What debt is worth having to you?

[jld]

A poster recently said she felt a mortgage was a debt worth having, as she could enjoy it with her children, and college debt was worth having, if it meant her children could go to a school both she and they felt comfortable with. What kind of debt is worth having for you?

[HRAAB]

A mortgage and student loans, but within reason.

[anneofalamo]

none!

debt free and renting for less than owning right now!

 

I like the freedom, and as we have had our income reduced about 75% it is a good thing! :D

 

living in California on less than 2K a month without government help! It is possible! :D

[jld]

none!

debt free and renting for less than owning right now!

 

I like the freedom, and as we have had our income reduced about 75% it is a good thing! :D

 

living in California on less than 2K a month without government help! It is possible! :D

 

Giving you a standing ovation here!!!!

[Chris in VA]

mortgage, student loans, medical debt

 

We just refinanced, and our mortgage is down to 3.5%, and will be paid off in 10 years. Our house has gained a lot in assessed value, so we can use that to borrow $ for college, at a rate that is way cheaper than the regular student loans go for.

At the end of it, we'll have a house worth over $300,000, our kids will be college-educated, and we will (God-Willing) be healthy.

[Liza Q]

We have a mortgage and, after 20 years, I can say that financially it has been better to own our apartment than to rent. There is nothing else I can imagine going into debt to own....maybe a vehicle if we were desperate, though we can get along without one here if we need to.

 

No college debt either. I expect that my children will need to take on some debt for their educations but we are not taking any on ourselves. We will support them in other ways - we help with tuition, they can live at home without contributing financially, we buy their clothing, etc.

[Mejane]

None.

 

The amount of interest we pay on our mortgage makes me physically ill. I can't wait to pay the sucker off. I have encouraged my kids to attend the state university so they can live at home and pay as they go with our help. There is nothing we want badly enough to carry a credit card balance; if we can't pay it off at the end of the month, we don't buy it.

[HRAAB]

No college debt either. I expect that my children will need to take on some debt for their educations but we are not taking any on ourselves. We will support them in other ways - we help with tuition, they can live at home without contributing financially, we buy their clothing, etc.

 

This is what I meant. Dh and I will not be taking on any debt for our children's education. So far my older two are attending college without any debt; however, they will both probably end up with some debt. It will be a reasonable amount, and I feel it is worthwhile.

[Carol in Cal.]

I think that honorable debt is debt for an appreciating asset that is pretty needed, like a primary home, debt to take care of family, like medical bills for an indigent sibling, and debt to move forward, like education debt.

 

Profligate debt is entirely foolish.

 

Having said that all, I would rather minimize the debt even in the first categories. An emergency fund is crucial, as is saving for education expenses. But failing to attend college or help someone get well or provide a decent home is not good either. In those kinds of cases the debt is the lesser of the evils.

 

And I don't actually judge people who don't feel the same about this--these are my views of what is wise, and they are what I try to hold myself to, but they are really pretty unusual, and I know that.

[Julie in Austin]

For a modest home, a modest car, and a modest education.

[2_girls_mommy]

I agree w/Julie. I say a mtg, a car (which we buy new, so it is good and then drive as long as is heavenly possible!) and possibly some for education. I put myself through college working and getting scholarships, and acquired no debt, but it took me a long time. Sometimes I went only part time. I could see taking a little debt to finish instead of taking so long. It just so happened to work for me.

 

Also, necessary medical debt of course.

[Murmer]

we have a chunk of change in credit card debt but every penny of it was for the adoption of my 2 children and they are worth the debt and the interest if I get to be their mother!

[jld]

we have a chunk of change in credit card debt but every penny of it was for the adoption of my 2 children and they are worth the debt and the interest if I get to be their mother!

 

:grouphug:

[Ohdanigirl]

A mortgage and student loans, but within reason.

 

:iagree: If possible, I would like to keep any student loans at a minimum. We am almost done paying off our house. :hurray:

 

I can deal with a car payment as well. This does not mean I will go out and buy a new car every time I pay one off. I see no need to have a brand spankin new car at all times.

 

Danielle

[SquirrellyMama]

none!

debt free and renting for less than owning right now!

 

 

 

:iagree: We have a mortgage but sometimes I'd love to sell the house and rent just so we would have the freedom to pick up and go. And I want the feeling of having no debt at all, not even the house.

 

I don't think student loans are worth it. I've been there. We'll go the cc route or work while in school and live at home route with our kids.

