How many of us are 100% debt free?

[Kircheis]

I have been a serial renter, but I would probably buy a house if I could find a house in a neighborhood I liked at a price I thought was reasonable. As for the usual argument of the rent being "money thrown away", I would argue that maintenance costs for a home (including any repairs/replacements, pest control, landscaping, etc) is not going into the equity of the house either. Depending on part of the country, property taxes may be pretty high as well. I definitely agree with the posts so far that there a lot of variables which affect if buying or renting is better for a specific situation.

[97guns]

the only time i use credit and go into debt is by using it as leverage. i use money to make more money, does not matter if its mine or the banks.

[SteinFamily]

One night my friend and our families got together for a bonfire. He was very excited about it and even splooged to buy all of the refreshments. We burned his final bills that night and I had never seen him so happy. He is still debt free and gaining an impressive bank account statement.

[KTP]

Home mortgage should not be included if you have money invested in other sources which could be used at any time to pay off said mortgage.

Similar that credit card debt should not be included if you pay the balance off each month.

Also, everyone is in debt since they owe the government taxes each year (at the very least real estate taxes).

[natewebco]

No, still have a mortgage. But otherwise we are debt free.

[Singuy]

I think we should use this definition of debt-free:

Having excess amount of money in the bank that is more than the total cummulative debt.

If I have 120k in my bank sitting around doing nothing, and my mortgage still have 80k left, 10k left on my car, and 3k in cc bills, I am essentially "debt free" because now it's just a matter of choice of being "debt-free"....allthough I don't see why you wouldn't want to pay everything off but still it's a choice.

[feh]

I think we should use this definition of debt-free:

Having excess amount of money in the bank that is more than the total cummulative debt.

If I have 120k in my bank sitting around doing nothing, and my mortgage still have 80k left, 10k left on my car, and 3k in cc bills, I am essentially "debt free" because now it's just a matter of choice of being "debt-free"....allthough I don't see why you wouldn't want to pay everything off but still it's a choice.

I disagree. "Debt free" means just that - no debts. What you describe here is positive net worth.

[Singuy]

I disagree. "Debt free" means just that - no debts. What you describe here is positive net worth.

Then you can never be "debt free" if you use a credit card to get rewards, even though you have plenty of money to pay it off at the end of the month..same goes for electric bills....by your definition, Warren Buffet is not "debt free".

[feh]

Then you can never be "debt free" if you use a credit card to get rewards, even though you have plenty of money to pay it off at the end of the month..same goes for electric bills....by your definition, Warren Buffet is not "debt free".

Clearly we aren't including monthly bills that are paid in full.

[Singuy]

Then there's really no difference between having 120k but refusing to pay off your car debt..it's a matter of choice and not debt. Once you can no longer pay off the debt in full, then you are in debt. If you were to have 0 debt today, but decided tomorrow to spend 30k on a car but put it all on your credit card, are you now in debt?(even though you can pay it off at the end of the month). So debt to you is time(exceeding 30 days) and not actually the ability to pay it off or not?

[JoeP]

Then there's really no difference between having 120k but refusing to pay off your car debt..it's a matter of choice and not debt. Once you can no longer pay off the debt in full, then you are in debt. If you were to have 0 debt today, but decided tomorrow to spend 30k on a car but put it all on your credit card, are you now in debt?(even though you can pay it off at the end of the month). So debt to you is time(exceeding 30 days) and not actually the ability to pay it off or not?

Whether you agree with the definition or not, debt is defined as money borrowed by one party from another.

There is an important distinction of debt you are overlooking: it is a legal obligation to pay another for something that is not yet yours. If the money you have on hand to pay off the debt gets lost, stolen, or becomes otherwise unavailable, you will default and you expose yourself to a lawsuit. This is impossible if you had paid for the item in cash up front.

[Singuy]

Whether you agree with the definition or not, debt is defined as money borrowed by one party from another.

There is an important distinction of debt you are overlooking: it is a legal obligation to pay another for something that is not yet yours. If the money you have on hand to pay off the debt gets lost, stolen, or becomes otherwise unavailable, you will default and you expose yourself to a lawsuit. This is impossible if you had paid for the item in cash up front.

And I agree, but the debt is not yet debt until the minute your money is lost, or become unavailable..this can happen between credit card payments or electric bills..so based on these definitions, you are only debt free on the first of the month for 1 milliseconds..because the moment that milisecond have passed, you are using some kind of service not yet paid for.

[Blessed]

I think we should use this definition of debt-free:

Having excess amount of money in the bank that is more than the total cummulative debt.

If I have 120k in my bank sitting around doing nothing, and my mortgage still have 80k left, 10k left on my car, and 3k in cc bills, I am essentially "debt free" because now it's just a matter of choice of being "debt-free"....allthough I don't see why you wouldn't want to pay everything off but still it's a choice.

No, what I was asking is whom has no debt when I originally asked the question. Whom owes no payments or cars, loans, mortgages, credit cards etc. I wasn't asking about assets vs debt. Just debt.

I think throwing utilities bills etc is way more technical than I was asking unless you are behind on your bills.

[scottgriffin]

Debt Free

As of July 2011 I made my last payment for my home and now I am 100% officially debt free! I must say it was a great feeling writing out that last check.

[NJDebbie]

Debt free since 4/11/13 and that that includes no mortgage.