How badly are you in debt?

[quote name='btw1217']But you need to build credit history unless you plan on paying for everything in cash; cars, houses, baby giraffes...[/QUOTE]

Houses? No, you can have a loan manually written without a FICO score check, but you have to make sure you can afford the house you want.

Cars? Save up for a beater and buy that for now (Put the cash you would normally make for a car loan into a mutual fund if you feel like; great way to build wealth to buy a new car or for anything else). The sad truth is that new cars lose alot of their value in 2 years and if you get a loan, you'll soon be upside down on that.

Giraffes? Can't help ya there, hehe.
 
[quote name='The Dord']You don't need a credit card.

thats right..

You don't need a credit card, just get yourself a checking account and get a debit card to make your everyday online purchases. Pay with cash and if you can't afford it, save up for it after all of your non-house debt is paid off because NO one gets wealthy with credit cards. No one.

Credit Cards are the debbil.

(Don't pray to the altar of FICO, there are a few places that make home mortages the old-fashioned way with an income check to see if you can TRULY afford a home.)

I also recommend to go to Dave Ramsey's Website and read up on the website and listen to his weekday radio show.

Dave has a book (Total Money Makeover) and also has a "Financial Peace University" which is a 13-week program. Often on his radio show he gives this and/or this book out for free to callers that really need it.

Getting out of debt is only 80% behavior and 20% head knowledge.[/QUOTE]


There is nothing wrong with having a credit card if you are responsible... therein lies the problem though, most arent. But having different forms of credit is helpful in building a high credit score. I make all of my store purchases with credit cards. I also pay it off as soon as I have money, not once a month.
 
Two cars (2010 and 2012 payoffs), two student loans (2019 and 2021 payoffs), and just closed on a mortgage (2038)... badly.

But all very manageable, and the credit card is always paid off.
 
Closing on a $270K Mortgage on Friday.

Hope the housing market bounces back soon.
It was originally listed at $389K.

Cheap Ass House Buyer for the Win!
 
My main debts are...

Student Loans @ $9500 left.

Credit Card @ $9000 left

Truck @ $4200 left

Student loans were absolutely necessary as I didn't have enough with scholarships or grants. I didn't want to buy a new truck, but I had bad luck with the two previous used cars I bought. I had bought an 89 T-Bird for $2000 the failed in a year, and a 93 Continental that I paid $3000 for, then another $3000 to fix which failed too.

Only part of my credit card debt was really necessary and that was when I was out of work and had to use it to make ends meet. Part of the reason I am selling my games down is to pay my CC debt off.
 
78,000 mortage, 1500 cc, no student, medical or car loans. But it is ok since my house is worth 150,000 + and both my cars 07 nissans are paid off.
 
[quote name='The Dord']You don't need a credit card.

thats right..

You don't need a credit card, just get yourself a checking account and get a debit card to make your everyday online purchases. Pay with cash and if you can't afford it, save up for it after all of your non-house debt is paid off because NO one gets wealthy with credit cards. No one.

Credit Cards are the debbil.
[/QUOTE]

Credit Cards are great, and much better than using a visa check card as long as your intelligent, don't buy what you can't afford and pay the balance in full each month. There are three main reasons for this.

1. You establish a credit history, and can do so before you're at the point of taking car and house loans.

2. You can earn rewards--get something for nothing as long as you're paying off in full each month and thus paying no interest.

3. Easier to deal with fraud or if you get robbed and have people use your cards in the time you are dealing with the police like I did. With the check cards the money is out of your account and you have to sign an affidavit and wait a while (was about 2 weeks for me) for them to investigate and put the money back at most banks. With a credit card they just take the charges right off.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']3. Easier to deal with fraud or if you get robbed and have people use your cards in the time you are dealing with the police like I did. With the check cards the money is out of your account and you have to sign an affidavit and wait a while (was about 2 weeks for me) for them to investigate and put the money back at most banks. With a credit card they just take the charges right off.[/quote]
That's the way I've always understood it, and the reason why I use a credit card instead of debit. I generally use cash for everything, but the CC comes in handy when I'm making a big purchase (but only when I have money in the bank for said purchase).
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Credit Cards are great, and much better than using a visa check card as long as your intelligent, don't buy what you can't afford and pay the balance in full each month. There are three main reasons for this.

