Were you ever in debt?

[FrugalFish]

We had a couple thousand in CC debt after DH was unemployed for an extended period of time. That was surprisingly low for the amount of time he was out of work, and based on necessity.

Now we are in debt with our mortgage and our car loan. I had hoped to be able to pay cash for a car when we needed one, but we didn't want to strip our savings that low at this point in time, so we financed half the cost. Still, I don't like being in debt.

[MonkeyMama]

It definitely comes down to your mindset/attitude. IT's all there really is to it.

I grew up in a very anti-debt family so pretty much never looked at debt as an option. I have taken on a couple of small auto loans (never bought a vehicle I couldn't pay off in a few months) and we of course have a mortgage (only kind of debt I personally don't mind - has been cheaper than renting, for us). My spouse has never had an auto loan (refuses) BUT his parents bought him his first car (which makes a bit of a difference).

Over the years, when friends hear I am rather anti-debt or never had debt, the excuses start flowing - But *I* need a reliable car, but *I* didn't have my parents pay for my college, But, But, But. I can't believe some of the things people have said to me over the years. Who said I didn't have a reliable car??? To be fair, I have extremely supportive parents, so I understand the assumptions sometimes that they must have paid for my college. But, they simply didn't. I have many friends who don't know my parents from adam but assume if we never had college debt that we must have not had to work at it. ???

Which reminds me, I went to State and most of the people there were completely on their own (many older students). There were always a couple of completely "whoa is me, my parents aren't helping me" people who would rack up tons of debt and whine about it. The rest of us just kind of rolled our eyes. As many of us were in the same boat but working more and living more modestly. It always amazes me what people assume!!!

The reason my parents are so anti-debt and frugal was because they grew up very poor. I always assumed people from that type of background were VERY careful with their money. I have in the last few years met a number of people who grew up poor and turned to debt as a way to cover it up or because they went for so little so long that they felt they deserved nice things now. On that end of the spectrum it really comes down to lack of financial education too. IT's an "I'll worry about it later," attitude, but I don't think most people have a clue what they are getting into with credit card debt and many student loans, etc.

[disneysteve]

everyone seems to have a car payment

This is a very dangerous and costly mindset. NO, everyone does NOT have a car payment. There are lots and lots of people driving paid off cars. I do know many people who feel the same way as you, though. They think it is normal to always have a car payment. As soon as they pay off one car, they trade it in and buy another. Or even worse - they lease their cars so there is no chance of ever being payment-free.

What you should do is buy an affordable car, borrowing the minimum amount necessary. Once you pay it off, continue to save the money that was going toward payments. Open a seperate account for that money. When the time comes that you need to replace the car, use that account to buy the next one for cash or at least a much smaller loan. By the 2nd or 3rd car purchase, you should be paying cash.

We have not had a car loan since 2002 by the way.

[GREENBACK]

I guess you could say I had career start up debt. I worked all through college(at one point three different jobs) so I wouldn't have loans to pay back. It worked but left me penniless in a strange new town and with a real job with nothing other than a beat up, very old pickup and a few clothes and things. I then used cc's to outfit an apartment and buy things neccesary for work and for living in general. I racked up about 10k in cc debt but this wasn't done haphazardly. I had a plan to buy what I needed and to pay the amount back as time allowed. When I had what I needed I completely stopped using the cc's and paid them off in about 4 years. I consider that responsible cc use. It helped me out of a tough situation.

[MonkeyMama]

This is a very dangerous and costly mindset. NO, everyone does NOT have a car payment. There are lots and lots of people driving paid off cars. I do know many people who feel the same way as you, though. They think it is normal to always have a car payment.

That's the thing - it all comes down to mindset.

If you think everyone has a car loan, you don't think twice about it.

IF you grew up in a family that always paid cash for used cars (I did) you think about car debt in a very different light. I wouldn't look at car debt as normal or desirable, in the least.

[Tree0164]

I got my last car loan in 2005 paid it off last year.

We needed to replace my 1996 a few weeks back it and it was great to go into the dealership and say tell me what you have the $10k range for used and walk out with a great deal.

we keep our used cars for atleast 8-10 years on average. I am saying $250 a month in our "car fund"

I hope to $12k in our car fund in 5 years so we can get our next new to us car then.