Ask Gail a Question

If you have a question you need answered, click here and send it to me. I promise to answer one question every week. Make sure you include your email so I can respond directly to you. And if you don’t want your name to show up on the site, just let me know and I’ll remove your name from your question before it’s posted.

Before you send me a question, search the site to see if I’ve already dealt with your issue because if I have you won’t be hearing back from me. Yes, I know you're all individuals, but lots of your questions are quite similar and if I take time to answer the same questions over and over I don't have time to answer new questions. Make sure you search both the site and the blog before you write to me to see if you can find the answer you're looking for. Be as specific as you can when you use the search. If you type in "mortgage" you'll get every article that mentions the word "mortgage." If you type in "mortgage" and "prepayment," you'll get far fewer responses and that will save you having to wade through stuff you're not looking for.

Scroll down the page for a complete archive of questions!
On each archived month, the questions will be listed at the top of the page and are linked to the specific question & answer below. Gail's answers are in green!

March 2010 Questions & Answers....

• I feel that I just made the biggest mistake. I filled for what I thought was a debt consolidation proposal but in the end it was proposal which was approve but if i miss at least three payments it will be a bankruptcy. My question is would I ever be able to fix my credit and be able to buy a house?
  
  
• My husband and I are trying to figure out whether or not it makes sense to pay off the balance owing to our Township for the water/sewer levy. The original amount was just over $18,000. My question is, does it make sense to borrow from the line of credit (current balance $0), borrow from savings, paying ourselves back monthly, instead of paying the town and the interest charges or just keep paying the charge monthly?
  
  
• We've accumulated approximately $40,000 debt...$22,000 high interest loans and credit cards. All this is outside our mortgage. We are not sure what the answer is, but have been considering credit counseling, consumer proposal, and even bankruptcy. We are hoping this is not necessary! We wonder if selling our house is an option, however, we feel that this might not be as we probably don't have any equity yet!
  
  
• We are getting married in June 2010 and I am trying to pay off as much of my debt as possible. Should I use the money in my savings (5000.00 +) to pay off the balance of my credit card in full, or should I just keep making payments monthly?
  
  
• We've got a LOC for $450,000 at prime, and a $40K loan at prime +1 from a family member. Not everything on the LOC is housing - $150K was the reno, $15K was personal (a car, our wedding etc.). We're about to start your jar system, but I don't know how much of this debt to try and pay off in 3 years & how much I should call our mortgage?
  
  
• I have 4 credit cards. One of which i have had for 5 yrs and i have 3 new cards which have been opened in less then 1 yr. I made a mistake in accepting these 3 cards this past year so i would like to know the following: Would it hurt my credit score by cancelling them? Would it hurt my credit score by not using them?
  
  
• I am a physician and therefore need to pay for my own retirement and disability plan. Clearly for my rrsp's more is better but for my disability insurance I don't know.
  
  
• We have so much debt and a really poor handle on our finances. Are we better to save for the baby coming or try and pay down as much debt as possible.
  
  
• I have enough money in my account to pay off my credit card in full. The concern that I have is that I am self employed and that is part of my "nest". Should I bite the bullet and pay if off in full and if I fall short, find a part time job or continue making payments?