I pulled the trigger.

I did something this morning that I have been deliberating about for over a year. I finally accessed money from our home equity line of credit and paid off all the balances on our revolving credit accounts, and then subsequently closed all of those accounts. As I said, this is something I've been thinking about doing, but have hesitated because every fiber of my being told me that it is a terrible idea to secure unsecured debt with our home. Reading about all of the foreclosures happening only reinforced that sentiment.

That said, why did I finally do it? Well, I simply decided that it was stupid to be paying 19% interest (in some cases) on debt when we could be paying 5.5%. We don't use credit cards, haven't in nearly two years, yet we're still paying them off at those high rates. I also thought long and hard about where we stand as far as equity, as so much of what I am reading about the current foreclosure crisis can be attributed to people treating their homes as if they were ATM machines. Even given the current climate of reduced home values, we are fortunate to have substantial equity in our home (thanks to selling our MA home in a seller's market) - so, while using the HEL funds does deplete some of that equity, I am comfortable with where that leaves us. The fact is, this is debt that we already have accrued, NOT a decision to take on MORE debt to finance something frivolous.

The current plan is to throw all of the money we were paying out to the various cc companies at the HEL and have it paid off in three years, while continuing to operate on a 'cash and carry' basis. Provided nothing too catastrophic occurs (a big if, of course), I feel like we'll be on track to be where we want to be within the next few years, especially as certain financial obligations (daycare and student loans) are eliminated from our ledger. I have to say, for as much as I went back and forth on this and worried about it, it felt awfully good to send off those checks and 'please close...' letters. It feels good to do something concrete and to feel like we have a plan.

Hope I didn't just make a huge mistake!!!!