My Journey to Financial Freedom Part 5

How to Pay Off Debt without Changing Your Household Budget

In August 2008 we became clients of United First Financial.  To utilize the heloc properly with the Money Merge Account we need to retain a balance on the loan so that we can deposit our income into it. Each month when our income is received we put it into the heloc account.  We determine when it is the best time to pay the bills and then withdraw the money from the heloc to do so.  By letting our income stay in the heloc account for as long as possible the daily balance on the loan varies which keeps the amount of interest owed at a lower amount.

Our first withdrawal from our home equity line of credit (heloc) was $3500.  This money was pulled to purchase the Money Merge Account.

Since our heloc is an open ended loan, the interest amount is determined by the average daily balance of the loan so the total interest we were charged for the first month was $1.72.

The first prompting we received from the Money Merge Account software was to withdraw $9,200 from our heloc. We had two second mortgages on our rental properties so we were advised to pay off the one with the highest interest rate.  The second month our heloc interest was $15.58.

One of the things that happen with rental properties is unexpected maintenance and repair expenses.  One of our rental properties required a roof replacement and some extensive kitchen repairs.  Our three-family required painting and another had some major repairs when one of the tenants moved out.  These repairs ended up costing us $10,970.

With the rental repairs, the purchase of the solar electricity, the cost of the Money Merge Account and the principal pay off of one of our second mortgages, the total amount that we withdrew from our heloc from September 2008 to February January 2009 was $49,635.

With all of these expenses my husband and I were so grateful that we had learn of the Money Merge Account and that we had chosen to become clients of United First  Financial because without the guidance of the software  we would have had some extreme financial hardships.

Withdrawals from our heloc account

Principal pay down	$ 9,200
MMA	$ 3,500
Rental repairs	$10,970
Solar electricity	$25,965
Total expense:	$49,635

The Money Merge Account allowed us to stay on top of our finances and let us know how each cost was going to affect our projected pay off date of all of our debt.  The Money Merge Account software has an awesome component that shows you the “true cost” of your spending.  The way the “true cost” feature works is that if you want to make a purchase of some type, you enter the cost of the item and then click on the button that says “Best Time to Buy” and the software will give you the exact date to make that purchase so that the item has the least amount of effect on your ability to become debt free.

One of the best parts of the Money Merge Account service is that is comes with unlimited customer support provided by the staff at United First Financial.  If you ever have any difficulties understanding the program or need assistance in using it, the support staff is available to help.  The United First Financial employees are amiable, competent, and professional every time you call.

Another great part of the Money Merge Account service is that you can pay off all of your debt without changing your household budget and this last year has definitely demonstrated that.  We did not curb our spending in the last year at all.  When you take in consideration all of the outlay we experienced with the unexpected expenses and the installation of the solar electricity we maintained our customary lifestyle.  We continued to live as we normally do and traveled a good deal of the time to various places like Anaheim, Puerto Vallarta, and Washington.  We even manage to make a quick weekend trip to Las Vegas.

It is quite evident that we have not made any major changes in our household budget since we became clients of United First Financial and started using the Money Merge Account.

In my next article I will go into how an unexpected decision from the bank where our heloc was authorized had a catastrophic effect on our plan to becoming debt free.

Tagged with: Debt • Money Merge Account • mortgage acceleration • rental properties • solar electricity • united first financial

Filed under: Debt • Finances • Money Merge Account

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