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9:54 am August 6, 2012
| WellKeptWallet
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I am curious how many of you are completely debt-free. If you are, I would love to hear a little about your journey. How much debt did you have? How long did it take you? Have you always been debt-free? What is it like?
I just wrote a post on How to Buy a Home WITHOUT a Mortgage and it really got me thinking of how feasible it is to be debt-free in the U.S.
If you are debt-free but the house, I would love to hear from you as well. Look forward to hearing your stories!
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10:17 am August 6, 2012
| Eric – PersonalProfitability.com
| | Portland, OR | |
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I am all but a mortgage. Paid off the student loans and car loan. No credit card debt. Put down 30% on the condo and just broke the $100,000 mark on paying it off.
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10:26 am August 6, 2012
| WellKeptWallet
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Eric, that is awesome! Do you have plans to pay the mortgage off early?
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11:11 pm August 6, 2012
| Budgeting in the Fun Stuff
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We were thisclose, but have veered off our original mortgage payoff plan to have our dream home built. So, we have a current mortgage of $25,000 left and will be taking on an additional $200,000 mortgage in September. But we'll have the current mortgage paid off by the end of 2013 and are aiming to pay off the new house within 5-10 years too (this one will take 6-ish years). So we should be completely debt free no later than age 39. The extra rental income will help and we have a long-term renter lined up.
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11:23 am August 7, 2012
| WellKeptWallet
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Crystal, that is great to hear about your plan to become completely debt-free by 39 and own multiple properties. What a great way to position yourself early on in life. We plan to have our home paid off in about 6 years and look forward to the freedom and flexibility that will allow.
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4:11 pm August 7, 2012
| Invest It Wisely
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Housing prices in Canada are quite high at the moment, so not yet. I'm actually not that worried about becoming debt-free; i'd be happier with higher levels of income and savings so that the debt doesn't feel like it's as big of a burden.
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4:38 pm August 7, 2012
| First Million is the Hardest
| | Buffalo, NY | |
| Member | posts 119 |
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I'm debt free except for a mortgage. Had a few thousand dollars in credit card debt coming out of college that I paid off aggressively once I got my first job. I also just paid off a car loan a few months ago, I paid an extra $50 a month on the loan from the start and it allowed me to pay off the entire loan over a year early.
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8:51 am August 8, 2012
| Frugal Portland
| | Portland, OR | |
| Member | posts 126 |
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can you ask this again in a few months? :)
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10:59 am August 8, 2012
| Eric – PersonalProfitability.com
| | Portland, OR | |
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WellKeptWallet said:
Eric, that is awesome! Do you have plans to pay the mortgage off early?
Of course. Already cut off over 6 months.
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12:20 pm August 8, 2012
| WellKeptWallet
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| Member | posts 207 |
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Invest It Wisely said:
Housing prices in Canada are quite high at the moment, so not yet. I'm actually not that worried about becoming debt-free; i'd be happier with higher levels of income and savings so that the debt doesn't feel like it's as big of a burden.
That would explain why there are so many Canadian buying homes in Arizona because prices are low here :)
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12:23 pm August 8, 2012
| WellKeptWallet
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| Member | posts 207 |
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First Million is the Hardest said:
I'm debt free except for a mortgage. Had a few thousand dollars in credit card debt coming out of college that I paid off aggressively once I got my first job. I also just paid off a car loan a few months ago, I paid an extra $50 a month on the loan from the start and it allowed me to pay off the entire loan over a year early.
Nice Jay! Any plans to be aggressive about paying down your house or do you just pay the regular payment?
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12:25 pm August 8, 2012
| WellKeptWallet
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| Member | posts 207 |
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Eric – NarrowBridge.net said:
WellKeptWallet said:
Eric, that is awesome! Do you have plans to pay the mortgage off early?
Of course. Already cut off over 6 months.
Sweet, we're doing the same thing. The less interest we can put in somebody else's pocket, the better.
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12:27 pm August 8, 2012
| WellKeptWallet
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| Member | posts 207 |
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Post edited 12:38 pm – August 8, 2012 by WellKeptWallet
Frugal Portland said:
can you ask this again in a few months? :)
You will be debt-free in a few months? That is way cool! I will put a reminder in my calender to follow up with you then :)
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2:40 pm August 8, 2012
| Money Reasons
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I'm totally debt-free, but I'm thinking hard about rental property, so I might not be for long… Especially if a great deal pops up in my city's backyard.
I've been totally debt free for a few years now, and it's great!
Ironically, I recently posted about the benefits that nobody thinks about here: Paying Off Your Mortgage Is Like Having A Second Job Income Without Working
It's really does take a load off of one's mind… :)
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8:21 pm August 8, 2012
| Barbara Friedberg
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No debt but mortgage. @3.375% for 15 years, it's better financially for us to keep a mortgage. We need the tax write off and our investments return more than the mortgage amount, so it's a win win.
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9:11 pm August 8, 2012
| Jennifer Lynn
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| Member | posts 100 | |
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I once was a slave to debt and paid off $15,000 in less than two years by: multiple roomies/subsisting on p&j, Ramen and Cheerios/allowing my anger at the prospect of renting my life instead of owning it (indentured servitude) filter through, which propelled me into aggressively tackling all outstanding balances.
Very proud now to be debt-free.
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Broke-Ass Mommy
…first-time Mommy with a passion for saving, personal finance and investing
Website: [ Broke-Ass Mommy ]
Twitter: [ @JennaL ]
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1:41 pm August 9, 2012
| Call Me What You Want Even Cheap
| | Toronto, Canada | |
| Member | posts 121 |
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I paid off my mortgage in December 2011 and am planning with future hubby to buy another home. We currently live in Canada and plan to move to Atlanta in a year. Our goal is to buy a house with cash once we get there. I can't wait!
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2:08 pm August 9, 2012
| WellKeptWallet
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| Member | posts 207 |
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Money Reasons said:
I'm totally debt-free, but I'm thinking hard about rental property, so I might not be for long… Especially if a great deal pops up in my city's backyard.
I've been totally debt free for a few years now, and it's great!
Ironically, I recently posted about the benefits that nobody thinks about here: Paying Off Your Mortgage Is Like Having A Second Job Income Without Working
It's really does take a load off of one's mind… :)
That is awesome! I bet it does feel great. All that extra income every month and not having to make a payment to a mortgage company, I guess that would be like having income from a second job without working :)
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2:10 pm August 9, 2012
| WellKeptWallet
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| Member | posts 207 |
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Jennifer Lynn said:
I once was a slave to debt and paid off $15,000 in less than two years by: multiple roomies/subsisting on p&j, Ramen and Cheerios/allowing my anger at the prospect of renting my life instead of owning it (indentured servitude) filter through, which propelled me into aggressively tackling all outstanding balances.
Very proud now to be debt-free.
Congrats! I bet you don't eat a lot of ramen anymore…
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2:12 pm August 9, 2012
| WellKeptWallet
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| Member | posts 207 |
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Call Me What You Want Even Cheap said:
I paid off my mortgage in December 2011 and am planning with future hubby to buy another home. We currently live in Canada and plan to move to Atlanta in a year. Our goal is to buy a house with cash once we get there. I can't wait!
That is amazing! Atlanta, huh? I go there about once a year for business. It is a great place but the humidity can really get to me in the summer. Sounds like you have a great plan though!
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