As of 3pm EST today I will be debt free, once my final car payment goes through.
Getting rid of the Veloster N helped, The Avalon Hybrid that replaced it gets double the gas mileage and double the range while being on regular instead of Premium.
Working from home 4 days a week also helped. I put 15k miles on the veloster in the 7 months I owned it, while I have put 2500 miles on the Avalon since June.
I might rearrange cars again next year but it would likely be getting rid of both the Avalon and the Land Cruiser for a Rav4 Prime or Hybrid thus letting me stay at 2 cars instead of 3.
That would also depend on if we go back to 5 days a week of my 80 mile commute instead of 1.
trucke
SuperDork
9/30/20 1:56 p.m.
Congratulations! Being debt-free is life changing. We just paid off both our house and rental house this month. Woohoo!
Congratulations! My wife and I paid off the last of our debts (less the house) at the beginning of the month. While nothing has particularly changed with our finances because of random expenses that ate up a good chunk of the money we would normally have going out, it is a liberating feeling nonetheless. We used a slightly less extreme Ramsey plan as I could not get the wife 100% on board, took longer than I wanted, but it is over!
Congrats! I'm very jealous. I think we're on track to be debt free in about 4 years, with the exception of the house - I expect we'll hold our mortgage until it matures or we move, no real incentive to pay it off. It could be sooner, but we're pumping everything into the market instead.
Congratulations MrChaos!
I'm 56 and I'm not quite there yet.
Total debt = 33.6% of gross annual income and the house has 92.8% equity so I'm close enough that if something bad happened, I could easily be debt free without taking a tax hit (Roth IRA has plenty enough in it) or if something really, really bad happened, life insurance would cover all debt and give my wife a little over two years of living expenses.
Given how low borrowing costs are, I'd probably be better off carrying more debt but I like the peace of mind and I have zero bonds...everything is in stocks, home equity, and a little precious metal.
Everything I own will be mine in Jan 2026. Cars are already owned outright, school is paid for, just have the house remaining.
While money is cheap, I like the thought of not oweing anyone anything.
I have a mortgage and one student loan.. I'm very jealouse..
Now if only there was a way to stop paying property taxes. My taxes are half my mortgage.
Congrats! I'm hoping we will be there in ~3 years, still have a mortgage obviously. But both our schools should be paid off and the cars and the credit cards. I haven't bothered trying to pay off my student loan early since the payment is $120/month and it's around 1.5% rate.
Color me jealous. Wife and I have had some rough years as of late, but with her new job, I'm hoping we can be (except for the house) by this time next year.
-Rob
Welcome to the debt free club! We went six years completely debt free and just built a new house so now there is a little bit of a mortgage but starting with six years of payments does amazing things to a mortgage! People poo-poo Ramsey but if you have the discipline to follow his steps it does work!
I was always debt-free until I bought this house, but I put so much down on it I only owe about 5 years worth of payments. I actually could pay it off if I sold a couple things, but my interest rate is so low I'm going to ride it out for a while.
Feels good, doesn't it? Congrats.
Awesome! You are at the level of a bum!
Just kidding (kinda).
Well done.
I'm super jelly. Have house payment for 20 more years...
In reply to frenchyd :
Am 29.
Work for state govt with a pension. at 55 i can retire with 30 years and full pension(at minimum 40k/year for life right now based on current salary). I rent from my grandmother and will inherit this house.
I do not want to be a landlord. At most i would invest in some REIT's.
Maxing my Roth IRA and am putting away $12k/yr into my 401k since i get no match because of the pension.
Going to start traveling, you know when we arnt banned from traveling internationally...
Debit free is a very comfortable place to be. Congratulations.
MrChaos said:
In reply to frenchyd :
Am 29.
Work for state govt with a pension. at 55 i can retire with 30 years and full pension(at minimum 40k/year for life right now based on current salary). I rent from my grandmother and will inherit this house.
I do not want to be a landlord. At most i would invest in some REIT's.
Maxing my Roth IRA and am putting away $12k/yr into my 401k since i get no match because of the pension.
Going to start traveling, you know when we arnt banned from traveling internationally...
The right REITshould help you stay ahead of inflation make sure it's not going to be outdated by new technology. Amazon, Wallmart and it's future competitors will pretty much make strip malls and even mega malls obsolete.
Also Office buildings. This Pandemic has already shown that most companies can not only survive but actually thrive with most key people working from home. While some offices and malls can be converted the costs will be a serious set back and a great number will simply wither.
Debt free is good.
When the economy turns you can laugh at the lenders except for the sky high property taxes in Locktucky, the 10% sales tax in Bolingbrook, and the crazy gas taxes that we pay in Illinois
MrChaos said:
In reply to frenchyd :
Going to start traveling, you know when we arnt banned from traveling internationally...
I'd say: Go file for your passport now, if you don't have one already. They're good for 10 years. And, I'm sure the lines are short, and you won't have to pay for an expedited one.
I learned a lot from traveling abroad, before I began living abroad.
sleepyhead the buffalo said:
MrChaos said:
In reply to frenchyd :
Going to start traveling, you know when we arnt banned from traveling internationally...
I'd say: Go file for your passport now, if you don't have one already. They're good for 10 years. And, I'm sure the lines are short, and you won't have to pay for an expedited one.
I learned a lot from traveling abroad, before I began living abroad.
got one last year cause i had a cruise planned for this decemeber, but cancelled it back in March.
sleepyhead the buffalo said:
MrChaos said:
In reply to frenchyd :
Going to start traveling, you know when we arnt banned from traveling internationally...
I'd say: Go file for your passport now, if you don't have one already. They're good for 10 years. And, I'm sure the lines are short, and you won't have to pay for an expedited one.
I learned a lot from traveling abroad, before I began living abroad.
One of the great things about traveling is coming home. While some people are born wanderes there is a point where most people just want to get home.
I learned that lesson on Uncle Sams dime.
Going over the horizon was thrilling at first. Crossing the equator on a US Navy ship turns you from a Pollywog to a shellback. And is dully notes in your official Navy record. No celebration though for the international date line.
Strange places and cultures. Seeing in person what you've seen countless times in pictures and films. Being amazed at some sites and disappointed at others.
Swinging at anchor in Hong Kong Harbor with all the lights and sights of Hong Kong all around. That won't occur again in the foreseeable future. The warmth and sincere friendliness of the people of Sydney Australia. As compared to the harsh commercialization of Singapore. The polite manners of the Japanese while sharing their culture. Riding the Bullet train from Sasebo to Tokyo in absolute awe of their advanced technology. We still don't have anything approaching that.
Canada, Europe, Mexico, Central America, with both good and some bad memories of each. But as I passed through my 20's. Home had a bigger and bigger attraction for me. Towards the end of my international travels a week inVienna while certainly memorable being personally introduced to the Duke and Duchess in the Hopsberg Castle having dinner with them and listening to the Vienna Boys Choir. Has to be the highlight. Although The Vienna Choir is right up there. Taking the train to Budapest when the communist block was just beginning to open up to the West was really memorable. The seeing it a decade later as it replaced all the broken glass and obsolete still damaged from WW2 buildings. And started to become an attraction of its own.
Anyway, 10 days and I was eager to endure the near 20 hours of flying time just to get back home again.
