Having a vehicle paid off is so great

I agree completely with this thread. I'll offer my counter point. Before my tundra, I had an f150. It had been paid off for a decade, and I have no debt. Started looking at buying a house and found my credit score had come down about 100pts. Reason? I hadn't had any debt in ten years. Which is the dumbest thing ever. Banker suggested i buy something, and since the f150 had 240k, I bought the Tundra. In just one year my credit score has come right back up. My payment is super cheap and I am in no hurry to pay it off since its the only thing I owe on. I could pay it off if I wanted, but I dont wanna.

I look forward to not owing on the Tundra one day. But I'm in no hurry really.

 

Same here, we are on a hybrid/not fully committed Dave Ramsey Plan

I agree, I know if you follow the Dave Ramsey plan completely, you budget every dollar you have. If it's not budgeted you don't buy it. My wife and I just budgeted in extra money we don't spend to apply to a specific loan. We still have plenty of money to spend on casual dining out and whatnot. I like to ride the middle!

 

More money for gas!

Tundra:
16 L/100 km combined
18 city, 14 highway

Lamborghini Huracán
14-15 L/100 km combined
16-17 city, 11-12 highway

 

More money to buy top of the line lift kits for overlanding the tundra in a couple years

 

I agree. When I paid off my lift my credit score dropped 16 points. I cant remember where I heard it but, I remember what someone said about credit card companies, and lines of credit. In the credit card industry a person who quickly pays off a debt so as to avoid interest charges is a deadbeat. To them it s all about the Benjamins.

 

Paid off truck then the house needed a new roof. It never ends.

 

Paid mine off last month, just barely over 2 years. I hadn't had a car payment in well over 15 years, so I wanted to end it soon.

 

No credit, I can’t give you a loan... but we can offer you another loan to build up the credit... make sure not to pay it off or your credit will go down. Just keep buying therefore you always building credit. If you build up a lot of debt, no worries, we offer a service for a small fee to help you manage that. Remember just pay the minimum and you are fine and enjoy the life of your dream.
By the way, we recommend you purchase the loan insurance.

 

Yep, just paid off my 18 4Runner which I absolutely love and plan to keep until a tornado takes it away. A week b4 that bought the Tundra at 0% for 60. Just makes so much sense to utilize interest free money. Next plan, finish up the house I'm building for my mom, then buy a new house for us and rent our current house to cover the payment. Leaves us with three houses and one payment most of the time. When mom is gone, we will rent that one too. So, when kids are grown, we can turn over all three to a management company and take off into neverland. Finally likely end up back near our grown children at some point until we pass.

 

I paid cash for my 17. I’ll probably take a hard look at the redesign in 4-5 years and probably take a loan and make payments. To me, big deal. I am financially responsible. I have 12 months of savings, a solid 401k, 3 pensions and plenty of equity in the house.
Life is short. You have to enjoy the ride.

I have 2 guys I work with that are single and their sole focus is to save every single dime so they can retire early. They deprive themselves of anything and everything to save a buck. One of them hasn’t had a girlfriend in 5 years because they cost money. That’s great unless you get hit my a bus and never make it to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

My point is, there’s balance. As long as you understand that balance you’ll enjoy life now while planning for the future.

 

So true!! A well balanced diet is aka a cookie in each hand! Life is exceptionally short folks!! Take time to smell the roses, you will be glad you did!

 

Well said...

 

Truck is paid of but I fell for the new bass boat trap. I love it so I am ok with it. The house is the only other thing I owe on.

 

Wife and I are in our 30s. 3 young kids. House will be paid off in 12 years. We both just bought 2021 vehicles which wasn't necessarily prudent but we have a plan. By age 50 (wife will be 45) we will completely debt free

 

I don't blame you. Fishing is my first passion. It's quite likely that I'll end up taking a loan for a new boat before I take one for a new truck, albeit with a hefty down payment.

 

I love sitting in my boat and fishing. It’s worth every penny.

 

Agreed. Being on the water with a fishing rod in hand makes everything better. People do sometimes question a loan for a boat though. Taking a loan for a boat is silly for most people who will only use it a few times a year. If you're someone who will use it every weekend all season long and then some, it starts to make a little sense.