1. You establish a credit history, and can do so before you're at the point of taking car and house loans.[/QUOTE]

This part is the only gripe. What did people do before FICO to get a house? car? You do NOT need a great credit history if you're responsible with your money and save.

House: Have the Mortage Broker manually write the mortgage and check your income. There's people with craptastic FICO scores and can still buy houses with a No FICO home loan (But you must put at least 20% down).

Car: You can also save for a beater (because let's face it, you don't want to get that crappy feeling when your upside down on your 20k car loan. It's bad, trust me) and then save for more later for a better beater (you can sell the old one for about the same price you paid for it) and repeat until you can buy a brand new car.

[quote name='dmaul1114']
2. You can earn rewards--get something for nothing as long as you're paying off in full each month and thus paying no interest.
[/quote]

There isn't many people who actually pull this off. If you can actually use a card with responsibility (not everyone can) and pay it off at the end, then do it. But I don't believe in the cards.

[quote name='dmaul1114']
3. Easier to deal with fraud or if you get robbed and have people use your cards in the time you are dealing with the police like I did. With the check cards the money is out of your account and you have to sign an affidavit and wait a while (was about 2 weeks for me) for them to investigate and put the money back at most banks. With a credit card they just take the charges right off.[/QUOTE]

It's easier, but the credit card company is making alot of cash from you so this is why they have conviences like this (along with credit card insurance, but that's a scam within itself). If tommorow the credit card industry took a big dump, you'd better believe they would discontinue this benefit, hehe.

I like living with cash and I've seen what the industry has done to responsible and unresponsible people. That's why I'm cautious.

I personally don't care if people thinks I'm nuts; normal IS broke. Live to be wierd.
 
[quote name='The Successful Dropout']$7,500 in vehicle debt

It was almost paid off a year ago...until I needed a new engine.[/QUOTE]

Thats one expensive motor!
 
I was in really deep debt; about $21,000 and I've paid the majority off and I'm now sitting on about $4,000 in debt. I 've paid off the amount over the course of a year and I am finally beginning to really feel free. There is nothing like getting out of it once you were in. I am now appreciative that I got out and I will NEVER use a credit card again (except for an emergency)
 
BTW, for those of you that are young like me (26) you may want to do what I did to get out of the debt that I had accumulated. Basically, what I did, was tutor in the evenings at a rate of $30/Hour. I have been tutoring for about 14 - 15 months and I estimate that I have made somewhere between $12,000 - $15,000 in that period of time. You will put in a lot of time and effort, but it is a rewarding experience and you really become a positive influence in many kids lives.
 
$2400 in student loans (what I have left), a little under $1k on 1 CC, under $1k on the other CC, and $250-ish on the 3rd CC.

Altogether, about $5k in debt which I can pay it all off right now.
 
I agree w/ The Dord that credit cards aren't completely necessary but they do make life more convenient. But I also think convenience should come secondary to fiscal responsibility. Convenience is a privilege not a right. Once a person has learned how to manage their finances, then he/she should be entitled to use more convenient forms of economic management such as credit cards. That's also a cliched truism that can be applied to anything worth doing in this world.
 
[quote name='jaykrue']I agree w/ The Dord that credit cards aren't completely necessary but they do make life more convenient. But I also think convenience should come secondary to fiscal responsibility. [/QUOTE]

Agree 100%. My post above is contingent on people being fiscally responsible and treating their credit card like a bank card in the sense of not buying what they can't afford.

Do that and you get a lot of benefits to using the credit card, such as convenience, rewards, piece of mind if you get robbed or lose your wallet, building up credit and so forth with pretty much no costs.

But if you're not a fiscally responsible person who can live within budget, then you should probably stay away from credit cards.
 
I've got somewhere between $17k and $20k in student loans and a few hundred left in credit card debt on an interest-free card. That credit debt is completely from a large amount of dental work that I had to do during the summer (I have a REALLY shitty dental plan). I'll have the credit debt paid off before the interest kicks in later this year and I don't start repayment for the student loans until December or so.
 
