What are you going to do the first day you are debt-free?

[dhardawa]

Putting more money away each month. That’s about it. My house will be paid off in about three years, so I’ve given it some thought.

 

[neatokimmo]

We have 8-8.5 years until we reach this milestone.

Assuming our old cars hold out, I am planning on buying a new crv or odyssey.

 

[Deffenm]

We should be completely out of debt (including mortgage) in 4 to 6 years. Four years if we throw everything extra at it and 6 if we just pay it as we do today. Once we are out of debt I will be looking to retire from my current high stressed job and move into a job that is more enjoyable. I would like to find a teaching assistant job so I can have my summers off to travel with DH. We are planning to do long road trips. We will also have some home repairs that will need to be done.

 

[Dakota731]

Nothing that leads to more debt that’s for sure! More money into our 401k will be the first priority

 

[TnTWalter]

we literally went to Disney World to celebrate being debt free. Our first big family vacation back in January 2006. It was awesome!

 

[2China2009]

I am 46 and hope to have my mortgage paid off in about 5 years. I have 2 kids to put through college in the future years. It is very important to me to get my kids through college with little debt as that is what my mom did for her 3 kids. I would like to have a nice chunk put away in liquid cash. I am just about finished paying off my CC debt. I will never be truly debt free, but if I can be hopeful everyday that is the most important to me.

 

[StacyStrong]

I'll probably be dead, so....

Truer words have never been spoken.

 

[MillauFr]

Nothing. I already spend money like a drunken sailor. Multiple trips to Disney every year, Disney cruises, dining out at fancy restaurants, spending tons of money on wine. I figure as long as I first save/donate to charity the first 25% I can justify flushing the rest down the toilet.

 

[BLAZEY]

Increase saving so we can retire sooner!

 

[DisneyHardin]

I'll probably be dead, so....

This is totally us too!!! We are only 10 years into a 30 year mortgage and my DH really doesn't like our house and wants to move, so we will start over with another 30 years most likely in the next few years (maybe we can finance the new house just for 15 if we make decent money off selling this one, but I'm not holding my breath)

 

[bababear_50]

: bought a small point DVC contract at AKL (Animal Kingdom Lodge) to celebrate.(paid cash)
: had a BBQ and ate S'mores,,, then I burnt a copy of the mortgage.
: The actual day I became debt free I went to McDonalds and ordered 8 pieces of chicken Nuggets,,,you can laugh but I have always ordered the kids meal to save money.

Hugs Mel

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We didn't really do anything to celebrate. I took a picture of the $0 balance on the last cc website and sent it to dh. I was bad with credit cards for a good part of my adult life and I finally got tired of it hanging over me. I paid them off in 2015 and vowed to never go through that again. Then I paid off dh's truck 6 months early. This was in 2016 and that was the first time in almost 30 years with dh that we didn't have a car payment. (We would each take turns getting a new car every 10 yrs but that still meant another car loan every 5 yrs.)
So when it was my turn for a new car in 2016, I held out. I LOOOOOVE having no car payment. In fact, I love it so much that I plan to save up to pay cash for my next car. Just for the thrill of the challenge. Even though my current car is 12 yrs old, it only has 57k miles on it and is garage-kept; it has a LOT of life left so why rush out and start up another monthly payment?

Over the past 5 years I went from being a spender to quite a saver. I was always good about saving for retirement (Thank you for the advice Grandmom!) , but never was good at saving $ just for the sake of saving. It really adds up quickly and the more I save, the more I want to save. It's a great feeling!!

We have <10 years left on our mortgage which is only 3% so I'd rather pay extra to retirement, which is my next goal, than to make extra payments to our mortgage. Paying extra to the retirement fund has the added benefit of lowering our taxable income for the year. So for the last quarter of 2018, I'll be saving pretty much every spare penny to Vanguard then after Jan 1 return to my current rate and start saving for a car.

Sorry this was so long. I think we "celebrated" more when our youngest turned 18. Not that either of our kids are self-sufficient, but it's a slight mental relief. We toasted our Chick Fil A cups that both of our kids are officially adults.

 

[OhMari]

I gave myself a high five.
When I found the Budget Board, I had no idea what snow balling was.
I made my first chart and almost died and cried, I thought we would never get out of debt.
But with a ton of hard work, 2 jobs for each of us, we finally did it 5 years ago.

My dh talked me into selling our paid off home and building. I hate the location of our home,
but I do like a new home. But with building, there is always something that needs to be done and bought,
so I feel we are in debt with the new house build. Cementing the drive way, we built a patio, gardens, etc.