Seeking guidance with financial planning (loans, down payment, more) I've searched through the questions already asked but didn't see anything quite like this. My situation: 1. I am graduating with a very large student loan debt (more than 50k, less than 100k). 2. I have excellent credit. 3. I have no other debt or loans. 4. I have some retirement savings. 5. I don't expect to have a huge salary. 6. I am considering going back for another degree in a year or two--probably one that would result in a significantly higher salary I'm going to move home for a year or two. I am considering using my cost savings to pay off a large portion of my loans. This appeals to me, except for a few reasons:

I'm selling a piece of property to someone with a seller-financed loan -- so I make the money from the power of compound interest instead of a bank. We've got lawyers handling the paperwork for the transaction. However, I've never been a loan shark before. Suggestions for financial software to manage the loan so I can enter payment amounts and dates and such and keep the magic of compound interest accurately compounding? I'm platform agnostic among OSX, WinXP, and various linuxes. I prefer something that's actual software instead of a service that I have to keep paying money for (Quicken and your expiring ability to download activity, I'm looking at *you* right now).

FinanceFilter: Is the money supply contracting, or expanding, after netting all the Fed action, bank closures, mortgage defaults, etc? The dollar falling seems to signal a net increase of money supply, but this is inconsistent with the thesis of a credit or liquidity crunch. If the money supply is growing at a slower rate due to tighter lending practices, shouldn't the dollar be rising, even in the face of Fed-rate cutting? Do we know the net expansion or contraction of the money supply due to the combination of rate cuts and mortgage defaults? I understand that Fed rate cuts have the effect of increasing the money supply. I understand that lower rates lower the value of the dollar, because it puts more dollars into existence tomorrow than existed today, i.e. given a constant demand, the increase of supply lowers the price.

Does a student loan in deferment count as debt for the purposes of figuring debt to income ratios in an FHA loan? We're looking at applying for an FHA home loan. I had a lender tell me that my student loans, currently in deferment until graduation in May, then in grace period for six months after that, would be counted against my debt to income ratio now. The lender says that in order to not have them counted against my debt to income ratio right now, I would have to provide documentation from the student loan lender that they would be deferred from one year of closing date of the mortgage. At best, I think I could only document the current deferment and subsequent grace period (six months after I graduate). As to applying for a forbearance, I don't think I can apply for that until I'm actually in repayment and even at that most lenders, apparently, only grant forbearances for 6 months at a time. It seems weird to count this as debt now, especially since my future income from my full time job which will kick in the future won't be counted.

Is it possible to refinance through the bank that holds your mortgage? Is it desirable? Is it easier? I bought a house in August with a Bank of America no fee mortgage at 7%. I'm wondering if a) it makes sense to refinance now, even just a few months in, and b), whether I should approach the mortgage holder first and see what they can do. It seems to make sense that they'd want to keep the business rather than letting it go to another company, but I'm wondering if I'm missing something, since the web seems to have little info on doing so. Other salient facts: 30 year, fixed rate, 10% down.

Subprimes still lending?? I thought that the subprime loan market was out of business. Why am I getting multiple calls from Household Finance claiming that they have "new programs" trying to lend me money I don't need? ps I don't have a loan with Household Finance. I don't know if they're trying to make a home loan or a consumer credit facility.

Assuming that the feds are indeed going to cut rates significantly at the end of this month, should my mom wait until after that to refinance her home mortgage? My mom is about to refinance her home loan -- but with all the talk of the feds cutting rates, it made me wonder if she should wait? If the feds cut rate, will it affect the offered rate on her loan? Is there a delay between these two numbers? Or can she walk in the next day after the prime is cut and get a different rate? Also, she is sure she is selling the house within 2 years (this refinancing is designed entirely to get her a lower monthly mortgage for those two years)... should she worry about loans other than 30-year fixed? Or are they full of hidden problems and complications?

I'm applying for a mortgage, my wife is European and has debt in a foreign country but has been living here for 3 years and has a green card and a short credit history. If I don't report her foreign debt in our financial disclosures when applying for the mortgage will the bank here be able to find out? will they look?

We're expecting our first child in a matter of months. My wife's employer doesn't provide paid leave so we've tried to rearrange the budget so we can soften the blow of lost income. I had a thought... can you delay a mortgage payment 1 or 2 months and add those months on the end? My wife's employer requires a delivering mother to use their paid time off and any time after that is without pay. They comply with the Family Medical Leave Act where she is guaranteed her job upon return but without short term disability there won't be anything coming in terms of income. Granted, we're financially stable but our biggest bill (our mortgage) scares us a little and we're trying to find ways to pay it for 2-3 months along with medical bills and needs of a newborn. So, maybe we're just overreacting but we'd like to be better safe than sorry.

How and when do I "shop" a mortgage? (first-time buyer questions inside) So, I've got a lender I'd like to work with (found via referral). But I want to make sure that I'm getting a fair deal, so I'd like to "shop around" and see that the rate/closing costs/points/etc that I'm getting are competitive. But I'm not sure when or how i should shop the mortgage. Do I call and compare before i've found the home, after my offer has been accepted / entering contract, or what? Basically, I'm looking for a timeline of the loan process when buying a home with regards to shopping lendors. And how does "lo