[quote name='Snake2715']Thats one expensive motor![/quote]Trust me, I know...Jeep Grand Cherokee. The cost of the motor was one thing, the labor to put it in was a completely different monster. :wall:
 
[quote name='kube00']Just wait till you get out of high school[/quote]

It won't happen to me. I am never in debt.

[/high school thinking]

Seriously I got some money set aside, but life will be hard, I know.
 
[quote name='N1c0_ds']It won't happen to me. I am never in debt.

[/high school thinking]

Seriously I got some money set aside, but life will be hard, I know.[/QUOTE]

The key is to just stay out of credit card debt. Car loans, mortgages etc. are inevitable (unless you just live in the city and rent--but you end up better off in the long run buying a place).. Student loans are as well unless your parents saved enough to put you through--still pretty much inevitable if you decide to go to grad school.
 
About 25K in student loans, only about 3K left on the car, no credit card debt. We use the CC for just about everything save for rent, but pay it off each month. Cash back + no interest = a good plan.

That being said, there's a good chance we're gonna have to buy a house in a few months, so all those good plans will go right out the window ;)

I highly recommend setting it up so your paycheck or your bank automatically puts some money into savings each week, month, or whatever. We have out bank move $75 from our checking to savings every Monday. It doesn't sound like a lot, but when you don't touch it and add some extra "bonus" money to it, it can grow fast. I've gotta get some of that into a real interest-bearing account sometime soon. 0.5% doesn't do much for ya. :p
 
[quote name='daroga']I've gotta get some of that into a real interest-bearing account sometime soon. 0.5% doesn't do much for ya. :p[/QUOTE]

Yeah, at least get into a better savings account, like ING Direct or something--I think there basic savings is at 3% at the moment.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Yeah, at least get into a better savings account, like ING Direct or something--I think there basic savings is at 3% at the moment.[/quote]

Yea, all my stuff is ING right now - Checking, Savings and Mortgage. Makes life easier when you can insta-transfer too.
 
So, I decided to go back to school after waiting a few years. I got financial aid to pretty much cover everything. But since my checks wouldn't come in until after classes started I figured I had to pay up front. Lacking money at the time I put it on my credit card. When I finally got my checks, which were more than enough to pay off my debt and leave me with extra, I kind of, well, spent it elsewhere...What began as just a $1,000 in credit card debt has now become almost $5,000 (they keep upping my limit; how kind...) and $5,000 in student loans which I took out to pay off the credit card. Spiraling...
 
About 4 years ago my wife and I were in the hole about 22k in credit card debt across five or so cards. After some help from my father ($8000) and good money management habits we paid off the entire amount in roughly 3 years. Now we have a nice savings account balance and a $0 balance on the only credit card we have.

We plan to buy a place soon and I'm looking to get a sports car. Always wanted one of those. :D
 
[quote name='janglypangly']Had $700 last week, now I'm at 0. I'm going to close my 29.99% APR Chase card :D[/QUOTE]

29.99%? Good grief that is a high APR... I thought store credit cards were bad (one of the reasons I dont ever carry them, they really dont help credit scores as much as regular credit cards in that stores give them to most anyone)

My purchases are made on a 6.99% capital one, and paid off soon after on payday... I hate carrying cash... which comes in handy as Im always pestered for cash by homeless and those who just beg for money... I tell them I dont carry cash since it is true, and Im off
 
29.99%? Holy moly!

And zman, be careful, some of them might start taking Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal. ;)

I've looked at some of those higher interest checking accounts with ING, Schwab, etc. Are there risks involved there beyond the rate going down? Without branch locations, how would I transfer the money currently? Write a check and mail it?
 
I have like a few $$ in debt if anything, but I have more than enough money in my savings to make up for that (which I will pay my Mom back sometime soon).

I try very hard to stay away from debt (which is one of my biggest goals in life), but I usually don't have much money on hand.

But then again, I do not have my own CC yet.
 
[quote name='janglypangly']Had $700 last week, now I'm at 0. I'm going to close my 29.99% APR Chase card :D[/QUOTE]

I know the chances of you typing that wrong is slim to none, but you did type that APR right, right?
 
