repay a $5000 HELOC, they should be using a smaller amount. You are assuming that after mortgage, utilities, groceries, gas, tuition -- all regular expenses including property takes, auto insurance, etc, the family HAS only $5000 that could be used part-time or full-time to replenish the HELOC. If money is that tight with them, they should be playing the game with a smaller amount. 3) If they use the technique in the next to the last chapter of the manual, they never write a check or have an automatic withdrawal of a monthly HELOC payment. 4) Taking money from a HELOC to apply to your mortgage principal is not "borrowing money." It is "moving money." Specifically, it is exchanging an expensive type of debt (mortgage) for an inexpensive type (HELOC). 5) The financial principle involved is the "velocity of money" It will always be more advantageous to apply a larger lump sum to a loan at the beginning of any period than to divide the lump sum and apply it in 12 (or even two) smaller amounts. It would be worthwhile to be able to check your numbers, because they seem to work counter to "velocity." You are missing critical information on how the system in the article above works. If you are sincere, buy the book -- or someone else's book. September 22, 2008 Rich Wright @ 12:39 pm : If one has adequate equity for a HELOC to pay off the entire balance of the conventional mortgage, would