How long did it take you to save up money

[MedicGoofy]

Originally Posted by Rogillio

I know a lot of people who don't consider their mortgage as debt. I guess because for most people, it is unavoidable debt. But pay off your mortgage and have an extra $1000 to $2000 to spend every month and you will will realize it was indeed debt.

My mortgage is not even close to what you are estimating. And to me, it is not debt. It is a necessity of life. As is food. As is transportation. If I can pay these things comfortably, and continue to do what I want, then I am not, to me, in debt.

To pay my mortgage down 'first' before I travel, would be a waste of life and adventure. If people can comfortably live, able to pay the mortgage, and continue to spend on things they wish, then enjoy life.

Niether my mortgage, nor spending puts me in debt.

[Pirate Chica]

Originally Posted by casinochic

We were able to pay in full after about 5 months of payments. Weekly, we'd buy 2 (sometimes more) Disney gift cards from Target, taking advantage of the 5% off by using Target debit card. For any birthdays or holidays, we asked for Disney gift cards. Last month, there was a Target coupon for $10 off $50 purchase. We used these coupons to buy remaining cards to pay off balance.

Wow! Great idea!

My first Disney cruise is coming up in May. I booked it last May and have been saving $130 bi-weekly so that when the final payment comes up next month, it's paid in full. I normally don't do this -- I usually put it all on the credit card -- but the Disney cruise was definitely an expensive trip compared to our other vacations (I'm in Florida so we do WDW and other attractions often - and I've cruised on CCL and NCL).

I have a feeling we're going to fall in love with DCL so I'm going to continue saving -- I've got my eye on an Alaskan cruise for 2015!

[Rogillio]

Originally Posted by MedicGoofy

My mortgage is not even close to what you are estimating. And to me, it is not debt. It is a necessity of life. As is food. As is transportation. If I can pay these things comfortably, and continue to do what I want, then I am not, to me, in debt.

To pay my mortgage down 'first' before I travel, would be a waste of life and adventure. If people can comfortably live, able to pay the mortgage, and continue to spend on things they wish, then enjoy life.

Niether my mortgage, nor spending puts me in debt.

If you have convinced yourself that a mortgage loan is not "debt" I am happy for you and I will whistle thru the graveyard with you! :-) You are correct that housing is a necessity but you chose to live in a $50k house or a $150k house or a $500k house and that makes a huge difference in how much and how long you will be paying for that house. i.e. you obligation to pay the loan. The same thing is true with a car loan. You can drive a $15k car or you can drive a $70k car. Transportation is a necesity of life but you obligation to pay (debt) is over much sooner if you drive a $15k pick-up truck than a $55k Corvette.


I don't mean to harp on this but I know a lot of people who refinance and take the equity out of their home to pay off their credit cards or student loand or car loans and the refinance the 10 years they had left on their mortgage into a 15 year mortgage. And the cycle starts all over again. And so they spend their whole life being a slave to their mortgage and just "accepting" that a mortgage is a way of life like you have. You do not have to carry a mortgage the rest of your life! Pay off your house and quit paying $5k a year or more in INTEREST on that loan.

[cmwade77]

Originally Posted by Rogillio

If you have convinced yourself that a mortgage loan is not "debt" I am happy for you and I will whistle thru the graveyard with you! :-) You are correct that housing is a necessity but you chose to live in a $50k house or a $150k house or a $500k house and that makes a huge difference in how much and how long you will be paying for that house. i.e. you obligation to pay the loan. The same thing is true with a car loan. You can drive a $15k car or you can drive a $70k car. Transportation is a necesity of life but you obligation to pay (debt) is over much sooner if you drive a $15k pick-up truck than a $55k Corvette.


I don't mean to harp on this but I know a lot of people who refinance and take the equity out of their home to pay off their credit cards or student loand or car loans and the refinance the 10 years they had left on their mortgage into a 15 year mortgage. And the cycle starts all over again. And so they spend their whole life being a slave to their mortgage and just "accepting" that a mortgage is a way of life like you have. You do not have to carry a mortgage the rest of your life! Pay off your house and quit paying $5k a year or more in INTEREST on that loan.

