Type of debt

[Ember]

I have credit card debt. About 11k worth. And I don't regret spending that money in the least. I also have about $2500 left in student debt. I don't mind being the only one willing to admit to debt.

 

[Donnainnj]

Mortgage only. Started with 30 year, paid extra and refinanced to 15 year when rates went down at 5 years in. Should have 8 years left on that loan but have been paying extra all along and hope to be paid in full in about 3 years. So we pretty much cut our 30 year in half. I wish I had planned it just a little better and finished the mortgage before the college tuition for the kids kicked in. Oldest DD will be in the middle of her second year when we (should be) finish. (we do use credit cards, but pay as we go) We are in better shape then a lot of our friends/family but it is mostly because we never really got into the credit card debt they did. Lived very budget until our income allowed for more.
Donna

 

[RachaelA]

Mortgage, car loan, and a small student loan for us. I plan to have the student loan and car loan paid off by the end of year. The mortgage is brand new though. I hope we can pay it off in half the time (15 years rather than 30 years).

 

[luvdisney00]

I was wondering if other people considered this debt or not! We do this all the time...save $ for something, get 0% financing for it, keep the $ in the bank to pay it off. We usually try not to actually use the $ we set aside for it though. We try to pay for it out of our normal budget if we can. Then that $ either becomes total "fun money" or long term savings.

I didn't really think of it like that, but hmmmm, we will have that money when we are done since we are also paying the pmts out of our "normal budget." I have 2 more who will need braces though so I guess it won't be able to be fun money.

Some people might consider those kinds of things debt, but I don't if I have the money. At any given time I could go pay them off, but I figure I may as well collect the interest on the money, and in a way, I think it's better that the orthodontist isn't paid in full since dd's teeth aren't finished.

 

[dtr_angel]

I find it interesting that you seem to have negative feelings towards student loans, IMHO student loans and mortgages are the most justifiable debt. At least with student loans, you usually have a true Return On Investment (ROI) in the way of higher salaries. Now it is great that you served in the Military (I applaud you for that!) and did not have to take out student loans, but that is not an option that is open to everyone.

I didn't mean to come off negative, I'm just upset at how much we owe on my husband's student loans and we haven't even started paying on them yet... the student loans total are 1/2 of our mortgage and the interest rates are a killer! My husband has been out of school for almost a year, and is still working his retail job so it's very frustrating for him (and me) to see how much he borrowed to go to school and get a good job, but instead we just have to keep deferring them in hopes that he will have a good job someday. I'm fortunate that between my job & the tuition assistance I get from the military, I only have to pay about 1/2 of my tuition, but it's still a lot of money, and it's hard balancing work and school but I don't want to add to the student loan debt we already have. In less than 2 years I'll have a much better paying job and then we can hopefully knock out a lot of the student loans over a short period of time.

 

[mh1973]

Just a mortgage for us, and I am paying extra on it so that hopefully it will be paid off in 10-15 years. We paid both cars off last year. It is a wonderful feeling!!!

 

[ElizK]

One credit card that will be paid off within the next 3 months. A home equity loan (stupidest thing we ever did), a mortage, and two car payments. Both cars will be paid off in about 2 1/2 years, if not sooner. We just started Financial Peace, and it is our goal in life to get out of debt!

 

[foltzy]

2 CC's and Student loans at the moment (The credit cards will be paid off with in the next few months and Student loans in the next 2 years), and we're currently house hunting. Told dh that I wanted to be debt free except for our house within 2 years. It's a goal we're both working towards.

 

[disney1990]

No debt here of any kind. DH wanted to retire and we knew that we couldn't afford for him to retire and still be paying a mortgage -- so we made paying it off our goal.

 

[Mrs.Reese]

We have mortgage, car payment and student loans. Now I'm in no hurry to pay off the student loans because in two years the feds will pay off $15,000 for teaching special ed in a title I school.

 

[DansBride2009]

My DH is the smart one and debt free ... I was too until I was out of work for 7 months, and my ooold used car died, (before we were married, when we were dating), so I got a little CC debt and did some stupid things, like get a computer when I thought I was going back to school.

