As the title states the question is are you debt free? If not is being debt free a goal of yours? If you have debt what kinds, such as CC or mortgage?
I am debt free. I have one fundamental rule when it comes to money, other than for a mortgage, do not spend money you don’t have. The exception for a mortgage is because it simply isn’t realistic to expect to save up enough money to buy a house outright. I have a semi-exclusion for a car as well since they are quite expensive and I like to have the warranty. If I buy a car on debt, I am not permitted to buy another vehicle until that one is owned and I get the loan for the least amount of time affordable. Other than that, I only spend money if I actually have it. The flip side of that is once I’ve paid my bills, put some money aside for retirement, etc., I spend money I have left without hesitation or guilt if I want to. I.e. any money left truly is disposable income.
The only debt we have is the mortgage.
Our credit card is no annual fee, cash back. We put everything on the card, pay the balance off in full, every month, no matter what.
My father’s advice -
[ul][li]Never get involved with a woman whose problems are worst than yours, and[/li][li]Never borrow money to buy a depreciating asset.[/ul][/li]Regards,
Shodan
I do the same except I pay it off every couple of days because of my strong aversion to debt. It gnaws at my brain if I have a balance.
Interest rates have been so low that I’ve been more and more comfortable borrowing when I don’t technically have to. 0% on that big appliance or furniture bill? Sign me up. 1.9% for a home remodeling project? Give it to me. 2.9% for a used car loan? Why not!?
I find it much more comforting to have that cash sitting in a low interest savings account than tied up in depreciating assets, even if it does cost me a few bucks in the long run.
Just a mortgage. I don’t remember any specific teachings from my parents (who also never had any non-mortgage debt that I’m aware of), but somehow I got the message that debt should be avoided. Since I never cared much about acquiring stuff (except for books), this has never been difficult for me.
The only debt we have is the mortgage, 2 cars, and student loans.
Our credit card is no annual fee, cash back. We put everything on the card, pay the balance off in full, every month, no matter what. Sometimes the “no matter what” involves dipping into savings.
I’m not happy with the arrangement, overall. I’m a natural spend-judiciously no-debt saver-investor type, but it seems I married someone who isn’t on that page. Yip-pee!
Mortgage is done, both cars are done (and we plan to run them until they’re 10-13 years old). The only thing left would be credit card debt and that gets paid off monthly.
The looming wave is likely going to be tied to helping the kids with university, but it’s planned for.
This, and no mortgage.
College fund for the kid fully loaded, and we outright own our properties, we buy low mileage, oldish cars and drive till they start giving us trouble, which is about a decade because we drive so little that we have gone 3 months without filling the tank.
So we make good money, live modestly (kinda), and have been ridiculously lucky.
Yep. Not even in debt to Karma. But that could change. 
Yes, if there is one lesson my mother ever pounded into my head, it was: “If you don’t have the money to pay for it outright, you probably don’t need it.”
The only thing I’ve ever taken out loans for were for cars or homes.
Just a mortgage, which, due to rising house prices, is for less than a third of the house value. CC paid every month, no car loans, student loans long gone.
Mortgage is paid off (I made double payments for about the last 5 years of it to get it paid off early), and my Wife and I each pay our own CC cards off every month. My Wife does have a 2016 car that will be paid off early. About another year. She’s making double payments.
We own everything; no mortgage or car loans. We carry some credit card debt but nothing we couldn’t pay off fast if the need arose.
I am, not including credit cards which are paid in full each month anyway. Mortgage paid perhaps 10 years ago. It’s a great feeling to have such low expenses, however I am considering moving which would be a mortgage again.
I am debt free. I do have credit card debt each month but I pay it off in full.
I was brought up by people who don’t believe in debt, but I don’t have an aversion to a car loan or something manageable like that. A mortgage would be scary though!
Yes.
I paid off the house just before my 50th birthday.
I do carry a few K of “revolving” credit card debit, which gets paid off every month.
Thoughts:
-
It may be a self-selecting group that responds to this question. Not as many people that are up to their armpits in debt want to shout that from the rooftops.
-
This board skews older than many communities on the internet. As we age, many people have higher incomes and debt is less of a necessity for standard middle class requirements. Also, debt for school was either non-existent or has been paid off.
Personally,
This is us as well.
Only have a mortgage. Last year we just fished paying off grad school loans. I only pay cash for used cars.
I remember the first time someone told me that some people got loans against the value of their house to finance their lifestyle. That completely blew my mind. :eek:
A car lease (that I’m not interested in debating) and a mortgage.
The mortgage, if I keep paying it at the rate I’m paying it, is a 30 year note that will be paid off in 15 years. Whether or not that will happen, I don’t know, you never know what the future will bring, but I pay a lot of extra into it each month.
I have credit cards, I use them because I won’t use a debit card. The credit cards get paid off, more or less, as soon at the balance shows up online. I probably make 20 payments a month to them.
I should mention, however that not that long ago this wasn’t the case. I had probably 8k in credit card debt and 1-2k in savings (as a buffer). I made large payments on my credit cards each month. Like, if the minimum was 100, I’d pay 1000. But never really got anywhere. Then I got divorced and after about 8 or 9 months all that debt just poof evaporated. Though it did take me a few months to figure out what the hell was going on (I wasn’t buying stuff for her anymore), once I did, I sort of switched gears and knocked it down as fast as I possibly could. Got it all to zero, got my savings replenished and I haven’t carried a balance since.
I have a house, 5 cars, and 3 motorcycles, all of which are paid for. I also paid off my mortgage just before I turned 50. I had a loan on the first car that I bought after graduating from college, but other than that, I have bought every car and motorcycle with cash on hand. I had a student loan from college as well, but that was paid off years ago.
I have a credit card that I use to buy groceries, gas, etc. but I pay it off every couple of weeks or so. The only reason I use it is for the convenience of not having to carry cash around all the time.