<prompt> Human: I recently purchased a home for 168k with 5 down. Last year I paid off my auto loan for my 2014 truck and have about 28k of trade in value in the vehicle per KBB. Is it a good idea to trade in my truck, use the money towards 20 equity in my home Need to pay 25k in principal to eliminate 72month PMI and lease a different vehicle or purchase a used vehicle on credit? Is there a way I could find the maximum monthly payment for the lease that would leave me money ahead in this move?Some background: I have a 1 year emergency fund that I could use about half of to raise home equity, but Im employed in Oil Gas which has a high tendency to lay offs right now, so Id prefer to keep that fund at 1 year.- The only debt that I have is this mortgage. The APY is 4.25. Per my amortization schedule, it would take me 103 months of regular payments to get to the equity point that I can stop paying PMI. With the interest on the 25k Id pay and the PMI, Im showing about 18,200 in interest and PMI that Id never see again.- Keeping the truck and running it until it dies is not an option as it doesnt fit a car seat 4 year plan ;, guzzles gas. I do the majority of my driving in my company provided work vehicle and over 2 years have only put 13,000 miles on the truck. - Assuming I kept the truck another 5 years, using some similar estimates on KBB Id expect to have 15-17k in trade in value remaining on the truck.To me, it makes sense to move the equity from the depreciating asset of my truck to the appreciating value of my home with the added bonus of removing PMI.  <response>: This is a case where it is important not to lump to many financial decisions together into one, because glossing over one detail of a multi-step process like this can make the difference between a good idea and a bad idea.So lets look at each part individually:1 PMI. If you can avoid paying PMI, that saves you money. If you pay at your normal rate, youll pay 7416 in PMI it sounds like. So theres an important number.2 If you had 25k in cash, would it be a good idea to use it to pay down your loan enough to eliminate that PMI? Yeah, it probably would be. And considering that your mortgage rate is 4.25, the savings on interest on that 25k is pretty significant3 Should you get rid of your truck? Sounds like you dont need a truck, it doesnt fit your term needs well, and it has high operating costs. So exchanging it for a more suitable vehicle is probably a good idea.4 If you are going to change your vehicle, does it make sense to use as much cash as possible towards your mortgage and finance more of the car? This is a bit tougher, but as long as you can get a decent interest rate on the car under 4, and not get yourself into a position where the car is so underwater that you are stuck with it if your situation changes, Id say yes.5 Should you lease a car? Probably not, if you planning on keeping it more than a few years. Generally a lease is only a good idea if you are going to get a brand new vehicle every few years, which is going to be an expensive choice either way you do it.Can you sell your truck individually? I know that can be tough with a vehicle in that price range because most buyers would need to finance, but the fact that you already have it paid off makes that easier.Then Id suggest finding an inexpensive, practical used car, putting a reasonable down payment on it so you wont be upside down, financing the rest.Also, before going through with this, check into how removing PMI on your loan works. Does it automatically go away when your loan amount drops to a certain number, and will 25k get you there? It is often the case that you need PMI if the loan is above 80 LTV, but it may need to drop below that by some further amount before it automatically goes away. Or, you might need to have an assessment done, which will cost you money. 