Credit card debt needs to be avoided, especially at the usurous rates they charge. Everybody with debt problems is there primarily because of credit card debt. But eating beans to pay off your mortgage, especially at today’s fixed rates? That IMHO is foolish. Refinance to a current low fixed rate. In a few years when interest rates are back up where they belong, you will look like a genius sitting on your 3.5% mortgage. If you are into the austerity thing, then eat beans and amass cash or take advantage of today’s great real estate bargains.
Yeah, notice that they had expected to have their mortgage paid off by 2013. Why not just refinance and pay off the cards?
In a few years, assuming you’re right about interest rates being back up, they can put the money formerly being spent on a mortgage payment into an interest bearing CD or moneymarket account and look like a genius for being paid interest instead of paying it, regardless of how “cheap” the interest they were paying might appear at that time.
What you’re advocating is the sort of advice I was hearing along about 2005, that fueled the refi and home equity line boom, home equity was regarded as money laying unused.
We see how that turned out.