Quote:
Originally Posted by tripods68
Exactly how do you control your debt? Do you live below your means...or you have plenty of cash to payoff all your debt if you want to?
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It's "controlled" in a few ways.... Most importantly, I have a stable job with a stable paycheck, I do live well below my means, and I am able to make all my debt payments exclusively from my monthly income. My monthly expenses (not including debt payments) are less than $1400. My debt payments are about $750/mo, though I pay about $1000 to pay it down faster. That leaves me just over $1000/mo to save and invest. Also, I am currently backed up with $3k in savings, plus another $21k in regular ($8k) and retirement ($13k) investments (which I could reach to if critically necessary), with more going to those every month.
So basically, while I do have alot of debt right now (spending almost 1/3 of my monthly income on debt would be far excessive for most people), my lifestyle allows me to handle that debt without worry. In the end, 5 years down the road I'll have all my debt paid off, and I'll have a significant amount of savings to boot.