 

I have a 50,000 dollar loaded Lund Crossover. I put a good chunk down and took a loan on the rest. I’ll pay it off in 3 years. To me, I don’t think it was a bad idea. It was new and I knew everything about it. I take immaculate care of it, and do most all of the maintenance myself. I honestly plan for it to last me forever.

I don’t agree with the logic that taking a loan doesn’t make sense. If you can afford it and it will bring you joy then go for it. Watching my 74 year old dad catching walleye or my kids smile as they tube is well worth it to me.

Make sure you post pics if you buy a boat, Aaron.

 

That's awesome. I'll post pics for sure. Gotta decied what I want and I'm a year or two out right now though too. Need a more stable job so I can responsibly afford it.

 

I hope you get that boat and enjoy every minute of it.

 

His wisdom is not Rhetoric. He is teaching what he has learned in life. Sure, it’s not for everyone... but why knock someone who is helping so many people take control of their financial lives?

I started listening to him after I was already on my way to being debt free. Having an enthusiastic, positive cheer leader never hurts.

No vehicle payments here! All I’ve got left is my mortgage. 12 years or less!

 

I have my paid off Tundra, and $25 in savings; no pensions, or 401k s, yet I enjoy life.

 

That’s great!

 

I use my boat 3-4 days a week pending the river level. My wife says fishing is my true love. I call my boat my bad financial decision. I see a lot of people buy boats and never use them.

 

happy to have my truck paid off too!

 

This thread is great. I’m glad to see so many that are either out of debt or working on a viable plan. We’ve bought 3 new vehicles; 1975 Chevy 1/2t, 2001 Tacoma, and our current 2015 Tundra Pro, ( which I actually traded a piece of property for with the owner of a dealership). Never have made a car payment, ever. Don’t have much and don’t have much income ( carpenter pension and social security).
It only works because we’re debt free. Credit score is a game, they regularly change the rules. Credit cards aren’t intrinsically bad, just use them to your advantage. Pay off the balance on every card every month and they don’t cost. Score goes up the more they are used. We’re at around 820. 850 is the Max.

 

He’s a nut imo

 

I don’t get calling someone a nut, when they spend their life trying to help people get out of debt. Agreed, there’s more sophisticated approaches to financial management, but most people are not very sophisticated.

 

Yeah I don't get how a man who teaches financial freedom is a nut? But then again that's the world we live in today. Being hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt is considered normal, and wanting to be out of debt is considered crazy. His tactics are definitely "out there" for some to commit to, but I don't think there is anyone out there who has every said, "MAN, I wish I hadn't done Dave Ramsey's plan".

 

I dont think he is a nut, but he teaches a very simple message with no nuance that people latch onto and a lot of people unfortunately treat it like gospel that they can never break. He is great for people who have obviously made a lot of bad decisions and need to get out of a massive hole, but he is not good for people who have a decent control over their life. For instance, he clearly states taking a loan on a car is a bad idea, point blank, no nuance, its always a bad idea, even if you were able to get 0% interest, he says its a bad idea and not to do it. Thats utterly stupid.

One of the biggest flaws in his method is that its like a robot. No regard for life quality, no regard for other motives, and enjoyment in life. He cares about one thing and one thing only, which is mathematically what is the optimal decision based on the tallying math of an excel spreadsheet. He understands very little about actual financial management and pushes his very simple message of "Spend less" which is not helpful to anyone unless they have spending problems.

He advises only buying houses on 15 year loans. OK, sure at the end of the day, yes, that would be better, but how many years of your life are you going to toil in an apartment because you need to save up that much extra money? That deteriorates your life quality.

He has no clue how student loans work in the modern era. His advice on investing is totally useless and a bit self serving if you look into it based on the kickbacks. He thinks the market will do 12-15% reliably as well.

He's not licensed, he has no degree related to the field, and he's never managed money professionally. He's an entertainer, first and foremost trying to sell you things. Enjoy his show, if you are in big trouble, his advice WILL get you back on the correct path. But it is what it is. Entertainment.