When paying back debt, a little strategy goes a long way. It can literally save you hundreds, even thousands of dollars in interest charges. And the best part is that the best, most effective strategy is so easy to follow.

Below are a little strategy I devised to help.
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Your debt-to-income ratio (DTI) is a simple way of calculating how much of your monthly income goes toward debt payments. Lenders use the DTI to determine how much money they can safely loan you toward a home purchase or mortgage refinancing. Everyone knows that their credit score is an important factor in qualifying for a loan. But in reality, the DTI is every bit as important as the credit score.

Lenders usually apply a standard called the “28/36 rule” to your debt-to-income ratio to determine whether you’re loan-worthy. The first number, 28, is the maximum percentage of your gross monthly income that the lender will allow for housing expenses. The total includes payments on the mortgage loan, mortgage insurance, fire insurance, property taxes, and homeowner’s association dues. This is usually called PITI, which stands for principal, interest, taxes, and insurance.
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Even without the economic crunch, a lot of Americans are already knee deep in debt. This is especially true with young professionals who started incurring their debt to finance their college education and have not been able to pay their debts yet to live the kind of lifestyle that they have after they graduate. Some badly need debt management work from something as simple as credit card charges which have ballooned to all time high because of non-payment and accumulation of interest fees. Some got their debts from their housing loans.

During these times of economic hardships, payments of these debts may even be harder. This is especially true if the government should decide to tighten the strings to enforce payment of debts and loans.
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