My computer is almost paid off (when I get my tax refund in, it'll be gone!), my car is halfway paid off - from $23,000 to $10,000 as of this month (I hope to be driving it until about 300,000 miles or until it dies; the used car I had was costing too much money to repair!)

And I will be gettting an extra job to pay off my CC. I am working full time with benefits right now and am waiting to hear back on a part time job. Luckily my car is at a 4% interest and my computer has 0 interest(so far).

Anyway, I have learned soooo much about money during this time period and my stupid spending has come to a stop. I never want to owe another credit card company ever ever again; they are sharks !!

Good luck to everyone working on getting out of debt ! It is a hard, hard lesson to learn but we can do it !

 

[bytheblood]

Not too much -
1 Harley motorcycle
1 Lexus Is350
1 House 80/20

We are ahead on everything.

 

[ssawka]

I didn't mean to come off negative, I'm just upset at how much we owe on my husband's student loans and we haven't even started paying on them yet... the student loans total are 1/2 of our mortgage and the interest rates are a killer! My husband has been out of school for almost a year, and is still working his retail job so it's very frustrating for him (and me) to see how much he borrowed to go to school and get a good job, but instead we just have to keep deferring them in hopes that he will have a good job someday. I'm fortunate that between my job & the tuition assistance I get from the military, I only have to pay about 1/2 of my tuition, but it's still a lot of money, and it's hard balancing work and school but I don't want to add to the student loan debt we already have. In less than 2 years I'll have a much better paying job and then we can hopefully knock out a lot of the student loans over a short period of time.

I apologize, I tend to forget how hard times are out there. I was fortunate that I graduated in the mid 90's when things were really good. Yes, I imagine it would be very frustrating to have to start paying back loans when you haven't seen the increase in salary. I hope you can find comfort in knowing that the current economic downturn will not last for ever, and your husband will be ready when things improve.

 

[2manypets]

We have a mortgage which is 50% paid, and a van note which DH's company covers. Hopefully we'll stay on track to pay off the mortgage in 7 more years. Thanks to the snowball method, we paid off all other debt earlier last year.

 

[travelbug]

Mortgage only

 

[kydisneyfans]

Have the house locked at 4 3/8 for 30 years, no rush to pay that off. Since the stock market has averaged 8% gains forever, excluding the past few years, we are taking the money we could use to pay down the house and investing it while things are down. The nice tax deduction at the end of the year helps too. Once the market pops, the money invested will be used to pay off the house, but not too soon.

We have a vehicle payment, that is it. Student loans, medical, and CC debt are all gone thanks to hard work and the snowball method. A PP said the student loans were justifiable due to higher salaries earned. I have a Bachelors degree in finance, my wife never went to college, she makes more than me. The student loan debt is similar to CC debt in my book.

We have been blessed.

 

[mh1973]

Have the house locked at 4 3/8 for 30 years, no rush to pay that off. Since the stock market has averaged 8% gains forever, excluding the past few years, we are taking the money we could use to pay down the house and investing it while things are down. The nice tax deduction at the end of the year helps too. Once the market pops, the money invested will be used to pay off the house, but not too soon.

We have a vehicle payment, that is it. Student loans, medical, and CC debt are all gone thanks to hard work and the snowball method. A PP said the student loans were justifiable due to higher salaries earned. I have a Bachelors degree in finance, my wife never went to college, she makes more than me. The student loan debt is similar to CC debt in my book.

We have been blessed.

What are you investing in? Our mortgage is locked at 4.50% for 30 years and I am currently paying extra.

 

[ssawka]

I have a Bachelors degree in finance, my wife never went to college, she makes more than me. The student loan debt is similar to CC debt in my book.

It sounds like it's time to start looking at an MBA. Unfortunately, a Bachelors' in any Business Administration discipline (except maybe MIS if schools still offer that under BA) is just not that marketable anymore.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

We are debt free. We have always lived below our means.

 

[Janice B]

We only have our mortgage left and that will hopefully be paid in 3 1/2 years.