Having a vehicle paid off is so great

I made sure I never paid a single cent over my monthly payment on my 76 month note at 0%. Just paid off on Jan 15.

 

Anyway sorry no disrespect to anyone or what you believe. I’m still learning myself so I’m in no place to give advice. If he is truly helping then honestly that’s great. Cheers

 

I am curious because at one time, we were at the bank negotiating a home equity loan ( to have as backup while we transitioned to new digs) and the bank manager said he had not ever seen a score as high as ours which at that point was 822. So I have always wondered if a perfect score of 850 was really attainable.

 

I think you pegged it..
In the end, Dave Ramsey is a business man.
Just listen to all the ads and spots he promotes on a daily basis...

I've listened to Dave Ramsey on and off for the last several years.
I took this and that from his preaching and I have no debt except for a mortgage.
That started a couple years ago for first time in my life.
I have a nice emergency fund, for the first time in my life, more that I've ever had in my 58 years.
That never happened until I met and married my current wife.

In my 30s going thru divorce with young kids I was over $30K in credit card debt.
I moved out of that (my) house with a 19" TV and a water bed.
Gave her everything and had no problem doing it for the sake of the kids.
Never complained about 17 years of child support, I'm lucky she never took me to court to ask for more as my income did increase.

Back to 2007 (when I met my current wife) I/we couldn't follow Ramsey tooth and nail, but I feel listening to him and his caller stories have had a positive influence in my financial life.

My wife and I have separate checking accounts, a cardinal sin in the Financial Peace workbook.
But we are in our 50s and the kids are grown and gone.
It works for us.
She gives me half per month on the monthly bills (mortgage and utilities) and I pay them.
She pays the car insurance and for most of the groceries..
Only other debt she has is her car payment, and that is her deal.

Would we be finically better off if we religiously followed Ramsey's Financial Peace program?
Maybe, but it wouldn't be worth the augments that would be involved to do it.
Bills get paid, money gets saved, 401K going up, hopefully I'll get that pension when the time comes, we're OK.

He means well, but I think it is crazy to think someone young doesn't need a decent credit score.
Not everyone all can drive $3000 vehicles and plan on getting to work everyday in it.
Not everyone can buy or get a home mortgage with just an income verification.
Especially in this housing market.
Maybe when the housing market goes to sh!t in a couple years that will be more feasible..

I caught sh!t on this forum for paying my 0% Toyota credit loan off a few months early for my 2014.
Payment was $550 and I paid $600.
I wanted to be rid of the monthly payment, bottom line.
But members here stated I should have invested that money.

Nope, I didn't want the monthly payment.
NOW, that $600 goes towards retirement and savings....

Anything could happen in my line of work.
Someone could cause an accident on the road and involve me in it.
But even if they are at fault, my employer could fire me.
I'll get my job back, but it could take 1 to 8 months.

My last accident was someone pulling out in front of me at 5 mph on an interstate highway.
They were ticketed by Texas DPS for failing to yield, yet my employer still charged me with an accident.
Moral; the less monthly expenses due, the better..

We all have different situations.
Some are paid on a salary scale and can expect income no matter what.
Others have to go day by day and do their best to keep their noses clean..


The system my wife and I have works for me/us...

EDIT:
Dammit, after rereading this, sorry for the rant..

 

Yes! A paid off vehicle is awesome, because now you have an extra $$$ per month to put towards retirement, investments, education, mortgage etc. It’s amazing to consider if you put $500/month into an investment account for 30 years at a conservative average return of 7% you’d have more than $500,000 in that fund after 30 years.

 

I remembered telling my brother about it for fun, via text. Looked back at at my texts just now and yes, it was 900. My wife was 895.

Again, didn't mean much to me at the time or now, aside from affirming we are wise with our past debt and payments etc

 

I guess there’s a couple scoring methods:

“For the FICO®Score☉ , one of the most commonly used credit scoring models, that mythical and seemingly impossible figure is 850. (FICO®Scores range from 300 to 850.) The truth is, Americans with a perfect 850 FICO®Score do exist. In fact, 1.2% of all FICO®Scores in the U.S. currently stand at 850.”

I think Canada might be different, lol
Y’all hit each other with sticks, we just pull the trigger

 

I, as well as many here, don't have 30 years..
We are already in our 50s, 60s, 70s, and few in their 80s.....

And good luck with those investments in the coming years.
I feel it won't be as good as the last 4 years, unless you're investing in China....

 

You just made my entire weekend....

 

I made my last vehicle payment in '05. It was a 4Runner. Paid for my first gen Tundra with cash. Drove it 500,000 miles and saved a modest payment every month for my next Tundra. Bought my most recent Tundra with some of that savings. A paid for truck drives a whole lot differently. Mrs Azimuth and I have been 100% out of debt since 2010.

