NOT true this year. The new Trump tax law that went into effect for 2018 will not allow you to write off the interest on a home equity line of credit UNLESS you actually use the money to improve your house. In this case, he is not using the money to improve his house, just his state of mind. SO no dedeuction.

The IRS.

 

All well and good. But if I want religion I'll find it myself somewhere. I don't need someone hitting me over the head with their beliefs. If I'd had any idea that Ramsey was all about this I'd have never bought that book so long ago.
My take is that Dave Ramsey is out for Dave Ramsey, not so much about helping the next guy.

 

Because he talks about God? He sells books?

Lot of wisdom in the proverbs he quotes. Borrower is slave to the lender. Not sure why hearing that would bother a person so much.

Not sure why some people let religion bother them so much.

 

Ok, ok. We're getting sidetracked.

Let's bring this thread back to "How to enjoy eating cat food during my retirement years, because I made stupid financial decisions when I was younger."

LOL.

 

As stated, religion doesn't bother me. I just don't want someone else's beliefs constantly hurled at me. I don't do that to others and don't want it done to me. Therefore I chucked that book out.

Funny that you should mention that. I worked with a guy for years who was always telling us we'd be eating cat food if we retired too early. I worked at a career where we can retire at any age and start drawing our pension after 25 years of service.
I retired at 49 six years ago. No cat food yet!

 

Can't say I blame you. Religious stuff may be unwanted. That's because you have your **** together. The OP does not have his together, as evidenced by this thread.

I retired at 48, myself. Went back to work part time for something to do at age 52. Still doin' it. Love what I do. No cat food here either, (unless they like prime rib, of course!)

 

I can't say I've never made a bad financial decision or been upside down. Once for the same reason as the OP, bailing out a family member. But at least he appears to be making a serious attempt at fixing it.
I started a small business 3 years before retirement to see if it was going to fly. When it got busy enough that I couldn't both work at my "real" job and the business, I retired. Not making millions but it pays the for the land taxes, vacations and whatever other luxuries I want every year. But the physical aspect and all the ladder work has me considering selling and starting another less labor intensive business now that I'm heading for 56.
But as you stated earlier we're getting a little sidetracked. To the OP, Mike Lawless had a great suggestion. Scrape together any extra that you can every month and start paying that principal down. Even if it's only $40 or $50, it's something in the right direction.
Cbyway's idea about unloading some unused/little used stuff is also a good one. I'm in that mode right now. Just sold my extra Harley last month. 2 years ago I paid cash for a used 5th wheel camper. It's been used twice. That SOB is now ready to go to someone else's driveway also! I'm trying to create a little space on my property, not use more of it up.
Investigate new cell phone and television options. I went from being a 20 year Verizon wireless customer to another outfit. They use Verizon's network and resell. My bill went from $70 to $29.99 for the same talk & text plus an extra gig of data. For TV, if you have high speed internet your options are endless to get rid of cable. I was paying $140+ for cable TV with NO pay channels. I'm now at $60 for high speed internet from the cable company. I've found a couple great alternatives that are just like watching cable for live TV. One is $5 per month for a single device or $8 for 3. The other is $55 for 3 months. Both include just about every premium channel there is in addition to normal cable fare.

 

If Harley didnt have customers buying their bikes on credit there would be no Harley Davidson.

 

Why are ******** everywhere. I'm talking to the guys not offering any advice and beating him up for the spot he's in. Anyway..........

15% is a terrible rate, Your credit is better now, you can get a lower rate somethere else if you were not upside down. I would, barring any other option, see if you can apply for a credit card with a balance tansfer deal that lets you write a check to yourself for the $2500 your upside down (I've had offers that let you do a balance transfer, or write yourself a check). Pay that toward the bike loan, then refinance the bike loan with another bank. They usually have 0% for a year with the credit cards, and hopefully you can pay the $2500 off in that timeframe.

 

Depends on your perspective...A Harley in the garage makes the whole garage look better.
Definitely makes an improvement.