DEBT FREEDOM...how many see it as the first step to SS?

[Dace]

I agree...we are mostly debt free...rent/mortgage and utility bills. We pay cash as we go. If I don't have the money the I don't buy

We are having some car troubles but really do not want to take on a new car payment, so we are trying to sort that out.

 

[roosmom]

I agree.....keep the bills down. If you cant pay cash then you dont need it. I cannot believe that we had our house paid off for five years, then we had to go and get a home equity loan to do the remodelling. It is hurting us now big time.

 

[FarmerChick]

oh man I did the home equity loan also.
stupidest thing I ever did.

it takes forever to pay that off......but I finally did and will never, ever do another home equity loan again in my life. Owning your home free and clear is the most valuable financial situation in life nowadays! (heck any time..lol)

that set me back so far. there will never be a reason for me to ever hit the house again and borrow against it. I don't need anything that bad ever..LOL

 

[PamsPride]

oh man I did the home equity loan also.
stupidest thing I ever did.

it takes forever to pay that off......but I finally did and will never, ever do another home equity loan again in my life. Owning your home free and clear is the most valuable financial situation in life nowadays! (heck any time..lol)

that set me back so far. there will never be a reason for me to ever hit the house again and borrow against it. I don't need anything that bad ever..LOL

ITA!! I can't wait to have ours paid off when we get our income tax return. I am just hoping the income tax return will be enough...or at least enough to make a HUGE dent in it that we can pay the rest off within a couple of months.
I think I have heard more rumors of stimulus checks so if we get one of those that is going on the equity or our morgage!

 

[FarmerChick]

I asked about the stimulus check? I think they are not coming?????
I don't know though now....but I would love another one. Right on the debt it would go....I ain't stimulating anything but my own wallet..HA HA HA

I can't wait til my tax refund.....that will almost clear all my debt on credit cards. most, but then I can hit off the rest like a maniac.

CLAP everyone. I called and cancelled my Chase credit card today. Haven't used it in like 6 years and I was surprised it was still open when they sent me a new card. Called and killed it and now that credit card is GONE!
Yippe!

gotta get out my remaining cards and call and cancel any open accts. I have 2 cards with what is left of debt. I can't wait til that is over...ugh.....

 

[Zenbirder]

I do think being debt free is a big step to being SS. It makes it easier to be SS IMO because without debt, other than monthly utilities, it is easier to make a living off your own land. Say you only have electric and phone as a bill. Say the electric averages $50 and the phone $50, you've only got to earn $100 to make the bills. Anything after is gravy.

Unfortunately there are also the property taxes even when the land is paid off.... Be sure to budget for them as well as the insurances, home, auto and health if you can.

We are debt free (I don't count monthly bills like utilities that are paid off in full every month). It feels wonderful, but also still carries a big responsibility to stay that way. That means keeping way ahead for any emergencies that could arise, by being VERY frugal. We wait and plan and budget before buying, and then buy it outright, including my truck. I had to wait a couple of years past what I would have liked on that one.

We have some dreams and plans now that will take money to pull off, so we will work harder this summer to earn up front money to be able to do these projects. However, we also know that the projects themselves (additional fencing, plumbing etc.) will leave us in a better financial position in the long run - say as opposed to saving and spending the $ on a vacation. It is not the life for everyone, but something to strive for as a SS minded person.

 

[PamsPride]

FC that is awesome that you are able to cancel some of your credit cards!!
I hope you get enough with your income tax return to pay off the rest of the credit cards!
I thought I heard on the news that they were thinking about a stimulus check in March. Yep, ours would only go on debt too so no stimulating the economy from us either!

 

[TanksHill]

I can not live in Ca and be debt free.. Even if I could manage the extra 3,000. a year to reduce my 30 year fixed to 7 years I still would have my tax bill. The tax Bill and utilities alone are outrageous. I can't dig a well or use a turbine for power. I did have that solar estimate done. 35 THOUSAND $$$$. That was after rebates. Are they crazy? I cut back on everything I can and try to be as frugal as possible. But I also fell into the Christmas credit trap. It will just take a couple of months to pay it off but in those two months I am supposed to be saving for the second half of our tax bill. It never ends. Growing my own veggies and eggs can only help so much.

I think all SS people long to be debt free. It is the ultimate sign that no one holds anything over your head. That you are only responsible for you and yours. But it would take some serious savings to accomplish being debt free where I am now.

That whole credit record thing, I heard Susie Orman talk about it once. It was called "Your debt to credit ratio". The amount of open credit you have does not work against you but in your favor. By having that credit line or Chase card, with zero balance, it shows that you are responsible enough to have a credit line and not run it amuck.

My mother was in the same situation as Bee when I was growing up. she had no credit cards etc.. But when trying to rent a home for our family it worked against her. No record of her responsibility.

It seems they get you coming and going.....

 

[lupinfarm]

Ugh. I have good credit, but a balance on my credit card. My limit was always $2000 on my card, and I have about $1800 on it right now that is slowly being paid off. I will be debt free by the end of 2009.

HOWEVER. We still have my mums credit card at nearly $12,000 to go, at least half of that will be gone by the summer after selling Quesa and Ginny's puppies. Dad's credit cards, a few of which are for the business. Actually, TBH I think he paid them all off when he consolidated the debt except for his mastercard for the business which still remains high. Then we have the mortgage, we could live with just the mortgage if that was the only debt.

We also have a $511.00/month lease on the truck, but it is our only vehicle.

 

[curly_kate]

Right now, our only debt is the house & my student loans. We paid off both of our cars last year, and are now putting the extra money (aside from the cash we're using to fix up the house) into the smaller portion of the mortgage, trying to knock that out. It's such slow going at first, but it picks up speed as the balances start to shrink.

When I met my husband, I had just finished grad school and was moving to Chicago. A year later, when I moved home, I had about $7500 in credit card debt. When I moved in with him, he told me I wasn't going to pay for any of the house bills - just pay down my credit card debt. Once I finally got it paid off, it felt SOOOOO good that I decided not to ever get into debt run up my credit cards again!