While this is indeed true at a basic level, mortgage rates are so low right now that it can be in your financial best interest to make the minimum payments and nothing more. In many cases people only cary a 10 or 15 year loan now, so that is no way leaving them with a mortgage for the rest of their lives.

It is up to each person to determine what is in their best interest and yes, in some cases that can mean refinancing into a 15 year mortgage and freeing up some money that can be used on something with a higher return than the small amount of interest paid on it will be. And no, not everything can be measured in dollars and cents, I think the previous poster made a very good point about not missing out on live's adventures just to save a few dollars on interest. Now, if we are talking $5,000 a year, yes that adds up, but most people are no where near that amount anymore.

[newmommie77]

Originally Posted by Rogillio

If you have convinced yourself that a mortgage loan is not "debt" I am happy for you and I will whistle thru the graveyard with you! :-) You are correct that housing is a necessity but you chose to live in a $50k house or a $150k house or a $500k house and that makes a huge difference in how much and how long you will be paying for that house. i.e. you obligation to pay the loan. The same thing is true with a car loan. You can drive a $15k car or you can drive a $70k car. Transportation is a necesity of life but you obligation to pay (debt) is over much sooner if you drive a $15k pick-up truck than a $55k Corvette.

I don't mean to harp on this but I know a lot of people who refinance and take the equity out of their home to pay off their credit cards or student loand or car loans and the refinance the 10 years they had left on their mortgage into a 15 year mortgage. And the cycle starts all over again. And so they spend their whole life being a slave to their mortgage and just "accepting" that a mortgage is a way of life like you have. You do not have to carry a mortgage the rest of your life! Pay off your house and quit paying $5k a year or more in INTEREST on that loan.

While u r earnestly paying off that mortgage loan how many family vacations do u attend? Remember, our life can end tomorrow, and all that TIME (which is so much more valuable) and money that one spends on paying off that mortgage loan early is for for nothing. I lost a sister due to a car accident at 32. She was trying to pay off her mortgage early too. She also didn't go on a single vacation in her life.

With that said, I have absolutely no credit card debt but I do a super safe and expensive car because i don't want any family member of mine to go through again what i did because of a cheap car. I also have a mortgage and I also go on many many vacations a year because if I am gone tomorrow I want my dd to remember our fun times, not me paying off a mortgage.

Life is short And youth is wasted on the young. I am not going to work my a$$ off now so that i will NOT have a mortgage when my daughter 15 and therefore miss her childhood. She is only this exact age once, and I adore the age. Meaning what ever age she is, I LOVE and don't want to miss out on it.

Sorry for my rant!

[jjje]

We didn't have to save for our upcoming cruise because we are paying for it with the money I earned from my most recent surrogacy. If we had to budget and save for a (non-discounted) cruise we could probably do it in a year if we really scrimped and saved or two years without affecting our day to day life too much. Maybe we'll love this first cruise so much that we'll do whatever it takes to get us on another quickly.

[PizzieDuster]

Originally Posted by jjje

We didn't have to save for our upcoming cruise because we are paying for it with the money I earned from my most recent surrogacy. If we had to budget and save for a (non-discounted) cruise we could probably do it in a year if we really scrimped and saved or two years without affecting our day to day life too much. Maybe we'll love this first cruise so much that we'll do whatever it takes to get us on another quickly.

O/T, what a wonderful blessing you have given a couple.

[Rogillio]

Originally Posted by newmommie77

While u r earnestly paying off that mortgage loan how many family vacations do u attend? Remember, our life can end tomorrow, and all that TIME (which is so much more valuable) and money that one spends on paying off that mortgage loan early is for for nothing. I lost a sister due to a car accident at 32. She was trying to pay off her mortgage early too. She also didn't go on a single vacation in her life.

