Why I am not on here very much anymore!

[achab1984]

I wanted to stop and make a post. I know there have been so many new members added on this site! Its crazy how much this site has grown from when I joined way back! Well now I better get to the point and stop rambling on.

I have set a very big goal for my family and myself. I want to get all of our debt paid off early!

I am happy to say that I just paid off my car loan this month! I bought my car in June of 2015. I got her paid off in 18 months! It was a lot of extra work and a lot of selling and giving up extra things. But I have to tell you it was all worth it!

My last debt that I have to pay off it our home loan. I did some researched on it and if I make an extra payment on it every month I could have it paid off in less then 12 years! That would take 19 years off the loan! That would be awesome! If I really wanted to get it paid off fast I would take all of my returns for the next five years and get it paid off in 6 years! But I don't think that I am going to do that cues there are some home improvements that I need to get done before that.

Once the house is paid off we will be DEBT FREE! Oh I cant wait!

So if any of you are wondering why I am not on here much anymore that is why! I want to stay away from things that will want to make me buy! LOL

Do any of you have a goal to pay off debt? Are any of you debt free?

[Pokeyonekenobie]

Good for you!   Isn't it so nice to have your car paid off?  I loved making that last payment on mine.  Now it's just a matter of remembering to do the regular maintenance (which can sometimes seem like a lot of money but it's better than buying a whole new car) so that I can keep my car running for another ten years or so--longer if I can manage it!

I don't have any current debt but I'm saving up for a down payment for a house.  I haven't found the house I want yet but when I do I want to be able to put an offer on it!

[achab1984]

Yes it does feel so good! I did not have a car payment for 9 years! I had my last car for 12 years! I would still have it but it was costing me money every month to keep it going. And I had an electrical problem that was not going to be easy to find if they could find it.  So I wanted a car that was not going to die on me going 80 down the highway like this one did. Very scary with you don't have any control over your car! And has never ending transmission issues that kept coming back.  So I looked and looked and saved while I had my old car and then bought my newer for $6000, the car cost $16000 but with trade in and cash saved I have a car that is still worth $16000 and don't owe anything on it! It feels so good! I don't drive this car all the time due to also getting us a cheap work car for cash. Keep the nice car low on miles. 
Yes its better to do the regular maintenance on it then but a new one every few years. Unless its a major issue that is worth more then what the car is worth.

That is awesome, when I bought my home at a young age of 20 I did not have any money to put down on it. I sure wish I knew what I do now. Its very smart to have a down payment and money for the closing cost saved up! That is awesome your doing it the right way!  And don't ever buy what the bank says you can afford, they are only looking at there pocket book! Don't want to be house poor.

[dragonfly]

That's great. It sounds like you've made tremendous progress toward your financial goals already! Congrats. It takes a lot of dedication to do that but it's well worth it.

[achab1984]

Thank you dragonfly! That is does take a lot of will power to do this! I hope down the road I can say that I am totally debt free! 

[Beldarna]

Congratulations.

I only have my studentloan and it will be gone in 9 years. I could probably make it in half that time if I wanted, but I like to have money on the side.

[invaderhorizongreen]

Congrats , I am also in the same boat with a house, we nearly have 60K left on the mortgage.

[glitterball]

Well done, folks!
Just have the mortgage... and the expenses of a young child 

[Aflame]

we are in the process of buying a house and its got so many extra charges !!!:(

[melodys_angel]

Congrats!  Im glad that you have one less stressful thing to take care of ^^

[Thunderwing]

Yeah, high five!  It is hard to pay off debt - good for you!  We've been doing the same thing, going without to pay off the house. It was so cool to get the statement this January that said there are 0 years and 11 months remaining.   From a 25 year mortgage, paid off in 6 years.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Yay! Congrats; debt paid off is so exciting. I think I get way too thrilled each time we pay off a big chunk of debt.

[achab1984]

That is awesome Thunderwing! I cant wait to get to that point!  It is fun to see the $$$ signs go down! My goal is not to create anymore of it on purpose!

[Taffeta]

That sounds like a pretty amazing target, and I hope you get to do it!

The only debt I have is my student loan, which is sort of a compulsory debt if you want to get educated but I don't have to pay it back until I earn over a certain amount; then it will automatically trigger with the right people and that will be that. With one thing or another, I've never actually earned over the threshold, and since I keep going back to university...yeah. But my MA I saved for and paid for entirely myself, no debt. And my PhD I have funding for from an awesome institution that I love very much for helping me out, so I have been fortunate. I saved up a lot of money over the last year and a half and have some funding to do my work in Japan, too.

But when I'm done with all of this, things like housing, etc will definitely come up. I don't drive and won't be getting a car, because although I have had lessons in the past, my navigation is so bad that it's registered with the government and I'm entitled to a bus pass because I could seriously put myself in danger otherwise. So driving is out and I don't need to worry about a car, but the house? Yes. Definitely.

But I don't know yet what I will do after the PhD. I would like to stay in Academia, but having spent time in Japan, there's no guarantee what country that might be in or if I will do something completely different.

So student loan aside - and my loan is back from before the UK went insane with student loan prices, so it's not as bad as kids get now - I am pretty much okay. But in the future I will have to think about these things as well.

[princessluna11706]

Congrats!!!
I'm paying off a school loan, and now have the new expenses of a child >.<  Trying to get that loan paid off though!