 

Kelly

[jld]

:iagree: We have a mortgage but sometimes I'd love to sell the house and rent just so we would have the freedom to pick up and go. And I want the feeling of having no debt at all, not even the house.

 

I don't think student loans are worth it. I've been there. We'll go the cc route or work while in school and live at home route with our kids.

 

Kelly

 

Kelly, have you read Debt Free U, by Zac Bissonnette? There's a thread over on the college board on that book right now. He advocates what you plan to do.

[SailorMom]

Mortgage - one you can afford with a good interest rate

 

Student loans - your own, not your children's. Yes - they cost money, but someone with a degree makes far more than someone without.

We paid our own way, worked our way through, etc - our kids know that we will help them when we can (and they both have modest Coverdale funds), but that they are responsible for their own educations.

 

Car payment - If a reliable car is needed to get to work - again - within reason, affordable, good interest rate, short term.

 

I will add medical expenses, for those with insurance with high co-pays. However - I think it is financially irresponsible to hold no insurance at all unless someone has a HUGE savings account put away for medical expenses. So - medical co-pay expenses.

[Rosy]

For a modest home, a modest car, and a modest education.

:iagree:I would add medical bills to that as well. Also, I think it is desirable to avoid or pay these off on an accelerated schedule when possible.

[FriedClams]

None.

 

We're paying off our mortage as fast as possible. I want to be done.

 

D.O.N.E.

 

And no, I am not for student loans. I think there are lots of other, albeit more painful, options available to students these days. And frankly, if everyone stopped taking out loans and playing the game - prices would have to decrease and the whole system would be more accessible.

[RahRah]

I me most debt is unnecessary, but some debt is acceptable, some just absolutely makes sense and some is even perhaps necessary.

 

An example for what I consider "makes sense" debt:

 

DH needed a new car for a while - I've been setting aside money to use as the down-payment + his trade, and we'd pretty much decided we'd get a new car when we could pay it in full, or when it was obvious his car was reaching "sponge on wheels" stage. Well, sponge on wheels motivated us to start looking recently and DH found a certified used car that would meet his needs (he needs AWD to get to work in the winter) that was within our budget....the problem was we were short by about $8,000 to pay it in full and DH would need to cash-out a bonus check to himself from his office to pay it in full.

 

Our accountant told us to finance it - the taxes on the $8,000 were going to mean we needed to actually cut a check for $12,000 to have that as the net remaining to use for the car....plus he added the manufacturer was offering all scheduled maintenance on certified used cars purchased & financed up to 100,000 miles - the value of the maintenance far exceeded the interest payments if we paid over the life of the loan and didn't pay it early since the financing was 0.9%.

 

Our apples to apples comparison (thank you CPA) was:

 

$12,000 ---> $4,000 to taxes ---> $8,000 to pay car in full

 

Cost to pay in full = $4,000

Cost for scheduled maintenance, 4-years = $2,500 (est.)

Cost to pay in full and maintain car, 4-years = $6,500

 

Finance $7,500 ---> Full Payback, 48-months = $7,632

 

Cost to Finance = $132 total interest, 4-years ($159/mo, 48-months = $7,632)

Cost for Scheduled Maintenance, 4-years = $0

 

The monthly payment doesn't impact our monthly budget, so to us the above comparison made this a no-brainer.

 

Some things though, to us, make no sense to finance - things like televisions, appliances, etc., using credit cards to pay for things unless you can and will pay the balance each month and not have interest charges.

[RahRah]

:iagree: We have a mortgage but sometimes I'd love to sell the house and rent just so we would have the freedom to pick up and go. And I want the feeling of having no debt at all, not even the house.

 

 

To me the roof over our heads is a "cost to live" - something we'd pay whether we rented or own (paid in full or via mortgage - even if paid in full, there are still taxes to pay on the property).

 

To us, the key is how much are we spending to own our home? While the bank was ready, willing and able to loan us what amounted to a mortgage whose payments would equal about 30% of DH's gross each year, we opted to purchase a home that costs us about 20% of DH's net each year and that 20% includes our taxes and insurance. Sure we could have financed more, but why take the risk? As it is, we're ahead on both mortgages (we did finance 100%) and now have 24% equity in the house after less than 5-years (we're over-paying our mortgages)....our second will be paid in full in the next few years and the primary should be done in the next ten.....if we'd financed more, we'd pay for the life of the loan and get nowhere for savings and other goals we have - financing less means we can pay earlier and be debt-free (except taxes) earlier. I'd much rather do that than pay off someone else's mortgage and not own at the end of the final payment!

