0
SpeedRacer

Today I am out of debt (except for mortgage)

Recommended Posts

Quote

Quote

Fucker! :P



You're not doing your part to keep this credit based economy going...GO BUY SOMETHING you can't afford! :ph34r:



Yes, I know. It's very un-American of me.:D


you need to call Dave Ramsey! congrats, and welcome to the "un-normal" side of finacial life. besides...who wants to be normal anyway!


________________________________
Where is Darwin when you need him?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Congratulations!B|

I also have no debt with the exception of mortgages. I did however order a new monitor and printer from Dell and agreed to their financing. However, that balance will be paid in full when I get the bill.




_________________________________________
Chris






Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Not to brag but paid cash for my house this year when we moved. We are completley debt free. Feels pretty good at 28. So I only work 5 hour days and so does my gf!

We did leave civilization. We lived 40min to the nearest big city. Now we are 3 hours. Small mountain town. Love it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

good job

we also have the house paid for
but live close enough to town ( half a mile ) to have access to EVERYthing
yet far away from things that we have peace and quiet when at home...woods, and a forever wild park... right behind us...

no car loans, and with the kids vehicles,, we have 3 cars and 2 vans,,,,, alllll in good condition.....
( i might be happy with a junker BUT My wife and children are NOT ) hahahaha
no interest accruing Credit card debt , the kids' college bills are paid... 2 years left for our son...

so.... we DO still work... and work hard ( that's HOW you can do this )...
we save, we spend,,,,, but we save MORE than we spend..
I grew up with a "cash and carry " attitude about life....
My dad would say,,, " you don't work,,, you don't eat "... and I found that If i saved for things,,,,,
i would realize what it takes to GET things... and often the lure of the item for which i was saving,,,,, faded,, by the time I acquired the $$$$ to BUY it....THEN i'd decide IF i really needed it...
(rather than to buy it on credit, break it, use it up, wear it out or get bored with the purchase,,,, waaaaay before I even paid for it.)
So while we DO of course avail ourselves of Charge cards,, they are more a purchasing convenience and are paid in full when the bill arrives...

Our key to getting out from under the mortgage???

well for one thing we live in an area where you can still buy ALOT of house for under 200 grand...
our current home is our 2nd,,, we worked on and fixed up our first house,,, ( sweat equity)
I also bought and repaired a double in the city at that same time....( more sweat AND some saturdays spent working INSTEAD of at the dropzone ) We Owned both properties for 3 years, sold them both, and put 50 % down on this home,,,, refinanced to 10 years,,, paid it off with 4 years left....
that was in 1997....Lucky for us, house prices are reasonable here, and so we're not talking 200 or 300 thousand dollar loans...
Good thing tooo with todays Adjustable Rate Mtgs...
as for those who tell me "you NEED to have that mtg. Interest, for a write off"....
Fact is , that the standard deduction,, around 14,000$ is waaaay more than any itemized list would be,,,( for us ) including interest, taxes, med expenses etc......( total property taxes are around 4,500/yr...) and I never paid more than 6 or 7,000 / year in interest, because the principal amount was low. ) Of course when we fist bought this home, interest rates were around 16%

So NOW there are usually a few dollars laying around to hand over to the manifest staff,,, whenever i feel like going jumping...
guilt free.....
just like debt free and mtg free...:)

jmy

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
***as for those who tell me "you NEED to have that mtg. Interest, for a write off"....
Fact is , that the standard deduction,, around 14,000$ is waaaay more than any itemized list would be,,, including interest, taxes, med expenses etc......***

Excellent point, but most people don't understand that it is better to send the GOV. taxes than the bank more money. Example if you had a $1000 house pmt. X's 12 = $12,000 taxes on 12k for me is $4200.SO why would you send the bank 12k to keep from sending the GOV. $4200

Yes I am living debt free and loving it!

Chris Welker

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Wow jimmytavino to do that with kids is amazing. What I did was buy and sell houses not really for profit but to live in. I started at 21 and this is my forth house. I took advantage of the market in Alberta Canada. I also worked on the rigs for two years. I worked 30-35 days hitches with a week off. And I saved most of the money that I made. But the big kicker was my last house. I bought it and it doubled in less than a year so I sold it and moved to the mountains. Feels great!!!! Wake up everyday happy.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

...well the 1000/ month isn't ALL interest?? is it?
i'm sure in many locations, mortgage amounts are huge..and interest and taxes are a big percentage,, especially early in the amortization...

lucky for us, we are happy in a place with relatively low house costs..and a decent down payment allowed for a smaller amount borrowed,,,:| ( I never got it why people would borrow as MUCH as they could???... i dunno... )
NYC on the other hand takes a whole other level of income generation, adherance to 'knocking down that loan' and good timing regarding property value improvement..

To own a house with the idea that it will be a work in progress, and that you plan to sell the finished work,,, within a few years,,, is a great way to grow your worth...IF you and others around you, can be OK with a construction site .. for a home....;) and if you are very very capable in many of the trades needed to maintain and improve properties..

do that 2 or 3 times, and suddenly... you can buy what you want, and settle in for a decade or two...

NOW the question comes up.... is it prudent to tap the solid equity which your debt free home offers???
i guess it depends on whether pricing trends are climbing or declining. So again location matters.

as for KIDS,:);) In fact it was exactly because of the kids reaching the age of kindergarten that we moved from our first house,,, in the city, and bought just north,,, in the very neighborhood and school district where Nancy enjoyed her childhood... so kids are the incentive,, and not a liability.. Of course once they reach 16 or so,,, ( ours are 22 and 24 )
all bets are off!!!
And while in years past, 4 and 5 and 8 and more kids in a family was common, today it seems families are smaller so it's doable..

hard work, rich rewards

jimmy

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

0