising Rates Vs. The Housing Market

Interest rates are on the rise for the first time in years. What that means for the housing market is far from obvious.

Interest rates had been falling for most of the past three decades – but two years ago, they started climbing. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note recently climbed above 3%, up from less 1.5% just a couple of years ago.

Among the reasons that rising rates matter is that they have numerous effects on the housing market. Some of these effects are obvious. As interest rates climb, so will mortgage rates, making houses relatively less affordable. Refinancing also becomes less attractive.

But there are also surprising ways in which interest rates affect – and in one case, don't affect – the housing market. Laurie Goodman of the Urban Institute walks us through them.

[short-years-long-days-blog]

After: Day 96

I just got off the phone with a mortgage rep to discuss refinancing our house. 

We want to lower our monthly payments as part of the experiment in frugality we launched while I’m testing the waters of self-employment.

I was dreading this experience because after the first two times I called, no one followed up with me. In the past I would have abandoned the whole enterprise out of fear, or verbally abused someone over the phone out of anger. But now, I knew the best approach was to be firm yet polite and tell them my needs weren't being met. I started to explain that today, but I somehow got a new guy on the phone who took care of everything right away.

It was still scary because I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to real estate and financial stuff like that, and I hate not knowing what I'm doing and looking incompetent. But I was honest about what I didn't know and was able to follow along pretty well with most everything he explained. The upshot: we’ve started the process of reducing our payments by over $100 a month!

Jesus Christ, being an adult is hard.

When you drink and drug and binge-eat and starve for over 15 years, all of the emotional and social growth you should be experiencing during that time simply just stops. Your body keeps growing, and you keep walking and talking and moving through the world, but parts of your brain, and your heart for that matter, freeze in place.

When you stop drinking and drugging and binge-eating and starving, the reckoning begins. Your body may be chronologically older, but in many ways, your brain is not. You find yourself at parties, in meetings, on the phone—feeling baffled, drawing a blank, asking yourself, What would an adult do here?

You learn by watching, and seeking out the guidance of your wiser friends. Your brain forms new pathways. Your heart starts to thaw. It’s like when your leg starts to regain feeling after falling asleep; as the nerves wake up, it is so painful that even the lightest touch makes you wince. But you stand up and hobble, and the pain subsides with each halting step.

Better late than never.

[bitchesgetriches]

Hey bitches!! Thoughts on when to or not to get a balance transfer card? I’ve got 3 cards in total; two with interest but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to pay them off before the intro period on the new card, or how that even works? I’m worried about having too many cards at only 22; idk if my credit limits also matter; I have one at $300, 5k, and 7k

Hi kitten! We wrote this specifically about student loan debt, but the advice works for credit cards too:

When (And How) To Try Refinancing or Consolidating Student Loans 

Also, this should be informative about the whole "having too many cards" issue:

Dafuq Is Credit and How Do You Bend It to Your Will? 

If you found this helpful, consider joining our Patreon.

[bitchesgetriches]

NEW POST! When (and How) to Try Refinancing or Consolidating Student Loans Yes that’s right, my lambs: we’re talking about student loans again. This time we’re discussing your options for refinancing or consolidating student loans. What the fuck do these mysterious terms even mean? What’s the difference between the two? How do you know if one is right for you—and if it is, how do you actually do it? Be amazed as we reveal the secrets! #studentloans #debt #studentdebt #refinancing #consolidatingdebt #personalfinance #personalfinancebywomen https://www.instagram.com/p/CFvXaZfnwTu/?igshid=1t1vc1e6g8n61