With that said, I have absolutely no credit card debt but I do a super safe and expensive car because i don't want any family member of mine to go through again what i did because of a cheap car. I also have a mortgage and I also go on many many vacations a year because if I am gone tomorrow I want my dd to remember our fun times, not me paying off a mortgage.

Life is short And youth is wasted on the young. I am not going to work my a$$ off now so that i will NOT have a mortgage when my daughter 15 and therefore miss her childhood. She is only this exact age once, and I adore the age. Meaning what ever age she is, I LOVE and don't want to miss out on it.

Sorry for my rant!

Not sure why you are writing this about my post. I did not suggest paying your mortgage off early!! I said it is debt and you should have a plan for paying it off. Life is short and I am all for living large but the reason so many people got upside down on their mortgage loan is because they refinance and take out the equity and then blow the money or buy a bigger house. My goal wa to have our mortgage loan paid off by the time the kids went o college....so we could afford to pay for college. Not saying that is a plan for everyone....but we need to have a plan to eventually pay off that loan so you don't have to work till you are 70.

[NY Disney fan]

I don't save for vacations per se. I live a very simple simple lifestyle and save money for emergencies. I do not vacation every year and go every two years or so. Disney every 5 years.

[newmommie77]

Originally Posted by Rogillio

Not sure why you are writing this about my post. I did not suggest paying your mortgage off early!! I said it is debt and you should have a plan for paying it off. Life is short and I am all for living large but the reason so many people got upside down on their mortgage loan is because they refinance and take out the equity and then blow the money or buy a bigger house. My goal wa to have our mortgage loan paid off by the time the kids went o college....so we could afford to pay for college. Not saying that is a plan for everyone....but we need to have a plan to eventually pay off that loan so you don't have to work till you are 70.

I wrote it because it felt like your multiple posts were about debt and mortgages. I was simply pointing out that life is short and focusing on paying off debt should not be the focus of ones life. Balance is the key.

And the reason so may people got upside down on their mortgages is so much more multifactorial, including banks giving 80-20 loans, the over value of land and the recession. My daughters college is also paid for, as is my retirement fully funded but not everyone has that luxury. I was simply pointing out that we should not focus on debt payments. Our kids memories are what will live beyond us, not paying off that debt early.

[Bear3412]

Originally Posted by newmommie77

.... Balance is the key.....

Well.... slighty leaning toward cruising.

[PizzieDuster]

Originally Posted by Rogillio

My goal wa to have our mortgage loan paid off by the time the kids went o college....so we could afford to pay for college. Not saying that is a plan for everyone....but we need to have a plan to eventually pay off that loan so you don't have to work till you are 70.

It is a VERY good feeling to know my two sons, in college now, won't graduate with loans on their backs and we have not taken any equity out of our home. A great gift!

I agree, it is a balance. We all love our memories of our cruises.

[TheHannas]

roughly 2 for us........ we are taking care of a few loose ends and the cruise will be "we did it" type thing, fully paid.

[megs193]

We save the two "extra pay checks". You get every year when you are paid every other week. We fully fund an IRA and use the rest for vacation and short getaways. My DH travels Monday through Thursday for work so we really value our vacations since we get to spend the whole week together as a family.

I don't disagree that your mortgage is debt but we definitely prioritize vacation over paying off our mortgage early. We hate debt and wouldn't vacation if we had any debt other than our mortgage. Unfortunately we live in a HCoL area so it would take forever to pay off our mortgage.

[tinkerone]

lets leave the mortgage question. i'm retired from a financial institution and we teach mortgage is good debt. while that is what we teach it all comes down to a personal preference, as we can tell by this thread.
mortgage = debt however mortgage should not equal a way of life. i'm of the mindset myself that a mortgage isn't included in my thought as a debt unless i'm doing a financial spread sheet. then you get to compare debt verses net worth and it becomes a true picture.
so, lets get back to 'how DOES everyone save for this wonderful vacation'. i'm very interested to hear more ways.