Does anyone carry NO DEBT at all?

[Cassandra]

The only debt I have is my credit card. I pay it off the moment my bill arrives, however, so I don't carry any balance. The only debt I plan on ever having would be a mortgage.

Cassandra

[lgslgs]

We have no debt other than a mortgage, and we have the money to pay it off if we chose to. Of course, since we earn more investing it than we pay in mortgage interest it would just be throwing money away to pay it off ahead of schedule.

We retired almost three years ago when I was 44 and my husband was 43. We were able to do that by being debt free, being serious about saving money, and investing our nest egg for growth.

Lynda

[feh]

My wife and I (both 41) are debt free. We paid off our mortgage about 4 or 5 years ago. We bought our last two cars (in '99 and '02) for cash. Credit card is used extensively, but paid off every month.

We live frugally, saving as much as we can. The goal is to retire as soon as possible and comfortably.

[autoxer]

I'm debt free, but I don't own a house yet. In 2004, I bought a new car and ran up my credit cards, but my mindset changed in 2006. I sold my expensive car to get rid of my car payments, bought a cheap '94 nissan and paid off all my credit card debt in 2006. Since then I've been putting 17% of my income into retirement accounts and saving 30% in a money market to build up a substantial house downpayment. I'll have a mortgage soon, but I refuse to take on debt for anything else.

[Broken Arrow]

That's wonderful, autoxer!

I am largely debt-free.... I've got about 3k worth of student loans left. I could probably have it paid off sometime next month... but, I'm going to keep all of my options open because 3k of student loans at a little over 5% is nothing in the grand scheme of things.

But I also don't own a home.

[bjl584]

Nope! Not me. Not yet anyway. I still have a mortgage, student loans, and a home equity line. No car payment or credit card debt though. I should be debt free in about 5 to 7 years if I continue at my current pace of saving and paying down debts.

[DebbieL]

I have a debt, but I could pay it today if need be. It is on a credit card offer that I am earning more money in interest by keeping it in a savings account that it is costing me, so I won't pay it until end of May (when rate is set to go up).

[disneysteve]

I'm glad to see how many have posted that they have debt but are keeping it because it makes sense to keep it. Far too many people in this country are totally debt-averse and strive to repay debt at all costs. Debt, properly used, can be a very valuable financial tool.

[DebbieL]

I agree DS. It has been a good tool for me. I am analytical though (currently going to school for my accounting degree, lol). I think logically rather than emotionally for the most part. Many people are the opposite.

[Broken Arrow]

I think logically rather than emotionally for the most part. Many people are the opposite.

That's not true! *pout*

[DebbieL]

Many people are the opposite - except BA of course, lol.

[parafly]

Nope, my finance and I both have debt, specifically two car loans and two student loans combined.

It doesn't bother me one bit though knowing that we easily make the payments every month and have saved almost 25K in the past 1.5 years for our wedding and a future house downpayment. We also contribute 10% each into our 401K's.

[mom-from-missouri]

I was, then I remarried. And, I have rental property now. So, I have one rental with a small mortgage, and the mortgage I have with DH on 1 house and another on some land. And, I got a new car last April--but I paid over half of it down, so its a tiny payment.

If we were to liquidate all savings, we would be debt free.

[disneysaver]

No debt here! Right now I'm saving all extra money to build up a big emergency/car/new carpet fund. I need to work on retirement more but haven't decided which direction I want to go. I have a pension with my job which I can collect on in 2 years when I reach 30 years if I decide to retire then.

[kendo26]

I hoping to be dept free by the end of this year, if not the remaining $2600 of student loan debt would be paid off by the end of next year.

I do plan on eventually buying a condo but between the do debt period and then I'll be using the money for retirement saving and saving for a down payment for the condo.