Started in 2006 with:


$20,000 school loans
$40,000 loan from my father to put down payment on business + start up costs
$125,000 loan from previous shop owner (but $25,000 from my father's loans went directly to it) so it's only really $100,000 at 6% interest rate over 8 years.
That's $27,044.27 in interest.

Total to repay: $187,044.27

As of my 52nd month on 5/2 of 2011:

$20,000 school loans Paid in full
$40,000 loan from my father to put down payment on business + start up costs Paid in full
$125,000 loan from previous shop owner (but $25,000 from my father's loans went directly to it) so it's only really $100,000 at 6% interest rate over 8 years. $27,825.00
That's $27,044.27 in interest. Paid in full


Total left: $27,825.00



Other people can use this thread to countdown their debt payoff too



[Edited on May 6, 2011 at 1:16 AM. Reason : .]

5/6/2011 1:13:15 AM

debt free

5/6/2011 1:18:42 AM

lucky lucky!! I can't wait

5/6/2011 1:20:20 AM

Ok Dave Ramsey, if you paid of $60,000 that fast you are living a shitty life or you have random money coming in from somewhere... have a little debt and have some fun before you are 40


people that pay off debt are annoying as fuck

[Edited on May 6, 2011 at 1:21 AM. Reason : d]

5/6/2011 1:20:36 AM

It's 160,000.... over 4.5 years.

Live like a typical college student.

I live on ramen, hot dogs, spagetti, mac and cheese.
I buy all my shit used.
I don't have health insurance.
I have 2 kids.
I shop at yard sales and craigslist (remember that thread everyone laughed at me for buying diapers on craigslist? lol)

5/6/2011 1:27:16 AM

fuck that... I would rather have a little debt


4-9 years in your 20s and 30s is worth a LOT more than 4-9 years in your 40s and 50s. Keep a little debt and have fun while you can, no rush to pay it off.

[Edited on May 6, 2011 at 1:30 AM. Reason : d]

5/6/2011 1:28:59 AM

^^DONT FORGET PIZZA!


I am debt free.

[Edited on May 6, 2011 at 1:31 AM. Reason : w]

5/6/2011 1:30:49 AM

I have my health and ability in my younger years I don't think I would have been able to work 1580 days in a row when I'm in my 40s or 50s.

5/6/2011 1:33:21 AM

ok? you also wouldnt be able to take fun trips and get completely fucked up with random whores at 40 or 50

5/6/2011 1:34:35 AM

you can always buy random whores. it's true love that you can't buy

5/6/2011 1:35:30 AM

bah, ok, you cant go out and have fun several times a week... enjoy your youth, we will have WWIII before you retire anyways

5/6/2011 1:39:23 AM

The end of the world is supposed to come next year 12/21/2012


Actually, I'm gambling on and hoping that the medical community can fix anything I break by the time I'm 40 or 50.

5/6/2011 1:48:45 AM

debt free. we paid off deemarie's car last christmas and that was all we owed. renting and saving up for a big-ass down payment on a house



of course, that took a hit when i bought a boat

[Edited on May 6, 2011 at 7:04 AM. Reason : ]

5/6/2011 7:04:24 AM

$86,000 in school loans

5/6/2011 11:18:50 AM

School loans: 40k remaining
Mortgage: 227k remaining

Get in touch with me in 14 more years, I'll be debt-free then.

5/6/2011 11:23:46 AM

as of today...

i owe $30,379.86 on my house...


that's it

i don't have a mortgage on my house so i don't get a tax break...

but i'll have it paid off in 10 years from purchase date and save about $180,000 in interest that i would have had to pay with my initial 30 year mortgage

[Edited on May 6, 2011 at 11:56 AM. Reason : aldfjd]

5/6/2011 11:55:59 AM

graduating in one week with no debt!

all my friends used to laugh at me for working so much during college....whose laughing now

5/6/2011 12:00:30 PM

Quote :

"whose laughing now"

those who had it all paid for by scholarships and didn't have to work or borrow money to pay for school

5/6/2011 12:03:02 PM

granted, I guess I could pay my loans off faster than scheduled, but I guess I just choose to enjoy life a little bit right now.

