Today is a great day, as of today i am fully out of debt....

[jwill535]

House - Made last payment in Oct.

 

Cars - Both are now payed off

 

School Loan- check

 

Credit Card - check

 

It is the best feeling knowing that at 30 i am have no major loans hanging over our heads. With that said though i will need to be getting a newer car in a year or so, so i will be jumping right back into the pool. But with that said it feels great today.

[sgtcluels]

I hate you!

 

congrats dude.. what's it like being liquid?

[samwise]

Can I borrow some money?

 

Congrats.

[Invader3K]

Geez, you're 30 and you already have your house paid off? That's quite a feat.

[tristarscoop]

Where do you work and can I get a job there?!

[zzzmanwitz]

Sounds about time to invest in another Softball Bat. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[jwill535]

Me and my wife just payed double our house payments each month and payed more each time for our cars. Its amazing how much faster your loans go away when you pay more. With that said, we dont really go out often or on vacation(due to her being a part owner of a construction company there is no time for vacations) so we just put all our money into paying off debt.

 

Like i said my car has close to 100,000 miles on it and would like to get something newer before everything goes on it and we most likely will be moving in 4-5 years for a bigger home. With that said anyone interested in a 4 bed, 3 bath, all brick home let me know.

 

ZZZ, i would not be married anymore if i bough another bat, having 5 already is enough, golf clubs on the other hand, she doesnt need to know about that.

[davego]

Jwill...congrats! Nice work. Wanna run for office?

[jwill535]

In all fairness it is all due to my wife, she is the more fiscally responsible person in the relationship, if it wasnt for her i would have alot more toys then i do now.

[hawing]

Congratulations!

 

We only have house debt at this time. Maybe if we stopped going to Brewer games...

[FVBrewerFan]

Congrats! I can tell that goal was very important to you, and you achieved it. With that said, paying off all debt may not be the most fiscally sound move to make for everyone. It's important to balance what you can make taking that cash and making it work for you vs the interest rate you're paying on all these various loans. Then there's also tax consequences with the interest paid on a mortgage.

 

Everyone's situation is different. For me, I refuse to carry a balance on credit cards. I have two, and they're paid in full each month. I have 3 vehicles, and 2 are paid off. I will never finance more than one vehicle at a time. On the 3rd vehicle I have 1.9% long term financing, so that was a no-brainer for me.

 

As far as the mortgage goes, paying it off has to give you great peace of mind, and I can see the appeal! But as I said earlier, I weigh that vs having money to max out my 401k, invest in a Roth, etc. So in my case I'm better off carrying the loan, plus I get the benefit of the tax deduction.

 

Finally, a word of advice for whatever it's worth. If reducing or eliminating debt is your goal, at the vey least refinance your ARM or 30 yr mortgage into a 15 yr mortgage. If you can't afford the payments on a 15 yr, you probably are buying too much house for your financial situation. With a 15 yr you will build equity in the home much faster. And it will only cost another $200 or so a month depending on the size of your mortgage.

[Invader3K]

FV: Good points. Personally my wife and I are lucky as both our cars are paid off (though I'm in a similar situation to jwill as my car is getting up there in mileage quickly). Our house payment is pretty reasonable (we're on a 30yr fixed at around 5.8%), though I could see doing something like either doubling the payments or refinancing into a 15 yr down the line, possibly.

 

Biggest thing we have to take care of is my wife's student loans, which are slowly going down now that she has a steady good paying job. I also refuse to carry credit card debt...only have one card I use, and I pay the full balance every month. It really helps build a good credit rating, too.

[bigredrobbo]

Congrats, dude. You paid your house off by 30, though? Where do you live? In a treehouse?

 

http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[homer]

"It is the best feeling knowing that at 30 i am have no major loans hanging over our heads. With that said though i will need to be getting a newer car in a year or so, so i will be jumping right back into the pool. But with that said it feels great today. "

 

You should take the money you were using to pay down debt and invest it to pay for the car. So if you were paying $500 a month for your house, put that monthly $500 in a money market or mutual fund or something.

[jwill535]

"It is the best feeling knowing that at 30 i am have no major loans hanging over our heads. With that said though i will need to be getting a newer car in a year or so, so i will be jumping right back into the pool. But with that said it feels great today. "

 

You should take the money you were using to pay down debt and invest it to pay for the car. So if you were paying $500 a month for your house, put that monthly $500 in a money market or mutual fund or something.

My wifes parents opened a Roth with they're investor when she was born or at some point and have been putting money in there till she was older and then my wife took it over and it is pretty well funded at this point. As for me i am going to start one with the same but i have two problems, bad time to start investing right now and he doesnt take any accounts without starting with 20,000, but he was going to make an exception with me and start with 10,000 due to her and her parents buisness with him. So i am going to start saving for that and a newer car.

 

For the house, we had a friend build it, bricked it ourselves(her parents own a masonry company) and kinda went cheap on fixture and couters and used appliances etc. We went with a 5 yr fixed and refiannced again when the 5 yrs was up which thankfully was when the rate was around 4.5 or close to that where able to pay off the rest in 3 years.

[gypcasino]

just payed double our house payments each month

Oh man, why didn't I think of that!http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[jazzytrav]

bad time to start investing right now

This depends on who you talk to. If you think we're heading towards a depression, then yeah, investing wouldn't be good. But considering the market is so low, investing now would be a great time because you would be buying extemely low. That is, if you think it will go back up...

[craigharmann]

Just a matter of buying stuff you can pay for....don't get into credit card debt. From one who is in the midst of trying to dig out of the hole, don't do it. Live within your means. Follow Dave Ramsey's advice....if you live like no one else, you can live like no one else. Congrats Jwill, way to go!

[fondybrewfan]

Heck,

 

I was happy when I paid off the credit cards which were abused while I was in college. I still have student loans, my wife and I both have car payments, and I haven't even bought a house yet. My big day will be when the cars will be paid off. I know of a lot of other things I would rather use that $500 a month than paying for stinkin cars. Most notably, saving for a house.

[dadofandrew]

As a contrarian, I'd love to have oodles to start investing right now. If you try to time the market, you simply do not get it.

 

We're thrilled we only have a car and house payments. We paid off our credit cards and as of yet, since '99, have not have cc debt since, knock on wood.

[JimH5]

Congrats to you, jwill535. . .that is a remarkable feat.

 

Time to call the ticket office and inquire about a nice little 81 game plan!

 

We're down to just our mortgage, but that may still take a few years. . .

[homer]

You can get a five year fixed loan?

[jwill535]

You can get a five year fixed loan?

It was a personal loan if i remember correctly, not a home loan. It was 8 years ago when they were more willing to work with people, plus my wife worked at that bank, her parents keep the companies accounts there and we all bank there and know the owner personally, so we were able to get a pretty good rate.

 

[bork]

Congrats!

 

I've never had any credit card debts and I have a pretty good start on retirement. But we're still paying off school loans for myself and my wife. The first car is almost paid off, but then we'll need a second car by fall. We plan to drive them into the ground. I will be so relieved once the cars and school loans are paid off. I have a 30 year mortgage at 5.75%, but I'm not too worried about it. The rate's not too bad and the interest is a tax deduction. We don't plan on moving, so we just want it paid off by the time we retire.

[Barbs4339]

Well, it appears that having numerous connections allowed you to pull off this feat so early in life. Most of us are not as foruntate to have all those things fall into place like that. I'm surprised your wife or someone in your wife's family doesn't work at or own a car dealership too http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

But congrats. You are very fortunate.