Is anybody debt free?

[bob.dino 1]

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not me, but i'm working to ge there..... one of the reasons you didn't see me in dublin....

Good call. Tough, but good call.

I had a decent chunk of cash saved, then took ten months off and blew it all on new experiences. Fiscally it wasn't the smartest, but it did wonders for me as a person. So now I'm back saving. Many of the people I went to university with are significantly wealthier than I am, but I believe I'm happier than most of them.

Everything in life is balance.

[PRSKY71 0]

It is certainly encouraging and nice to see so many people have been smart about their finances. I on the other hand have not been so smart. Student loans ($100k +) have held me down and will do so for a while; I do have a mortgage but like one of the other posters, I don't really see this so much as a debt than an investment; $40k+ in credit card debt!! My plan was to sell my house to pay off debts; however, it was taking longer than expected so now I am in the process of refinancing to pay off credit card debt and then I'll have just one monthly payment. I am encouraged, though!!!!

Character cannot be made except by a steady, long continued process. -- Phillips Brooks

[Channman 2]

> I was in dreaded credit card debt in excess of $15k.

I was there once myself, although mine was abit more than 15K. Several years to pay it off, but became dept free in 1996, except for the mortgage.

Now I have to pay for the college educations of my three girls, but the wife and I make far more money than we did all those years ago. The future weddings, thats going to be interesting when they come around.

Credit Card debt I believe is the dept that distroys completly with revolving rates that take 30 plus years to pay off if you just pay the minumum.

[Cornholio 0]

The biggest debt I have is to my mom who paid off all my credit cards and student loans a few years back. It's family, but she's still charging me about 4.5% Interest, which is way less than any credit card I've evern owned. My last car payment is due next month, and then after that I will only have the 25K debt to my mom, and about 2500 on a credit card.

You know the strange thing is... I could pay it ALL off in one quick payment if I wanted too and still have some left to spare. But I don't want to break into my nest egg yet. Gotta save that for a rainy day... or a new house, kids college education, etc..

Edit to say that the best thing is since I have the loan with my mom, it doesn't show up on my credit report. I guess that's why it's around the 770 Mark.

Butthead: Whoa! Burritos for breakfast!
Beavis: Yeah! Yeah! Cool!
bellyflier on the dz.com hybrid record jump

[gravitational 0]

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Me too. Work. Work. Work.

It's a change of thinking and focus on the task at hand. Do you need to blow $50 at the bar one night on the weekend or can you go out and have a beer with friends and take the other $45 and put towards savings/debt payment.
Look at this as a goal - take 10% or your your paycheck (pre or post tax) and put into savings. This does not included your normal 401k deductions etc. If you work at rearranging your budget, you can do it. Focus, Focus, Focus.

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Michael

[skycat 0]

To start off with I took a break from skydiving...

Debt at the time:
Car Loan
Student Loans
3 credit cards
Store credit cards

I then consolidated as much non-secured debt as I could on to two of my credit cards that had the lowest interest rates(it couldn't all fit on to one). Closed the store cards and 1 credit card. Figured out how much in total I could put every month to paying off debt, then went after the credit card with the highest interest rate. As things were paid off the the funds available were added to the existing payment on the next card.

Here is an example saying I have $1000 a month to put toward debt.

Month one
Car - $400
Student - $100
Credit Card 1 - $100
Credit Card 2 - $400

Month 10 and Credit card 2 is payed off
Car - $400
Student - $100
Credit Card 1 - $500

I built a spreadsheet to track progress and to watch to see if something like the student loan was close to being payed off and one big payment could get rid of it. Now I only have one credit card and a check card, and I almost never use the credit card.

What I have learned though from my mortgage guy is that I shouldn't have closed those other credit card accounts because apparently unused available credit is a good thing on your credit report.

It took be two years to be non-secured debt free, and I'm sure there could've have been a faster way, but that is what worked for me.

Fly it like you stole it!

[gravitational 0]

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What I have learned though from my mortgage guy is that I shouldn't have closed those other credit card accounts because apparently unused available credit is a good thing on your credit report.