[quote name='daroga']29.99%? Holy moly!

And zman, be careful, some of them might start taking Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal. ;)

I've looked at some of those higher interest checking accounts with ING, Schwab, etc. Are there risks involved there beyond the rate going down? Without branch locations, how would I transfer the money currently? Write a check and mail it?[/quote]Unless you don't want to deal with a bank at all, I just link my Schwab account with my local bank account. Everything goes in my bank account, and then I transfer things to my Schwab account online.
 
None right now. I might have to take out a student loan pretty soon though, tuition's about to go up.

[quote name='GameDude']My goal is to be worth at least $1,000,000 within the next 7 years.[/QUOTE]

Why? Saving up for ONE GALLON OF GASOLINE?
 
I don't like working. While, a million is not enough for most people to live on, I believe I can do it...especially if I move out of the US or do some consulting work on the side.
 
[quote name='daroga']
I've looked at some of those higher interest checking accounts with ING, Schwab, etc. Are there risks involved there beyond the rate going down? Without branch locations, how would I transfer the money currently? Write a check and mail it?[/QUOTE]

No extra risk. They're FDIC insured up to $100K just like regular, brick and mortar banks.

You can transfer money to your checking right from the websites, just takes a couple days. Or you can do like the member above and also have a checking account through ING and then it's an instant transfer.
 
[quote name='suko_32']I know the chances of you typing that wrong is slim to none, but you did type that APR right, right?[/QUOTE]

I had, actually still have because I haven't closed the account, a Sony VISA through Chase Bank. I opened it like 10 years ago and at the time did one of those 0% balance transfer offers with no transaction fee. I paid off the transferred funds within a year or so and then never used the card, I've actually never used it to purchase anything.

Anyway, I was doing a review of all my credit accounts about 6 months ago and looked up the status of this account. Over the past 10 years this card went from an initial limit of $8k to now $22500 and the initial APR of 8.9% on purchases had gone up to 29.99%.

I gave them a call to close the account at which point I was informed that the rate jumped to the maximum several years ago after my account had 5 years of no activity. When I said I just wanted to close the account they dropped the rate back to 7.99% so I kept it open just because it is one of my older credit accounts.
 
I'm about $20k in debt thanks to student loans and credit cards. My fiance' on the other hand... $128K. She has $98k in student loans and a new car. I'm marrying into debt!
 
[quote name='metaphysicalstyles']I'm about $20k in debt thanks to student loans and credit cards. My fiance' on the other hand... $128K. She has $98k in student loans and a new car. I'm marrying into debt![/QUOTE]

Be very wary about that!

I've had both a family member and a good friend who married into a ton of debt like that and both ended in divorce largely because of constant fighting over debt and money issues.

It sounds shallow, but that kind of stuff can kill an otherwise good relationship very easily.
 
[quote name='metaphysicalstyles']I'm about $20k in debt thanks to student loans and credit cards. My fiance' on the other hand... $128K. She has $98k in student loans and a new car. I'm marrying into debt![/quote]
I hope you're not saying that someone with $100k in student loans just bought a $30k car. Unless she's going to be a doctor, in which case $100k is light.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Be very wary about that!

I've had both a family member and a good friend who married into a ton of debt like that and both ended in divorce largely because of constant fighting over debt and money issues.

It sounds shallow, but that kind of stuff can kill an otherwise good relationship very easily.[/quote]

Number 2 reason for divorce I believe...

As for me, DEBT FREE!

I never got into high debt... I did max my credit card like a year ago ($2000, but paid it all off pretty promptly)

It sucks to be in debt :cry:, I wish you only the best...
 
I was completely debt-free two years ago but now have about $2k in debt thanks to blasted medical bills. I'm steadily chipping away at it, though, this time last year it was well over $5k.
 
I have about 10k left in my car loan, other than that I have no cc debt.

I paid off all my post college debt, it took me a couple years, but now I can max my 401k and put some extra into my savings (was at 5%, now at 3%). This is all going to change in the next couple years, I will be buying a house/condo in Los Angeles, and those don't get any cheaper than 550k for a decent place.
 
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