Paying everything up front maybe scary since you get to absorb the full cost right away. In such an occasion where there will be no price difference in the total cash out against the total of installment plans, getting things at 0% interest is a good deal indeed.

However, if the payment plan involves paying interest, then you have to check how much you’ll have to spend in total.
With larger purchases that would require you to take up a loans (including mortgage) like with car and home purchases, you might be losing quite a lot with interest alone.

For cars, for example, zero down payments and small monthly payments often translate in longer terms and thousands
in interest. Combine that with the money you lose in depreciation and you might notice that you’ll end up paying for two cars.

The best way still is to pay as much as you can up front (full purchase, if possible) and draw it out with prime consideration for your monthly budget so as to minimize the money lost in interest.

Always think of the whole and longer term impact.

Here are five ways to make sure you pay your mortgage quickly:

Put up a higher down payment. Higher down payments mean that you only have to finance a lesser amount. That also means less principal on which interest will be charged. This can allow you to either draw out a longer term (bad) or deal with a more manageable

Go for a shorter term. Longer terms means interest will be piling on for long. Shorter terms often. You just have to balance this out with the a comfortable amortization since shorter terms means you have to pay larger amounts monthly.

Make more sizable payments. If you’re already into your mortgage, ask the bank if you can increase your monthly amortization. Just make sure that you make the terms clear since some loan programs might not really give you a better value even if you pay more quickly.

Make more payments. If possible, try making more payments. Switching from a monthly to a bi-monthly arrangement may help you hack away at the remaining debt.

Refinance to lower interest rates. Refinancing’s a really tricky thing but if you can work out a better deal, then consider it. Crunch the numbers. If, in the end, you’ll be handing out less money with refinancing, then go for it.

Now that the job market’s basically shot to sh*t, even getting a college degree isn’t a guarantee for one to land a job. And if you’re looking for the big bucks, some degrees just don’t give out that much in return when you practice the field.

Yahoo lists the 10 worst-paying college degrees. They are:

10. Drama (starting annual salary: $35,600; mid-career annual salary: $56,600)
9. Fine arts (starting annual salary: $35,800; mid-career annual salary: $56,300)
8. Hospitality and tourism (starting annual salary: $37,000; mid-career annual salary: $54,300)
7. Education (starting annual salary: $36,200; mid-career annual salary: $54,100)
6. Horticulture (starting annual salary: $37,200; mid-career annual salary: $53,400)
5. Spanish (starting annual salary: $35,600; mid-career annual salary: $52,600)
4. Music (starting annual salary: $34,000; mid-career annual salary: $52,000)
3. Theology (starting annual salary: $34,800; mid-career annual salary: $51,500)
2. Elementary education (starting annual salary: $33,000; mid-career annual salary: $42,400)
1. Social work (starting annual salary: $33,400; mid-career annual salary: $41,600)

This simply means that if you’re out there to get a college degree through student loans, you’d be much better off entering more profitable fields like engineering or computer science. Those fields hand out better starting salaries letting you deal with loans quickly.

I wonder why English isn’t part of this list.

When you don’t have an emergency fund. Emergency funds are crucial as proven by today’s economy. So be sure that you allocate some funds (while continuing to service your debt) to build up your emergency fund at least until you can put up a month’s worth of living expenses. Then you can channel your efforts in debt servicing especially if you’re paying off debt that kills you with interest monthly.

When dealing with fixed rates. Some loans have fixed interest rates for fixed terms. Loans like car loans might give you a fixed rate for a fixed term. Check if you can make early payments that would chip away at the interest. If your loan papers with your bank or lender doesn’t allow such arrangements, then simply maximize your loan terms and have the flexibility to juggle your funds to other efforts.

Credit cards are a no brainer. Hardcore personal finance advisers would tell you that there’s absolutely no need to get a credit card. It’s simply because, often times, you’d be using it buying everyday stuff that you should be able to afford with cash.

Now, larger loans such as housing and cars are different since they often alter the way you spend not only in a monthly basis but in general. Payments will factor in as a recurring expense and you have to adjust your lifestyle if you want to get out of debt fast.

Do the math. Low monthly payments but longer term, means you’ll be throwing away a lot in interest. So the key for large debts is to manage a couple of key factors: the equity that you can afford and the amount you can pay monthly.

The larger the down payment or equity, the lesser the loan (the lesser the amount on which interest will be slapped). The shorter the term, the lower the interest. So the key is to effectively configure them so that you pay as quickly as possible and pay as little as possible per month.

Just make sure that you can afford it before committing yourself to it.