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

[Beekissed]

I was pondering this question after reading a letter to the editor in Countryside mag. It seems like a lot of people who would like to pare down their living and get out of the rat race just can't afford to do so. They seem to be juggling so many debts that, if they dropped one, the whole show would be over.

How many of you are striving for resolving your existing debt and trying not to incur more?

Do you see this as a valuable step towards SS? If not, why?

 

[PamsPride]

ME ME ME!! I would LOVE to be debt free...which for us is being free of our morgage! It would enable DH to take a job he truly loves if we did not have to worry about a morgage hanging over us. It would aslo enable us to buy a larger piece of property and build slowly with cash which is our long term goal.
DH and I went a few rounds about him buying a car for his new job...he had a company truck before. I wanted a car that we paid cash for and he wanted a gas hog truck with a payment. I could not do it!! We have a home equitly line of credit that we used to buy an investment property and we have both agreed that we will use our income tax return to pay it off. Even though it is only $100 a month that is still $100 a month that can go towards something else and gives us more breathing room and we have agreed to not ever use the equity line of credit again.
But, if we could put the $800 (tax and insurance included) for our morgage payment into savings or investments instead of the payment then that would give us nearly $10K extra a year to buy another piece of property and to start to build a house....someday.

 

[jackiedon]

I would love to be debt free but I have to say with money being so tight and having to learn to do thing more efficiently has taught us a whole bunch. I hope when I can get my disability started things will be better but I think it will be different. We won't waste as much on junk and I love the homegrown stuff we have done. Most of all it has really taught my girls the worth of money. They are appauld what clothes in some stores cost.

jackie

 

[shareneh]

Oh Beekissed, I have been slapping myself in the back of the head all week over this one.

I finally got all the credit cards paid off then Christmas arrived. I swore I would only spend cash on presents and look at me now, $1200 in debt again. I hate when I do this. It's stupid and doesn't make sense to spend that much on a morning of happiness and a meal. I also feel bad that I fell into the trap again knowing that it would take at least until June to pay it all off.

Anyway, in theory it works very well. Cash for everything you get so that you aren't always chasing your tail. I need to cut up those cards. But they're my safety net (at least I think so) and so I hug them close and pray I don't lose my mind on something.

Credit has been good to me though, I can basically buy a new chainsaw, vehicle or whatever if I need it really badly. But I am an idiot for spending on gifts that I give away and didn't make. I will try harder next time though

My mother has never had a credit card and lives very comfortably, even buying cars with cash which saves her tons of money. I want to be more like mommy Well maybe some day.

I like hanging out with you guys, it keeps me in line most of the time.

 

[Beekissed]

I used to do the same thing with my very first credit card~a Montgomery Ward's card. I would charge up gifts for everyone at Christmas, pay it off with my income tax. I did this for about 3 years before I caught on to the fact that it was stupid. That was in my early 20s.

Since then I've paid off cars early and a house early...do they care about this?

Actually, today's world almost demands that you have some kind of debt or you will be penalized! I don't have bad credit and I have only a little good credit, as I pay cash for everything or I do without or pay off things quickly, so as to not have to interest charges. Last year they added $200 to my insurance premiums because I didn't have a stellar credit rating! I called them and said, "I pay cash for everything, I've done business with you for 20 years and never was late or missed a payment~how could you do this because I don't have enough established credit?" They said statistics show that people with no established, or bad, credit were a high risk group and that all the insurance companies were taking advantage of these numbers to raise their rates!

In retrospect, I had followed my parent's footsteps in regards to credit cards and was unable to afford to make payments on new vehicles and large ticket items(like they did) to establish a payment record. Therefore, I have no real, established credit...which, it seems, is equal to BAD credit. So we all make mistakes!

 

[PamsPride]

I like hanging out here too because everyone is somewhat likeminded in trying to figure out a way to become more SS and doing things that will either save money or keep them from spending money that they used to spend. Some people that I talk to literally spend EVERY dime they make and max out the credit cards and then just talk about what absolute non essential item they are going to buy next. Literally one day one lady said she had just enough room on her credit card to buy her son a sweat shirt and sweat pants from Walmart and then the next she talked about buying a $100 worth of rubberstamps!! *shakes my head* I just don't get it! I would rather wait for my kids to get hand me downs and not buy non essentials than to put stuff on the credit card!

 

[2dream]

We were debt free for years. Well as debt free as most people can be. We still had all the amenities. Power, gas and water. I consider those debt since you use them first and then pay. Plus things like phones, cable and internet are a form of luxury debt.
Then DH wanted a tractor. I said OK since he was going to use it to do tractor work for people for money. We figured it would pay for its self. Then about a year after that, the property joining us came up for sale. After a years battle with probate court we finally got that 2 acres. Now I have a land payment. Even though those are the only two payments we have now, I hate them. The tractor did pay for its self for a year. But then DH went out of town to work, when he came back home to work all the new housing developments were stopped because the "Bubble Burst". I still feel the propery was worth going in debt for. It will help with a SS future for us. We now have the room for a larger garden and a few more animals. And the tractor makes all that much easier.
But DEBT FREE is better. We Americans are so spoiled.

 

[me&thegals]

Definitely! I often don't think of our land and house mortage as debt, but they surely are. We have about 15 years left on the house and 10 on the land, so I feel pretty good about being only about 50 when they're paid off. Have to look into refinancing again for a lower interest rate with these crazy-low rates.

The only thing I would be willing to go into more debt for (or debt again after these are paid off) is more land. I'd consider it a great investment, especially land adjoining ours.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

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.

 

[FarmerChick]

I despise debt anymore.
Older I get the worse I hate it.
I don't mind growing OLD, but I mind being old and poor. I need to get out of this debt and never incur again past $2,500 tops for something when it comes to household debt.

Can't do that truly for a vehicle and such....LOL

Best saying from my Dad.....You live well when you don't owe money, or not alot of money to anyone! SO TRUE!

Working on paying off my last credit card debt that I incurred starting the farm. Tractors all paid off now. My SUV has 4 years left on it and will drive it into the ground. Tony will get a new farm truck when my SUV payment is over in 4 years...by then I hope to have won the lottery and not worry about that payment...haha

I am striving for less bills, less payments etc. etc. and getting there!!!!!

finally.
I paid a heck of alot of money off in my lifetime...stinks..HA HA