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Would you? Be debt free vs. living in debt?

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As an enlisted submarine mechanic in the navy, I realized that I would rather live the rest of my life paying off debt on student loans for a college education than live the rest of my life as a submarine mechanic. The improvement in the quality of life I would experience going from a mechanic to an educated professional was worth the debt for me.

As it turns out, with VA educational benefits and the extra income after earning a college degree, that student loan debt was easily eliminated.
 
Kroze said:
I'm siding with living debt free right now and considering getting rid of my brand new 2010 car in favor of a used car that I'm going to pay cash for. With the money saved, i can put it toward my house and pay it off in a couple of years.
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yeah man, I'll just sell this car for 30% less than what I paid for it and I'll be set for life!


I'm going to say living with debt and stuff is better. Right now I'm living on student loans because being a full time student means my income goes straight to hell. Do you think anyone would go to college if it meant paying the whole amount in cash and needing to work full time while attending classes full time? I won't say it's impossible, but you'd need a pretty unhealthy meth habit to keep this up.
 
Depends. Do I have job security? Am I going to be living comfortably while not sacrificing all my monthly income and thus I cannot go out anymore because I have to pay off loans? Do I plan to stay at my current residence for quite some time?

If no to any of those then I rather be debt free... But I don't see debt as a horrible thing. It's not easy to save up $250k for a house when your income is not 100k+/yr... Even if you had 100k net income it would take 2.5 years just to save assuming you didn't have any expenses at all.
 
I was taught to only go into debt for income producing assets not liabilities. Even a house is borderline but seems to be the way of things.
 
If its debt free vs "high end life with debt" Id take high end life...debt is not a problem once Im dead from having enjoyed an awesome life LOL!
 
Debt free. It's not even remotely close. I do not use credit any more, except in the direst of circumstances...and when I do I pay it off before I do ANYTHING else. There is NOTHING to compare to it.
 
Debt free is wonderful. I've paid off about $17,000 worth of debt in 2009 and am now debt free and loving it. You have a different attitude and outlook on life when you're debt free. A weight comes off your shoulders.

I'm determined to stay debt free too. The next car I buy (used) will be paid for in cash. I'm now trying to save up a $20,000 emergency fund (almost halfway there already 😀 ), and then will start the long journey of saving for a starter home which I will also pay cash for. That won't be for at least like 6-7 years though. 🙁

Debt is a form of slavery, IMO.
 
unless you are ok with a very modest life, you'll never be debt free.

Even a modest home in my town costs $300k...I imagine very few people pay cash even on the low end.
 
Corporate Thug said:
unless you are ok with a very modest life, you'll never be debt free.

Even a modest home in my town costs $300k...I imagine very few people pay cash even on the low end.
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Those who decide not to incur such debt remove themselves from consideration for such purchases, thereby reducing demand for the product and reducing its price. ... in theory.
 
Debt-free simply because that was the way I was raised/how my parents operate (besides mortgage which is about to be paid off).

Although at times I see my friends whose combined household income I know is lower than mine, possessing multiple luxury cars, buying the latest consoles, flat-panel HDTVs, etc., and get pretty jealous-- My family of 5 owns one vehicle (I'm going to purchase another as soon as I get out of college), has a single old 32" CRT television, last gaming console was a Sega Genesis, never really buys new clothes/things etc.
 
Kroze said:
What would you rather choose? Living debt free vs. Living with debt but have a better quality of life (I.E. better house & car)

I'm siding with living debt free right now and considering getting rid of my brand new 2010 car in favor of a used car that I'm going to pay cash for. With the money saved, i can put it toward my house and pay it off in a couple of years.

After that, i'm completely debt free!!

It's pretty tempting...
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you're not going to have a better quality of life if you're in debt.

also- there's a diff between house and car. mortgage = good (if it's the same as your rent $).

a car note = bad.

if u cant afford to pay it off at once, dont buy that particular thing. buy it used and/or lesser. (ie: instead of new lexus, get a used camry)

exceptions: mortgage (see above), and school loans
 
ShawnD1 said:
yeah man, I'll just sell this car for 30% less than what I paid for it and I'll be set for life!