5/6/2011 12:05:37 PM

i'm debt free and i have fun. not sure why y'all think it's impossible.

i probably enjoy my leisure time even more knowing that i'm not setting myself up for a lifetime of being a slave to my debt.

5/6/2011 12:08:34 PM

there's nothing enslaving about certain debts, if managed well.

most people who are oh so scared of it have just been exposed to a horror story form someone close to them, which was usually self inflicted, and their ideas of debt are incredibly skewed.

5/6/2011 12:10:58 PM

interest sucks. you're paying more for something because you don't wanna wait until you can afford it.

5/6/2011 12:13:04 PM

I guess it depends on whatever you like to do. I like to travel, so it does get expensive sometimes. Even if I pay minimum on all my debts, by the time I'm 40, I'll have my house all paid-off, which is pretty good for my generation I think.

5/6/2011 12:13:12 PM

Quote :

"It's 160,000.... over 4.5 years. Live like a typical college student. I live on ramen, hot dogs, spagetti, mac and cheese. I buy all my shit used. I don't have health insurance. I have 2 kids. I shop at yard sales and craigslist (remember that thread everyone laughed at me for buying diapers on craigslist? lol)"

Sounds like a great healthy environment for two kids. Or, not.

And having children and no health insurance is one of the most irresponsible, ignorant, horrible things you could do, given that you obviously have the means to do so. I'm sure they'll understand when you explain how daddy got sick and now they live in a halfway house.

God you are a piece of work.

5/6/2011 12:13:52 PM

Quote :

"interest sucks. you're paying more for something because you don't wanna wait until you can afford it."

so you're saying I should wait until I have enough money to pay 100% for education or a house?

5/6/2011 12:15:31 PM

didn't say that at all

those are pretty much the only things i would ever borrow money to purchase, though.

[Edited on May 6, 2011 at 12:17 PM. Reason : real estate and higher education]

[Edited on May 6, 2011 at 12:17 PM. Reason : topic's been beat to death on here]

5/6/2011 12:16:44 PM

Quote :

"interest sucks. you're paying more for something because you don't wanna wait until you can afford it."

im not going to wait until i have $250k in cash for my house.

with a 4% rate, the tax implications, and the positives of growing equity, it'd be dumb as shit for me to be renting.

just because you're not liquid enough for something at the time, does not mean you cannot afford it.

5/6/2011 12:17:42 PM

i guess i just put more value on the peace of mind that comes with not owing a dime than the majority of others and that's ok.

5/6/2011 12:19:18 PM

i can understand the viewpoint.

just agree to disagree

did you pay cash for your truck and boat?

5/6/2011 12:22:50 PM

yes

[Edited on May 6, 2011 at 12:26 PM. Reason : they were both old, cheap, and already depreciated to hell, but in very good shape and reliable]

5/6/2011 12:24:16 PM

the house and school are the only 2 things I borrow money on. Everything else I have, I've paid cash for. I could paid off the school loans quicker, but I like to have some cash money just in case shit hits the fan.

5/6/2011 12:24:37 PM

What does it matter be debt free vs Net Worth positive ...

Could I pay off all my debt - check
Would I rather have it currently allocated in a good bull market instead of in my home loan (3.25%) - Check

Its all semantics ... and different tolerance for risk.

5/6/2011 12:25:01 PM

im with robster.

5/6/2011 12:27:07 PM

that's cool too. just not for me.

5/6/2011 12:27:30 PM

Quote :

"I could paid off the school loans quicker, but I like to have some cash money just in case shit hits the fan."

yeah. Plus the interest rates are next to nothing (~2%)

5/6/2011 12:28:32 PM

i think the interest rate on my home loan is about 2.8% currently

5/6/2011 12:35:13 PM

^^ not all student loans are 2% interest

some of mine swing all the way up to 8.5%

5/6/2011 12:37:04 PM

I'm with Neuse&Genius. No debt/No contract is definitely the way to go (for me.)

