"I get my re-fi check this week. I'm paying off the plastic and holding a card-cutting party. I'm not gloating at all... "
Nor should you. You have to do what you have to do, but it's seldom a good idea to roll cc debt into long term debt, (mortgage re-fi?). You are simply hiding that you're making the minimum payments.
Paying off cc debt with a mortgage refinance should be a last resort.
AMEN.... that needs to be repeated....
Paying something off for 30 years at 6% (tax-deductable) seems (on the surface at least) better than 30 years at 18% (non-tax-deductable).
Well, unless I hit the lottery (which I usually don't play), I'm paying off the cards in the most reasonable manner I know how to. I knocked 7 years off of my mortgage and got a lower interest rate as well. As long as I cut up the plastic, this move is a winner for me.