Debt Free

Deathgomper

Today I paid off the credit card, I am now debt free! My car is mine, my stuff in my apartment is mine, my AAS in Computer Network Tech. is all mine and I am worth about 1500 dollars.... wooo!

I have a vacation planned in a month and half for Florida to re-live some childhood Disney memories, which basically eats up my 1500 savings but I need a break. Ever since 2004 I have worked to be where I am at and now that I have paid for it, I feel I deserve a little R&R.

When the vacation time is over it will be all about getting a new vehicle and WGU which of course will put me back in debt, but I will feel like I am making an investment on my life.

I was just wondering who else was is in the Debt Free boat? Mortgages don't count.

I am also open to any advise for the future.

N2IT

Deathgomper wrote: »

Today I paid off the credit card, I am now debt free! My car is mine, my stuff in my apartment is mine, my AAS in Computer Network Tech. is all mine and I am worth about 1500 dollars.... wooo!

I have a vacation planned in a month and half for Florida to re-live some childhood Disney memories, which basically eats up my 1500 savings but I need a break. Ever since 2004 I have worked to be where I am at and now that I have paid for it, I feel I deserve a little R&R.

When the vacation time is over it will be all about getting a new vehicle and WGU which of course will put me back in debt, but I will feel like I am making an investment on my life.

I was just wondering who else was in the Debt Free boat? Mortgages don't count.

I am also open to any advise for the future.

Debt Free > Certs!

Congratz now that is some great news.

Essendon

Well done!

I am about $15,000 in debt, this includes the car and credit cards. Once I've paid off these credit cards, never again in my life will I buy anything on credit again. These things are evil.

If you can, buy a car with cash. A car is probably the worst thing you can have on a bank loan. I bought a Commodore (a Pontiac G8 for you yanks), for about $20,000 3 years ago, every month I've paid $440 towards it and I still owe about $13,000. Do the math and you'll see what I mean.

I also have a mortgage of over $300,000.

hiddenknight821

Deathgomper wrote: »

Today I paid off the credit card, I am now debt free! My car is mine, my stuff in my apartment is mine, my AAS in Computer Network Tech. is all mine and I am worth about 1500 dollars.... wooo!

You made yourself sound like a prostitute. No way I'm spending that much money on you. You're now worthless to me, lol.

Deathgomper

hiddenknight821 wrote: »

you made yourself sound like a prostitute. No way i'm spending that much money on you. You're now worthless to me, lol.

lmfao!!!!

undomiel

We're nearly 50% done getting ourselves out of debt with both student loans and credit cards, and only 7k left in credit cards. Can't wait to be rid of that next year! Congratulations to you for climbing on out! I bet it feels awesome.

nicklauscombs

congrats! what a great feeling, huh?

Zartanasaurus

The people saying they will never use credit and it's evil are way off base. Just don't treat your credit cards like it's additional income. It's a lien against your income and has to be paid off monthly. Going on vacation in a few weeks and it will be significantly cheaper thanks to all of our evil credit card spending rewards points.

We don't have much in the way of debt. The price we bought this house for is about equal to our current household income right now. Yearly payments are less than 10% of our income. The rule of thumb that used to be the standard before the real estate bubble was 3-4x your yearly income for a home price. We used that formula, but only applied it to one of our incomes so we could afford to live in our house even with a job loss. We also put a year's worth of PMI payments in the bank as a rainy day fund, so even if we both lost our jobs, we wouldn't be in any danger of losing the home for at least a year.

Mrs. Zartan is a year away from finishing her degree, so we have some SL debt that will need paying off in the range of $30K.

Two cars we own outright. Plan on keeping them for 10 years worth of use. Mine is up for renewal in about 4 years.

Took advantage of a very low balance transfer offer from Citi. It was something like 2.99% for 24 months. We used it to finance some home improvements. I whipped out the financial calculator, and set up an auto payment through our bank to have it paid off in exactly 24 months.

No other debt outside of that. Credit is good. We put all of our spending on credit cards. With all the online tools the banks offer, it's a great way to keep track of your spending for budgeting purposes. Plus you're getting 1 - 5% cash back on all your purchases which adds up every year especially since you can trade them in for greater than a 1:1 return if you shop with vendors they have relationships with.