Correct...paying it off and not using it is better than paying if off and closing is. your FICO score will not differentiant who closed it and just views it as something you had, but was taken away. Things taken away are bad.

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Michael

[Nightingale 0]

Cut up all your cards and stop using them.

Pick the card/loan with the highest interest rate and pay the most you can afford, and pay the minimums on everything else. When that card is paid off, take the one with the next highest interest rate and repeat until you have no more credit card debt.

[Muenkel 0]

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The biggest debt I have is to my mom who paid off all my credit cards and student loans a few years back. It's family, but she's still charging me about 4.5% Interest, which is way less than any credit card I've evern owned. My last car payment is due next month, and then after that I will only have the 25K debt to my mom, and about 2500 on a credit card.

You know the strange thing is... I could pay it ALL off in one quick payment if I wanted too and still have some left to spare. But I don't want to break into my nest egg yet. Gotta save that for a rainy day... or a new house, kids college education, etc..

Please tell me that nest egg is earning more than 4.5%.

Chris

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Chris

[skinnyshrek 0]

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Tell me the secret too. Once you buy a house you are in debt for the next 30 years it seems.

Renting was so much cheaper of a livestyle, but I'd never go back to it. I LOVE owning a house more.

Well, within 14 months our house has gone up 40k I'd rather own. Only debt i have is the mortgage and brandys student loans..lol

http://www.skydivethefarm.com

do you realize that when you critisize people you dont know over the internet, you become part of a growing society of twats? ARE YOU ONE OF THEM?

[jtval 0]

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How did you do it? I'm really sick of it.

YES I am. The only debt I have is my car payment. and I don't consider that real debt--it was a choice.

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[Cornholio 0]

In fact it is... Most of it is at 4.8 or something similar. But I'm thinking of moving some of it someplace else with higher interest - IRAs or other ways to get a higher interest.

Butthead: Whoa! Burritos for breakfast!
Beavis: Yeah! Yeah! Cool!
bellyflier on the dz.com hybrid record jump

[Muenkel 0]

So the nest egg is basically making only .3% interest. There are other variables that I do not know, such as how much you're paying per month on the debt and if the interest is accumulating monthly. It seems to me though, that it would be better if you just paid off the entire debt and start rebuilding the savings in areas that yield a better interest.

JMHO.

Chris

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Chris

[jtval 0]

I agree. if you can not pay off your debt...if there is ABSOLUTLEY no other way than I would cash in some savings and pay it off.

it makes no sense to invest/save in something that has less of an interest rate than your debt.


there's always something you can go with out for a little while though.. I totally learned that the PAY YOURSELF FIRST theory is correct. I save more each month than I pay for my 2005 SUV ( to include the insurance bill)


if I was not doing that I would not have a 2005 SUV.
although it would be nice to have an extra 400/month to play with, there is a certain point where its just extra. LOL so I decided to get a new car last year. it IS debt but its it CHOSEN and all other aspects were covered first. that was my extra cash.

My photos

My Videos

[stitch 0]

Sell off everything and move back in with the parents.Or become a drifter,and live in a tent like me.

"No cookies for you"- GFD
"I don't think I like the sound of that" ~ MB65
Don't be a "Racer Hater"

[Squeak 17]

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Tell me the secret too. Once you buy a house you are in debt for the next 30 years it seems.

Renting was so much cheaper of a livestyle, but I'd never go back to it. I LOVE owning a house more.

Hi Eric, I paid of my 25 year mortgage in 7 years, and still lived large.
The secret is to make fortnightlypayments and ensure that from the VERY!ST payment you are reducing your principle, not just paying off saome intrest. (i.e. intrest is 1200 per month you pay minimum of 1300 per month).
I now have 3 propeties (2 on investment mortgages), and I own outright everything else car bikes, rig, BIG TV

BTW I earn crap money too, I'm a school teacher and my wife is a nurse our combined icome is signifiicantly less than a lot of single income engineering type people


Also you all should be aware that there is 2 types of debt, good debt and bad debt, I have good debt in my investment properties, bad debt is a maxed out credit card

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[drae 0]

Yes. Debt free. Always have been.
However...my son is beginning college in the fall and that could make a difference. I will help him remain debt free as long as I can, even if it means taking on some debt myself.