That being said I have

8K personal loan (failed business venture)
54K education loan

I'd like to be debt free or house only by the time I'm 35. And I'd like to have 6 months of expenses + 20% down payment when I buy a house.

5/6/2011 12:42:50 PM

Quote :

"School loans: 40k remaining Mortgage: 227k remaining"

I'm about the same. I owe a little more (60K) on my private law school loan.

Mortgage will be there for a while until I sale and purchase again. But I'm making pretty good gains on my school loan...paying a little more than the minimum each month.

No credit car or any other kind of debt though. I feel pretty good about everything. Might be done with the school loan in about 10 years.

5/6/2011 12:52:43 PM

I never had credit card debt until last year. My HVAC unit blew out on my condo. It ended up costing me $6200 to get a new unit and $1000 of that was just a crane rental because that's the only way to get the HVAC on the roof.

$6200 hit my credit card in November 2010
then in January I needed to get a new timing belt and 4 new tires for my car which was another $1000 - that hit my credit card in February 2011

As of April 29, 2011 - the HVAC unit was officially paid off. All that is left on my card is $1000 for the items I had to pay for my car. I should have that paid off in the next 2 months.

I ended up having automatic weekly transfers set up between my checking account and my credit card - so I didn't have to worry about making "one monthly payment." This way I could break it down into easier weekly payments that were consistent - this also helped a bit with interest. I highly suggest this for those that can do that. It made things a lot easier for me.

oh and I owe about $97,000 on my mortgage - 24 more years to go

[Edited on May 6, 2011 at 12:53 PM. Reason : yay loans]

5/6/2011 12:53:11 PM

Will be paying this debt til Im 40! I feel your pain! Its ridiculous just to have an education

5/6/2011 12:55:52 PM

5 years, 10 months

5/6/2011 1:14:34 PM

Quote :

"Will be paying this debt til Im 40! I feel your pain! Its ridiculous just to have an education"

You'll find out soon enough that the education you pay for is only worth 1/20th of what you pay for it

5/6/2011 1:52:57 PM

Quote :

"debt free"

5/6/2011 2:09:34 PM

Quote :

"You'll find out soon enough that the education you pay for is only worth 1/20th of what you pay for it "

that's because so many dumbasses attend school that shouldn't. when you spend $80k or whatever to get a useless CHASS/Management/Business degree because you have no real plans after college, then you're just wasting time and money and your education is worth jack compared to how much you spent on it. and if you didn't see that as a bad investment, you really shouldn't have gone to college.

[Edited on May 6, 2011 at 2:19 PM. Reason : 's]

5/6/2011 2:18:27 PM

Good luck man.

Luckily right now, outside of the mortgage we have $11,000 left on student loans total. Was lucky to have a wife who finished college with no loans (yay scholarships). The plan is for me to finish my student loans off in the next 2 years (The rate is ~5%) and for neither of us to need a new car until then so that the student loan monthly payment can just transition smoothly into a new-to-us car payment when needed.

I agree that not all debt is bad (we have way more than enough to pay the loan off right now if needed), but we're already pumping a ton of money into retirement accounts and after market index funds so it's not like we are forgoing better returns entirely just to pay off this loan. I'm just trying to eliminate this small amount of debt.

5/6/2011 2:19:25 PM

In my experience, most debt interest rates are higher than investment interest rates, so it's more beneficial to pay off debt than to invest.

I mean, you could play risky in investing and possibly get a big return... but unless you are involved in insider trading, then you have equally as big a chance at losing.

5/6/2011 2:47:08 PM

Quote :

"You'll find out soon enough that the education you pay for is only worth 1/20th of what you pay for it"

speak for yourself, my investment in education already paid off for itself within the first year of my graduation.

5/6/2011 3:42:08 PM

What do you do for a living hgtran

5/6/2011 3:53:55 PM

^^^WTF did you just say?. Its better to pay interest than to earn interest?

[Edited on May 6, 2011 at 3:56 PM. Reason : ...]

[Edited on May 6, 2011 at 4:17 PM. Reason : ....]

5/6/2011 3:54:33 PM