get totally out of debt

I am really on my way to doing this. It feels good to know I am in control of my $$$$. Guess what…just because you might want it for a second doesn’t mean you have to buy it. I didn’t know that before!!!

I have HUGE debt and need to get out. I have to stick with this and use all the interest I’m paying for a kick butt vacation of a lifetime, or better yet, buy a place of our own.

Absolutely worth doing. Start spending your money on you, not on interest.

$7k doesn’t sound like a lot. But when you’re 21 years old making min wage and wanting to go back to college- what can you do?

There’s this idea of leverage of money, or making your money work for you. You have to find that delicate balance of not having too much debt, but at the same time having your money grow for your retirement.

In general, debt on “consumer items” or toys is a bad thing financially, because consumer items tend to depreciate quickly. Compared with debt on a house, where your interest payments are tax-free, the property tends to appreciate, and you are paying money that you can get back if you sell the house.

However, paying off a house isn’t very good leverage because interest on your primary residence is tax free, and the interest rates on houses tend to be very small. If, instead, you were to use the funds that would pay off that one house and use it as a down-payment on 2 others which you rent out. The result is some modest income plus paying down 3 properties instead of having just one.

There are a lot of ins and outs, but in general I’ve changed from wanting to pay down all my debt to only wanting to be debt free from consumer purchases and cars—things that depreciate instead of appreciate.

Sean

Being self-employed, I’ve had many excuses for this debt to become as large as it has, but I’ve decided to stop living by excuses and start taking control of this. We will not allow this to control us. We are making plans and taking steps now to undertake the long term process of changing the lifestyle choices that have put us in this position. This will not be an overnight miracle, but it will be a difference, over time, that will create a different future for us.

Halleluliah!

I haven’t got that much debt, but … I don’t have any money comming in either.