[DawnM]

We really, really want to have NONE, but we do have a mortgage and unless we move or increase our income, we will have it for the next 14 years.

 

Although downsizing stinks, we are considering selling, buying less, and paying it off within 5-7 years. We are looking at kids in college in about 6-7 years and really want to not owe money.

 

Dawn

Edited December 6, 2010 by DawnM

[DawnM]

I get what you are saying and I think it is fine if that is what you want to do, but I think the maintenance fees are misleading. This might be what the DEALER recommends at dealer cost, but we have never, ever paid anywhere close to that for maintenance on any of our cars for the first 100K miles. In fact, we have paid nowhere near that for the first 150K miles.

 

Also, even though they are including free maintenance, does that include parts or do you still need to pay for parts? Usually there is some sort of catch in there.

 

Still not a bad deal, but I would want to read all the fine print.

 

http://editorial.autos.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1088569

 

Dawn

 

I me most debt is unnecessary, but some debt is acceptable, some just absolutely makes sense and some is even perhaps necessary.

 

An example for what I consider "makes sense" debt:

 

DH needed a new car for a while - I've been setting aside money to use as the down-payment + his trade, and we'd pretty much decided we'd get a new car when we could pay it in full, or when it was obvious his car was reaching "sponge on wheels" stage. Well, sponge on wheels motivated us to start looking recently and DH found a certified used car that would meet his needs (he needs AWD to get to work in the winter) that was within our budget....the problem was we were short by about $8,000 to pay it in full and DH would need to cash-out a bonus check to himself from his office to pay it in full.

 

Our accountant told us to finance it - the taxes on the $8,000 were going to mean we needed to actually cut a check for $12,000 to have that as the net remaining to use for the car....plus he added the manufacturer was offering all scheduled maintenance on certified used cars purchased & financed up to 100,000 miles - the value of the maintenance far exceeded the interest payments if we paid over the life of the loan and didn't pay it early since the financing was 0.9%.

 

Our apples to apples comparison (thank you CPA) was:

 

$12,000 ---> $4,000 to taxes ---> $8,000 to pay car in full

 

Cost to pay in full = $4,000

Cost for scheduled maintenance, 4-years = $2,500 (est.)

Cost to pay in full and maintain car, 4-years = $6,500

 

Finance $7,500 ---> Full Payback, 48-months = $7,632

 

Cost to Finance = $132 total interest, 4-years ($159/mo, 48-months = $7,632)

Cost for Scheduled Maintenance, 4-years = $0

 

The monthly payment doesn't impact our monthly budget, so to us the above comparison made this a no-brainer.

 

Some things though, to us, make no sense to finance - things like televisions, appliances, etc., using credit cards to pay for things unless you can and will pay the balance each month and not have interest charges.

Edited December 6, 2010 by DawnM

[creekland]

I'm ok with a mortgage to have a nice farm for my boys to have grown up on (which also has increased in value in spite of the current economy, so it's been a good investment too). I do not care to spend our extra cash paying it off early as I'd rather use that cash for "fun" experiences with our boys when they are young and living with us. We've taken vacations that mean far more in memories to us all than having our farm free and clear would be. Once the boys are gone, then hubby and I can take the extra cash and put it toward the mortgage to finish it off. There's only <13 years left on it anyway and it's at low interest.

 

I'm also ok with the boys taking on college debt, but not higher than what can be realistically paid off in a reasonable amount of time based on their future earnings. Therefore, that amount changes based on variables.

 

In the past we've had vehicle debt, but we don't now. Whether we take on more in the future or not will depend on the circumstances of the time.

 

I would never take on debt for a big screen TV or other "stuff."

 

We are part of a Health Sharing group that should avoid medical debt.

[KidsHappen]

For a modest home, a modest car, and a modest education.

 

I'll just say ditto. :iagree:

[*Inna*]

None.

 

After being in a debt bondage for a few years, I'd say that nothing is worth it.

[LisaKinVA]

Reasonable Mortgage... medical bills. We will probably help our kids out at school with some expenses, but there is no way we could afford everything. We are almost done with *known* medical bills, hopefully there will be no more biggies coming our way any time soon.