[Cornholio 0]

That does make sense when you think about it like that. I'll have my mom paid off in 2 years at the current payment plan. So for now it'll be a wash for a couple years. I'm looking into other investment opporunities.

However, I don't agree with the fact that if you have the money to pay it off then you should do so. Right now, that money is like liquid gold where I can use it anywhere. But if I spend some of it to pay off old debt then I'm really losing that gold and I would have to find other payment ways to pay for certain things other than cash.

I know it doesn't make much sense right now, but I have some things lined up that I'm looking into.

Butthead: Whoa! Burritos for breakfast!
Beavis: Yeah! Yeah! Cool!
bellyflier on the dz.com hybrid record jump

[happythoughts 0]

I've always made great money. When others worked for min wage, I did construction work for 3 times the money.

I paid off a house, 3 cars, and a boat, but lost them in a legal settlement.

Now, I don't own anything, but it's all mine.

There is something to be said for used furniture.

A friend told me an interesting thing. He figured up how much he spent on lunch at work. He started carrying his lunch and save a lot of money.

[kelpdiver 2]

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Another option is to have your credit limits lowered. It won't hurt your credit, unlike closing a bunch of cards can. It should actually help your credit, since you won't have so much credit available to you. That ratio of used vs open credit is important. And then, most importantly, you won't be able to overspend so easily!

(I used to work for a credit card company)

Huh? That element of the FICO score rewarded you for having more available credit, not less. If you're using 15% of your credit lines versus 30%, you have a higher score. Cancelling half your credit would drop it ~10 points.

Having too much available credit is a problem, but I don't know how it's factored in since FICO doesn't know income. But when you appy to open a new line of credit, that lendor does know and can measure against existing credit lines.

[Muenkel 0]

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That does make sense when you think about it like that. I'll have my mom paid off in 2 years at the current payment plan. So for now it'll be a wash for a couple years. I'm looking into other investment opporunities.

Like I said, I didn't know all the variables. If you're going to pay off that debt in 2 years, that's great. By all means though, get what you do have saved into higher yields. It's smart to keep a certain amount liquid, but 25K sounds like a lot. Seems to me, you know what you're doing.
Chris

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Chris

[wmw999 2,559]

I'm not debt free right now, but I owe very little on my house, and expect my car (first one with a note in 15 years) to be paid off early.

What Briguy said -- live below your means, and don't buy crap you don't need.

If you really really need to go shopping, go to the dollar store, garage sales, or second-hand shops. Get a roomate. Use fans instead of lots of A/C. And figure out how to make jumping less expensive; don't pay a packer, jump less, etc.

And learn to cook -- eating out uses a huge amount of money. You can entertain 8 in your house for a lot less than it costs for 2 to go out to a nice restaurant. Just get your guests to bring the wine/liquor.

And ALWAYS pay your credit card off. ALWAYS. The feeling of power you get doing that is immense.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[Misternatural 0]

Yes,all very practical advice. heres an alternative:
Get to know some really old people with lots of money,you'll be surprised to find out that some of them would rather give a kind stranger their big bucks than leave it to their ungreatful kids who never visit..... Hey I'm just sayin.


Your gonna have to serve somebody...Bob Dylan

Beware of the collateralizing and monetization of your desires.
D S #3.1415

[popsjumper 2]

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Hey Kitty, i know how fireflytx paid off her debt, but somehow i don't think you would be interested in doing that.

I may have been one of those "contributors" who helped her out with that...

I have no debt...well, does child support count?
I pay my CC bill in full every month - always have.
Paid cash for all cars since 1975.
Paid cash for all gear since day 1.

Well, I may owe a debt to society but I don't know what the payment would be...yet.

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[jumpwally 0]

I think you just hit the nail on the head,,,

smile, be nice, enjoy life
FB # - 1083