DEBT FREE!!!

I learned the value of a dollar at an early age. I am not sure what exactly was the defining point, but I learned I could have what I wanted if I worked and saved money to buy it. I was able to make it through College with only 1 small student loan because I worked installing hardwood floors to put myself through. The loan has since been paid off. To this day neither my wife or I have ever payed a cent of interest on a credit card. This has been huge to our financial stability. I did splurge and get myself into debt on my truck but I put enough down to always have more equity than I owe. I am currently in the process of selling my house and will be able to pay it off with the profit and have enough left over to buy a 27 acre parcel outright and start the build of our forever home. My wife and I will be totally debt free in the next month so that will be a great feeling. Once the house build starts that will be a little bit of a different story, but at least it will only be 1 mortgage payment and we will be able to have it payed off by the time our kids are in College. Being debt free, or as close to it as you can is a compromise and this is the way I have worked it. I could have it all wrong but so far it has worked out. If I am ever in need for money I work harder and earn it so I can have what I want. That's been the key to my success.

 

This is 95% of America, people buying crap on CC's because they are short till payday. Just say do it like Dave says to most people and you are safe with good advice.

 

Go to EveryDollar.com it’s Dave Ramsey budget system and it’s free

 

Around Roswell

 

High density population, but not too bad.

 

Did you slip on your own pee at work? I kid...

 

Good topic. I'm 43 married with a one year old. Our only debt is the remaining payments on the tundra, a small amount on a credit card, and our primary home mortgage. We recently sold a second home and made some money on that. Our current plan is to make a lump sum payment and refi our home to a 10 year mortgage. That would lower my monthly payment enough that I could double up payments and pay off the house in 4 years 5 months. We will have to skip some extended vacations but being debt free before my kid turns 5 is my goal.

 

Woo-hoo! Way to go! Can I borrow some money?

 

My only problem is my lack of trust in mostly anything other than a savings account. My parents who immigrated from Italy in the 50's had a distrust in anything other than hiding cash in the house. That is a common mentality of that era and of immigrants. I don't keep money in the house but only use a savings account. With the lack of interest nowadays it might as well be in the house. I don't know where to put money to make a bit of interest and also keep it relatively safe. I also don't like financial advisers because the 2 times I met with someone I felt like they were more interested in the commission rather than making me money.

 

Congratulations.

"The Millionaire Next Door" and "Your Money or Your Life" are two books that had a huge impact on my life.

 

Best thing you can do is to find a fee-only advisor, rather than a comission based one. That ensures they work in your interests, not theirs. Also, don't get one at your local bank. Find an investment brokerage.

Index investing is a good way to make some return and you can usually tailor it to your risk tolerance.

 

Congratulations!

 

Great topic. I was told once "if you don't have a side hustle; you're not hustling hard enough." I'm lucky enough to have a S corp and suggest if you have the capability to get one. It accounts for 1/3 of my annual salary and (this is important part) I run payroll once per year in December. When the check comes to my mailbox I begin to open it and *snatch*... wife grabs it and off to a savings account/CD or some other account where it can't be touched. Just my $.02 but it helps immensely.

 

A huge part of getting debt-free is a hard line spouse in my opinion. My wife is the more hard line one out of us, and I am cheap. I see the many posts about guys doing what they want with the Tundra and my money is mine and hers is hers, I can never see getting anywhere that way. I make a little less than 100k and she no longer works but put 35% down on the 300k house and land, my 16 truck and wifes 19 car (24k econo car, all she wants) are paid for and got healthy 6 figures in the bank and savings. What we NEVER do is throw money away on expensive furniture, window blinds, ect... I know guys that said their wives borrowed money to buy all new furniture for the house (our stuff is from Craigslist), knew a guy that made payments on a hot tub AND a pool table. Heard someone say they just bought $400 pots and pans, We all know guys that have a boat payment along with home and cars. Oh well I dont have a hot tub or a boat, but also not borrowing anything on a 40k garage we are building. I am a rambling on, let me go eat my packed lunch while everyone else is spending $15 on lunch.

 

I wanted to resurrect his thread to see if there was any more advice people have, I am semi retired I got a decent inheritance from my mother and I’m trying to not spend it foolishly,(although I bought a new tundra with it) my only debt is a 30 year mortgage which I try to double up on the principal, balance is around $80,000. House is worth around $300,000 everything else is paid off but I’m really not making that much money being in my 60s so I try to figure out some side hustles here in there and keep my bills to a minimum

 

No other debt than a house is great! Paying down on the mortgage is great!
Some may say to use any left over inheritance (if any) to pay down your mortgage. Some may also say that at your age and depending on your income you might consider downsizing and selling the house to get something that is paid for. The second option may not sound great but if your income isn't great something to think about. If selling / moving is not an option; more income is always a plus until the house is paid for.

Good Luck!

 

As long as the mortgage payment is not killing you, and hopefully it isn't, it is nice to have some money in the bank

SPP

 

You will be surprised at what you spend on lunch and drinks if you track your money...

 

My wife likes to think she's cheap because she spends all her time on Facebook Marketplace looking for "deals" on things we don't actually need while I tend to just spend my money on necessities and occasionally splurge on something I want.