 

Just paid off my Tundra. Feels amazing. Dave's radio show is fun to listen too, mostly to hear other people's drama or success stories.

When I bought mine it was 0% or $3,000k rebate from Toyota. Basically paying points, or prepaying the interest. Credit union was 2.5% think I ended up paying $600 in interest.

I think paying cash, or expecting to pay cash but investing it instead is good becaue it sets the scope of the purchase from being to high.

I think some people may drag out payments but aren't really investing what wasn't spent, just see the math and justify not being aggressive on attacking debt.

Truly investing every cent you could attack debt with is good, many won't and don't that I speak with.

I've never met anyone who purchased a truck then had their 401k withholdings increased the same day becaue they knew it was smarter than attacking their new debt. Just a human nature thing.

 

This evening I enjoyed reading many of these posts. You are all enjoying your approach to finance, respect them all, and thank you for sharing. Life can be an interesting teacher sometimes.

In ‘19 we paid cash for our Tundra, same for my wife’s ‘17 4Runner. Our insurance company was shocked when we setup our account, it must not be very normal. We all have our preference, ours is, auto payments are just not for us. Mortgage payment not for us (paid cash), College loans, not for us (paid cash). We have 7 expenses a month (electric, water, gas, Netflix, auto insurance, home insurance, groceries), dump 30% of income into investments each month and literally do loads of fun stuff with the rest of it. Hopefully this all pays off in a big way as I roll into my 40’s-60’s. Is it the perfect, it is for us. Find what works for you and thanks again for the positive posts to all!

 

I have never borrowed money for a car. Bought a new car while in college from money I earned on a paper route as a kid. And no... I didn’t inherit a trust fund. I really enjoy having no debt. And I sleep well at night. But I have always had a job and spent less than i made.

 

Good work!

 

I have floated between 811-833 for 5 years. Keep 1 cc only for fuel and pay it at the end of every month. 2007-2019 I flew 1 million miles for work and all travel was on a cc and employee paid it off monthly. Not sure what it would take to attain 850 but it doesn’t matter.

 

For what it is worth, I'm proud of you..
I wish I would have had those debt ethics when I was younger..

At 58 now, I've consistently had a job since I was 14..
But my spending habits have come a long way since then..

 

Typically anything over a 760 credit score will get you the best interest rate a financial institution will offer.

 

Paid off my 2010 last year in 6 months. $12k loan. The only bills I owe every month are electric, phone, and insurance. Everything else is paid for.

I know people who are perpetually in debt and they scoff when i tell them I ditched my cable, internet, and old phone plan and got a new unlimited phone plan that will hotspot internet. "But you cant stream disney plus in HD with that?!".

Nope, no you cant. But i guess not having to live with my parents is more important to me than disney plus.

The house I live in is not fancy at all. I can get a mortgage to buy a much nicer one, but there's just something about a 30 year or 15 year loan that makes me uneasy. Not owing anyone a dime is very liberating. I will probably buy another dump in foreclosure with cash and fix it like I did on the one I have now.

 

Yeah! Well done pal.

 

I can't even imagine how many years I had no idea what my credit score was..
After extended debt from my divorce in 1994, I didn't want to know.

I leased my then new 1997 4-Runner 4X4 to get a cheaper vehicle payment.
It was $300 for 36 months and that worked for me at the time.
A new under warranty vehicle to get to work and haul the kids around in.
My kids grew up in the 4-Runner..
Maybe not the smartest thing to lease it, but it worked, then I bought it after the lease.

When I traded in my 1997 4-Runner in on a 2005 DC Tundra, I was at the dealership looking for a used Tundra.
They then told me I could have any truck on the lot I wanted and could get me a better deal on a new one (at 0%) than a used one.
I was shocked.
Bought my new 2005 DC SR5 and planned to keep it forever.

In usual circumstances in the end of 2014, I was looking for a new Tundra.
Dealer told me the same thing, I could buy any Tundra I wanted at 0% percent.
They found me a 2014 2WD SR5 I liked at another dealer, they had it shipped over (while my 2005 was in their body shop), @0% and I bought it.
Knowing what I know now, I shoulda bought a 4WD and maybe a Limited.
But being at the end of 2014 with rebate incentives and 0% they were ditching 2014s and my selection was somewhat limited..
As well I love my truck, plan for keep it several more years.

I have a few 0% balance credit cards.
I only use 1 and pay it off a couple days after the charge posts.

The last few years my credit score has been above 800.
Not sure how or why.
Probably has a lot to do with years invested and NEVER having a late payment.
Only 2 credit checks the last few years and that was considering refinancing the mortgage.

