When Will You Celebrate "D-Day" (Debt-Free Day)?

[Malthus]

Of course, my wife then plans to plunge us right back into debt to renovate the place, buy new furniture, etc. ... 

You know...sometimes you can get really good deals on furniture if you pay cash.  You might want to suggest to her that you take the money you are not paying on the mortgage every month and put it in a furniture fund and buy the stuff outright.  The renovations might be a little too pricey for that though.

We have some money set aside, but it will not cover the major renos my wife has in mind.

Mind you, if she gets a new kitchen, family room and first-floor washroom, I get my library on the second floor. 

What I'm dreading is moving out and dealing with contractors. 

[Valmy]

My God man  why not just tear the place down and build it again from scratch?

Well I hope you get a good interest rate.  Just got to pay it off early.

[DGuller]

Never had a loan of any kind in my life.

[Malthus]

I expect I'll have a car loan or 2 most of my life, I currently have 2, 1 with 5 years, the other 3.

YOu can't save up and get one?  YOu will save tons of cash if you do.  Car loans are one of the curses of the Middle Class.

Probably not. When my gf's car is paid off (3 years) we'll need to buy a new, bigger one.
I doubt I'll have ever the financial leeway to pay ~400$ in car loans & also save 400$ towards the next ones.

What we did was to drive a crappy beater into the ground, relying on my wife's dad's mechanic buddy to keep it rolling. Thus saved up enough money to buy the next car.

People these days don't wanna do stuff like that - they want a new, good car all the time.

[CountDeMoney]

In the condo for 15 years, I'm halfway through my 30 year fixed mortgage.  I could refinance or pay it off earlier, but meh, I know what I pay a month, and I'm comfortable with that.   And I have a shitload of equity, even in this shitty housing economy.

[Malthus]

My God man  why not just tear the place down and build it again from scratch?

Well I hope you get a good interest rate.  Just got to pay it off early.

Oh, we have the line of credit already - we rolled what was left of the mortgage into that. 

The reason we don't want to build from scratch or buy a new place - well, there's two. The first is location. Our house is very well located, in fact we could never afford to buy here if we tried to buy now. Second, it has a lot of nice period features.

[Valmy]

Never had a loan of any kind in my life.

[Barrister]

Never had a loan of any kind in my life.

It's good to be sceptical of debt, but there's such a thing as being too sceptical.

Going into debt to buy a house is generally a positive investment.  You're purchasing an asset that will likely appreciate, will save you money on rent.  Student loans are similarily an investment in yourself.

[PDH]

No loans, no wife, pay off bills each month.

[CountDeMoney]

You're purchasing an asset that will likely appreciate, will save you money on rent.

Unless it doesn't.  But, yeah, rent is simply throwing money away--even worse, it's letting someone else benefit with an asset that's appreciating.

[Malthus]

You're purchasing an asset that will likely appreciate, will save you money on rent.

Unless it doesn't.  But, yeah, rent is simply throwing money away--even worse, it's letting someone else benefit with an asset that's appreciating.

Oh, you guys are in for it now ... 

[Valmy]

Plus mortgages these days are absurdly low interest rates.

Granted realestate is a great way to lose everything, and so are student loans, if you are not careful.

[Malthus]

Never had a loan of any kind in my life.

Loans can be useful, as long as you make them for defined and controlled reasons. The problem people have is that they use loans to finance a lifestyle they can't afford.

[Valmy]

Loans can be useful, as long as you make them for defined and controlled reasons. The problem people have is that they use loans to finance a lifestyle they can't afford.

Maybe DGuller just has lots of money.

[The Larch]

Personally I'm debt free since I finished paying my car last may. As a family unit, within the next 5-10 years we'll finish paying the mortgate of my flat.