Alif_Sadida_Ekin

Congrats! It feels good doesn't it? I'm currently debt free (except my mortgage). No student loans, credit cards are always paid in full every month, and I haven't had a car payment in over 6 years. My wife and I are able to sock away about 2K a month in our savings after all our bills are paid. Currently we're sitting on over 30k in our savings account, so if I ever lose my job I should be ok for awhile. At this point, I want to get into investing since I know just sitting on a pile of money isn't going to do me any good.

My advice? Live well below your means. I make a very healthy salary but I still live like I'm only making 12 bucks an hour. That way if I ever lose my job and I have to take a severe salary cut, I don't have to change my lifestyle and can still live comfortably. I'm absolutely allergic to debt. I want no part of it. If I want something expensive, I pay for it by credit card (since it's safer than carrying cash) and just pay the credit card off at the end of the month. Not only am I staying debt free that way, but I'm also continuing to build good credit. So, if I ever need to take out a loan (God forbid), I always have that option with the lowest interest rate possible.

the_Grinch

The saying I wish that I knew what I know now comes to mind. First, congrats on being debt free! I am a long ways away from that ever being the truth for me. My student loans are going to take sometime. But for now I am focusing on the credit cards (about $9800). I had an emergency fund of $1000, but had to tab it for brakes. I expect that to be fully funded by next month. From there I am hitting the credit cards with a passion. Given my current plan, I expect to have the credit cards completely paid off by December of 2012 (in time for the world to end). I'm a follower of Dave Ramsey (now, wish I had known about him before college) and will be following his steps.

1. Get the $1000 emergency fund
2. Start paying debt (1 credit card will be paid on in October, the next in Feb at the latest, and the last one by December)
3. Start hitting the smaller student loans (federal and one from Chase)
4. Kill the big ones

Technically, I have 20 years to pay off the student loans, which would put me at 46 when they are done. According to my calculations, I can have them paid off in 5 years once the credit cards are paid off (that doesn't factor in raises at all). Also, thinking about the military, which would take care of the federal loans.

My thoughts on credit cards are this, they are not "evil" per say. But the fact is if you lack self control you should not have one. I was young and dumb with very little control over my finances. Me having a credit card is not a good thing at this point in my life and I am happy to say that I have not used them in over a year. If you have the self control to pay it every month, then you are ok to use a credit card. For right now and probably forever, I will not be using credit cards. If I have the cash, I will do it, if not then guess I won't.

I've stuck to my budget and haven't been late on any payments I have. The thing I find most funny is one of my credit cards has been having it's balance lowered by my making payments and not using it. I just got a letter explaining they raised my limit by another $1000. That's where I look at it and say, you are evil. My own fault for signing up for it, but for a company to go "hey, this guy is almost out, let's try to bring him back in" it is like a drug dealer standing outside NA meetings and giving away product. But again, since I'm an addict it effects me and it is a daily struggle.

My laptop is 4 years old and the hard drive just died. I am looking at about $100 bucks to fix it, but at the same time I was like man I could use a new one! Gotta keep fighting! Again to the OP, congrats and enjoy that vacation! (say hi to Mickey for me!)

Mike-Mike

In about 2 months I'll be down to just student loans and the mortgage, assuming I keep getting this OT.

Devilsbane

Congrats! Just be careful not to fall down that path again. Easy to do but hard to get out of. You really should start building up a savings account for emergency things.

WiseWun

Debt free myself and about to get masters of engineering degree in a few months. No loans or credit for my education, straight cash! Avoid credit or mortgages if you can.

veritas_libertas

Congratz! All we have left if my wife's medical bill. After that it is just the home loan.

Deathgomper

Thanks for all your replies I appreciate it!

I too follow Dave Ramsey's advice and try to catch some of his talk show every day. It has put money and debt into a whole new perspective for me.

Keep up the good fight on the war against debt!

Everyone

Congrats! I hope to be there myself within the next few years.

stlsmoore

Very nice, I was close to be being debt free myself but this car was calling my name lol:

Subaru Impreza WRX STI - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I plan on paying it off in a few years and start socking the rest of my savings away for a good down payment on a business loan. Not all debt is bad if you ask me. I make sure that after all expenses including money to live and entertainment that I have at least 30% to put away in savings.

whatthehell

congratz! one day I hope to know this feeling too!