My oldest credit account is probably older than most of you...

 

Here’s a twist...
Many years ago we took an unwed mother into our home and tried to help her. I co-signed a loan to get her a reliable car and we got her enrolled in the local community college.
No good deed goes unpunished.
While I was working out of town, my wife discovered she was entertaining men in the house. Next we found out she hadn’t shown for classes for weeks.Tossed her out. I got a call from some collector prick and I told him, “ get that car and park it out front and I will pay it off in full. Otherwise don’t ever bother me again because I’m not paying another cent for that bitch to drive that car. My credit took the 7 year dive but I didn’t give a damn

 

I’m trying to figure this out. Paid cash for a house, two new trucks and college and you’re in your 30’s?
I have so many questions...
Do you both came from money? Parents are well off?
Did you have a traditional American wedding?
Do you have children?
Did you live with someone rent free or cheap before buying a house with cash?
Did you get College scholarships and grants? Someone helped pay for it?
Was it a university or a JC?
Did you have a good paying job while in college?

I’m mostly just curious. I would have loved to have paid cash for everything I’ve acquired but it wasn’t in the cards for me. I’ve paid my fair share of interest to financial institutions through my life.

 

I had a 2016 limited 4Runner that was paid off with only 9k miles on it and had a 2016 Tacoma Trd sport 4x4 that I used for my work truck and drove most of the time that I was making payments on. At that point I was pretty even with the Tacoma and there wasn’t much equity in it, but I was going through a divorce and my ex had a Prius with a lease that was about to end and started on about why I should have 2 vehicles and that she wanted to take my 4Runner that she never paid a dime for, so I went to the dealership with the 4Runner and my Tacoma and drove off in the Tundra Pro. I loved having a pretty new vehicle paid off, but putting 40k towards the Tundra solved the problem so I could say I only had one truck haha. I recorded her face when I drove up to pick my daughter up right after I got the Tundra.
My daughter said “ daddy your new truck is so much better than mommy’s car.”
It was worth all the revenge she threw at me and I’ll have this Pro paid off soon.

 

Happy to try and make sense of it all. My parents are poor second generation hard working Americans. My father was a Marine and didn’t have a lot to give me but taught me to out work everyone, had me running 4 miles, 3 days a week at the age of 7.

Graduated high school a year early, paid my way through Junior College and worked full time since the age of 16. Fell into commission consumer goods sales, followed by leadership roles and between the ages of 16-now I average 60-70 hours worked per week and have fortunately earned a fair wage. It was hard but I do my best. I manage my top and bottom line expenses. Invested. Saved. During this period I rented for awhile and purchased 3 homes, 2 during the recession, both of those were sold off. Didn’t get my undergrad until I could pay cash and finally completed at the age of 30 (no scholarships). Grad school followed. Now I’m nearly 40, married, 2 kids, this week I worked 61 hours and I’m gassed. Soon I will start dialing back the work hours to enjoy it all more. My in-laws sometimes wonder what’s wrong with me because of the work hours but they do appreciate how blessed their daughter and our kids are to have a good life. There isn’t a magic formula, hope this helps, I also credit my Christian faith, I’ve achieved many things I could not do on my own professionally, prayer and reading scripture.

 

So you’re a workaholic
I did that for years until I had children.
I slowed down when I was about 32 not long after my second one was born. My uncle who is a father figure for me worked 50-70hrs a week, took a week off to fish and a week to hunt, until he had a stroke. It screwed him up and he couldn’t do his job any more. I was talking to him after he got back home and he said “I wish I would have spent more time with you kids, I missed out on a lot.”
He was saying he wished he didn’t work so much.
That helped me slow down. Helped put things in perspective. Life goes by fast and it goes by even faster when you have children.
I hope you do what you’re saying you’re going to and slow down some so you can enjoy what you’ve accomplished so far.

 

I was layed off work today. No truck payment, no cc payment. Boosted unemployment. I ve never had it so good.
Note: I don t enjoy being on unemployment, but damn. Unemployment will pay me over $200.00 more than what I earned when working. WTF is up with that?

 

Amos? My dad retired from there in 2015.

 

That dude literally makes my skin crawl. It's blatantly obvious that his persona is fake, and the stories that come from people who work for him pretty well confirm that too. I avoid him and his advice purely because I don't like his face.

My neighbor across the street got into Ramsey's methods bigtime. They were really buying into it all, and when his wife told me about it she sounded impressed. Then a couple months ago we were talking about Christmas and I asked if she got him another Ramsey book, and she said "thank god, he's out of his Dave Ramsey phase."

 

Yep, I’ve been at Amos since 2010!

 

Doing my best to work that plan. Thank you for the perspective.