I'm going to say living with debt and stuff is better. Right now I'm living on student loans because being a full time student means my income goes straight to hell. Do you think anyone would go to college if it meant paying the whole amount in cash and needing to work full time while attending classes full time? I won't say it's impossible, but you'd need a pretty unhealthy meth habit to keep this up.
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Plenty of folks have paid their way through school by working and attending class...
 
I don't consider driving my 10 year old camry a poor quality of life, but that's just me. I'd rather have money in things that don't depreciate by the bucketloads for the first few years. and then only slowly bleed out to nothing. The camry owes me next to nothing.
 
Debt-free for me. And a bigger house or car would not equate to a better quality of life. My house is nice enough, my car is reliable.
 
Currently living in debt ($122k house, $26k car, $52k student loans, $13k short term debt).

I plan to pay off the $13k over the next seven months before our second child arrives. Then work on the student loans.

I plan to have the house paid off in ten years, then probaby use another $50-75k in saved funds to move into something better without another mortgage.

I drive 30k annually, so I will always be trading in a car at three years with 100k miles, and always have a car payment.
 
Jumpem said:
Currently living in debt ($122k house, $26k car, $52k student loans, $13k short term debt).

I plan to pay off the $13k over the next seven months before our second child arrives. Then work on the student loans.

I plan to have the house paid off in ten years, then probaby use another $50-75k in saved funds to move into something better without another mortgage.

I drive 30k annually, so I will always be trading in a car at three years with 100k miles, and always have a car payment.
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Why not hang on to your car for another 6 years?
 
Debt free for sure. Just bought a house in the spring so that's no longer possible, hoping to pay if off in 15 years instead of 30 though 🙂
 
Debt free (other than house). I do sometimes buy some items with same as cash over X months but always have enough to just write a check for the balance if I need to for some reason.
 
How is living in an apartment and being debt free go together? I may have a mortgage but I will gladly take it over being in an apartment "debt free." I will eventually have my house paid for and have value in it. People claiming to be debt free in an apartment are naive. You will always be in debt to some ahole landlord. When you finally wake up and realize how bad it sucks living in an apartment you'll be much further behind us idiots in debt. I consider people that have their house and vehicles paid for to be debt free. If you have a trailer and a 10 year old car paid off you're not really debt free. You're just delaying the inevitable of having to replace both eventually.
 
OILFIELDTRASH said:
If you have a trailer and a 10 year old car paid off you're not really debt free. You're just delaying the inevitable of having to replace both eventually.
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I have to disagree with you on this. Mortgages are only one cost of home ownership. Maintenance and repair/replacement costs are another. For the price of a new roof, one could likely buy a quality trailer. So by the logic of your post, a homeowner is never really out of debt.

Yes, a trailer or car will have to be replaced. However, that doesn't mean the owner is in debt. Money that might have gone to a mortgage might be going into the new trailer or new car fund. People with modest incomes may have realized that living debt free in a trailer is better, for them, than living with a mortgage. To me, debt = interest = money slavery. So getting out of debt is a path to financial freedom. I understand many folks view debt as a simply another tool to be used and intellectually I do understand the point and I used debt to buy a house. But I'm not comfortable with debt, even the mortgage, and so I am willing to sacrifice comforts and potential gains to get completely free of debt.
 
Kroze said:
What would you rather choose? Living debt free vs. Living with debt but have a better quality of life (I.E. better house & car)

I'm siding with living debt free right now and considering getting rid of my brand new 2010 car in favor of a used car that I'm going to pay cash for. With the money saved, i can put it toward my house and pay it off in a couple of years.

After that, i'm completely debt free!!

It's pretty tempting...
Click to expand...

debt free, its not tempting at all. upgrading your lifestyle artifically by loading up on debt makes no sense, and when you stay up and night thinking about your debt, you won't feel more comfortable.
 
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