 

My life story in a nutshell.

Spent money like crazy in the Navy...until I got serious w/my girlfriend and, after a series of bad decisions, she told me she didn't know if she could trust a guy who couldn't be responsible with his finances.

THAT to me was a huge wake-up call - but she was right. It didn't get a ton easier in the years right after that, but I never forgot what my Dad taught me - always try to live w/in your means. So when we moved to Missouri in 2008, we bought a house that I could afford on just my income (and I only made like $20/hour then).

Now, both of us work, but we still live in the same house. Instead of selling and buying bigger, we've simply added on, remodeled, fixed stuff, etc. As a result:

- Truck has been paid down 2/3 within a year
- 15 year mortgage will likely be paid off within 12 years
- No credit card debt
- We can STILL easily live off just my income, even though we both wor

 

Have you thought of investing the rest of your inheritance? There are lots of suitable plans out there based on age/tax bracket/risk comfort/investment objectives/etc.

You could throw it into a portfolio that has the right balance between growth and monthly income for you. There are lots and lots and lots of options. Might be worth meeting with a financial advisor and seeing what those options are.

 

Thanks for all the replies, my mortgage is only 470 a month, but taxes are around 7000, insurance is pretty low on the home and auto with full coverage on both vehicles including the tundra is about 150 a month, I did take some of my mom’s inheritance and invested in some of these funds from Franklin Templeton
FKIQX, FRDPX, FKDNX, FKGRX
& FBLAX. These are the stock symbols, Approx $120,000 spread between the 5, plan on giving it a couple of years & see what happens, mom also left me AT&T, Verizon and Comcast stock which are doing well, my question is is if I should start collecting Social Security or wait till I’m 66 1/2, I owned a company and became a corporation so I didn’t pay a lot into my Social Security so at this point it’s only about $1000 a month, the big rub is is that we can only make $18,000 income above your Social Security which is kind of hard to live on, today being April 30 is 1 year since mom passed on, she was smart and set up her finances in a trust which made it very easy to disperse amongst us brothers,
I added a poem here that I wrote which I read at her gravesite service a year ago

 

Similar to a few others....

House paid off in under 15y and we are still in it. We have put as much into it as we paid for it, in renovations. I think our house was paid off about 8y ago and all renos are paid off.

Truck paid off the day we drove it off the lot.

Rav4 will be paid under 2y and we have the money to pay for it now but it will be done at the end of this year.

Wife and I both work but are not CEO's or Upper management by any means...far from it. We have two kids.

We donate over 10% to charity.

My hobbies are free once I have bought the initial setup of equipment. Running, biking, hiking, canoeing etc. I don't pay membership fees and can do them as much as I want and whenever I want for free.

The biggest things I tell my kids with regard to finances ...PAY OFF YOUR CREDIT CARD MONTHLY IN FULL. What that means in the big picture....'Live within your means'.

Fix broke stuff yourself when you can. Don't eat out so much. Don't upgrade unless you need to. Don't put furniture and electronics on 3y loans. Learn how to cook well and enjoy saving thousands on meals a year.

I get so angry when I hear co-workers talk about having their yardcare or snow removal done by a service when they are young and health. Then an hour later they say "ooo, let's buy lunch today it's payday' and they are living week to week on a decent salary. It's not a fun job and would probably be nice to have my yard mowed and my driveway shoveled for me, but I'm not willing to pay someone to do it when I am healthy enough and my kids are healthy enough.

I think people in general just buy new stuff too often. That would solve 98% of people's debt trouble.

Being Debt free or even Mortgage Free is an Amazing feeling. Congrats to all who are able to achieve it and join the club.

 

@BravoDeltaRomeo, I remember my dad telling me to "learn how to fix things yourself, or you'll have to have to pay someone else to do it". Sage advice.

 

Lol, I have to remind my wife of this often. “Just because something is a good deal, doesn’t mean we need to buy it.”

Used to be 100% debt free with house paid off, but sold my old house last year and had a new lake house built. Will pay it off early when I retire in 13 years, but not in a hurry with sub 3% mortgage. Dumping all we can extra into additional retirement since it yields far more.

 

"It was 50% off; I saved X amount!"

No, you spent X amount.

 

I always grab at least one of the kids when I'm fixing something. Be it replacing the ice maker on the fridge, replacing the home thermostat, install new faucet or installing a new light fixture. These things are simple DIY projects, that many pay $$$ to have done.

 

Do any of you have any good early mortgage payoff spreadsheets? I have one that does a good job but I want to see what else is out there.

I am using one I found on jrsays.com

 

Congrats! I’ve been loosely following Dave Ramsey for a couple years now. I say loosely because we don’t have a zero budget and all that. We just believe in being debt free soon.

In that time my wife and I have paid off her $45k car we bought brand new in 2019, student loans, and a credit card. Will have my 2019 Tundra paid off next February, then all we have is house payment.

We’ve been using a modified avalanche and snowbell debt payment method. Regardless we are paying things off FAST!

 

with low APRs on houses and equity going up, you better off pay the minimum monthly mortgage and invest the extra money in the market where it's doing very well right now. ymmv.