Akaricloud

Congrats!

I'm debt free as well. Just finishing up my BA without student loans and ~20k in assets.

I am definitely far from rich but being debt free is a good start!

cisco_trooper

I love it. Now buy some gold and silver. Do your own securities research, of course.

creamy_stew

Booyah!

wd40

cisco_trooper wrote: »

I love it. Now buy some gold and silver. Do your own securities research, of course.

I thought about it, but then you will have to worry about where to keep it,"if buying physical gold and silver"

+

some fear that this is a bubble that will burst when the US and EU economy is strong again.

of course this is gold so it will not lose 50% of it's value, but your gains will not be significant if you missed to sell near the peak and before it drops.

Dakinggamer87

Congrats it's a great feeling!!

pham0329

Congrats. How did you go about paying all your debt?

Right now, I make enough money to put $1000 to $1500 in savings every month, but I also have 6k in CC debt. I want to pay it off, but at the same time, I want to build up a saving in case I need it. I don't want to get in a situation where I lose my job, and don't have any money because I used it to pay off my CC.

colemic

Well, in an absolute worst case, you could live off the cc until you got back on your feet. Far better to knock it out in 3-5 months, and be done with it, then focus on your savings.

Xcluziv

I am reading "The Richest Man in Babylon" and it is a very enlightening book. Anyone needing help with attaining wealth should definitely read it.

Great job man being out of debt ....I see becoming debt free by the end of this year

Heero

pham0329 wrote: »

Congrats. How did you go about paying all your debt?

Right now, I make enough money to put $1000 to $1500 in savings every month, but I also have 6k in CC debt. I want to pay it off, but at the same time, I want to build up a saving in case I need it. I don't want to get in a situation where I lose my job, and don't have any money because I used it to pay off my CC.

Wouldn't you still have your credit card if you got laid off? I mean, you can acquire interest on your CC debt while saving hard cash, or you could pay it off and not acquire that interest. Then, if it turns out you don't end up having to use that money that you would have saved up, you avoid the interest charges, and if you do need to spend that money, you just put it back on the credit card.

Deathgomper

Heero wrote: »

Wouldn't you still have your credit card if you got laid off? I mean, you can acquire interest on your CC debt while saving hard cash, or you could pay it off and not acquire that interest. Then, if it turns out you don't end up having to use that money that you would have saved up, you avoid the interest charges, and if you do need to spend that money, you just put it back on the credit card.

This is what I was thinking. In my case I had the 1500 for quite a while and even though once my debt was around 1500 the only reason I didn't pay it off was because I wanted a reward waiting for me.

I still have my card for emergency but I am not going to pay Capital One any more than I have to. I don't even carry it anymore, its locked away in case of emergency.

Q: "What's in your wallet?"

A: "Not you"

Plantwiz

@deathgromper,

Congratulations on beig debt free!

We are 100% debt free and have been for years.

I help folks get out of debt everyday. And I (as well as Dave Ramsey) can assure you that you do not need credit for anything.

I can also assure you that I don't have anywhere near Dave's income nor his net worth.

However, it is completely possible to live without credit cards and a credit score. I have done it for years.

Live on less than you earn. Be generous. And save up for things you want or will need.

It is not always easy, but it is possible.

There is almost no reason to invest in gold or silver. If you have piles of money sitting around, and you like gambling, go ahead. The risk is too great. If you have been paying attention to the market, now would not be the time to buy as both items are still flirting with their highest prices...it is but low, sell high...not buy when it looks good. However, if you remember this simple thing:
"only do what you understand and can explain to another person why you did it". That will keep you out of many messes.


Also, study fallen economies. Katrina caused a great deal of damage. People were not trading gold...They traded stuff for water and food.

Look at Japan from earlier this year...the yen or gold were not what people wanted. They wanted water, food and shelter.

Germany and Russia, huge costs for food and supplies, but trading 'stuff' had more value.

I digress.

Welcome to the debt free side! Enjoy it! Now we lead local FPU classes as a ministry because for us, watching and walking with people on this journey is such a neat experience and bringing hope back to those who feel hopeless is special.