[AuntieM]

In addition to a modest mortgage, orthodontics for my kids. I consider it an "on my watch" item that I don't want them to have to wait for or pay for when they are older.

 

The cost of primary/secondary education. I will help with college as much as possible, but I don't plan to go into debt for it myself.

[delaney]

I am okay with a mortgage, 1 car loan so that we always have a predictable car, any student loans that we may need to take for the kids, and of course medical if we needed to incur them. A temporary debt for a family trip to Hawaii would be okay too:D

[LidiyaDawn]

I suspect that some would consider it a foolish debt, but one that we have right now and consider 'worth' it is for our new vehicle. This is the first time in our lives that we've owned a vehicle that isn't some old clunker that we might as well have never even had because we couldn't rely on it most of the time. We bought a brand new truck right from the Ford dealership (first time we ever qualified for something like that too!) and it feels AWESOME. :D

 

Yes, we'd like to own a house some day too (we're renters) but hey, one "never thought we'd have this" thing at a time.

[BigMamaBird]

A mortgage is acceptable debt to me because I want to have a safe, permanent home for my family. In our family, a car payment is also acceptable because we want reliable, private transportation, we always buy used though. That's all for me.

[Sandra in FL]

Only home mortgage - 4.25%

[BMW]

My husband has a mortgage (I married him and it came with him).

 

I now have a debt for a vehicle.

 

Most people will totally not agree with that.

 

I understand.

 

But, my vehicle is worth it because I have an ex-husband who the children are required to see and be picked up from and that requires driving out of town 100 miles each month. I had NO savings to replace my mini-van with. The vehicle I was able to "get" had one owner and 25,000 miles on it and meets our needs. It's not fluffy or extravagant, but it is costly. I hate that. But, I love my children. I miss the ones who live with their dad. Some days I have to get in the car and drive to see them and hug them and smell them and spend a few hours with them because I am their mom and I miss them. Can't put a price tag on that.

[RahRah]

I get what you are saying and I think it is fine if that is what you want to do, but I think the maintenance fees are misleading. This might be what the DEALER recommends at dealer cost, but we have never, ever paid anywhere close to that for maintenance on any of our cars for the first 100K miles. In fact, we have paid nowhere near that for the first 150K miles.

 

Also, even though they are including free maintenance, does that include parts or do you still need to pay for parts? Usually there is some sort of catch in there.

 

Still not a bad deal, but I would want to read all the fine print.

 

http://editorial.autos.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1088569

 

Dawn

 

The fine print is pretty clear - all factory-recommended maintenance at no charge for the remainder of 100,000 miles or six-years from original purchase date (September 14, 2008...so through September 13, 2014), whichever comes first, as well as specific items that require replacement due to normal wear and tear.

 

 

Engine Oil Services: $0

Inspection Services: $0

Wiper Blade Inserts: $0

Brake Pads: $0

Brake Discs: $0

Engine Drive Belts: $0

Brake Fluid Service: $0

That's the service contract.....the certified used 'protection' contract is the extended warranty that comes with the car purchase and has the same 6-year from original date of purchase or remainer of 100,000 miles, whichever comes first....if there is a major part or engine failure, we pay a $50 deductible.

 

Will we have spent more out of pocket for the services? I'm hard pressed to think we'd get the maintenance for less than $132 over the next three or four years ... not including the labor - brake pads for DH's car are $88 rear set and $98 front set, car inspection next year (and each year we register the car) is $50, oil change at the dealer is $95, wiper inserts are $40....all that adds up, so I think we'll save more than we'd spend if we did the maintenance out-of-pocket....basically the car isn't a cheap car to maintain, so to us it made sense.

 

But more importantly, our tax burden would have been significantly more on it's own if we opted to pay in full - we didn't have all the cash to buy outright without DH cutting an extra check to himself (so technically, while we have it in reality, it was and is remaining in his business account, thus not taxed) - the taxes we would have paid to take the money out of the business were the deal-breaker for us....financing was significantly less and the finance rate is miniscule.....if the interest rate were higher, we'd have looked at what it meant to finance versus pay the taxes to pay the car in full, ya know?

Edited December 6, 2010 by RahRah

[Sweetpeach]

I would love to be debt-free on my primary residence, however, we're a long ways away from that.

 

Worthwhile debt is leveraged money I don't pay for every month.

 

T

[jenL]

A mortgage and student loans, but within reason.

 

:iagree:

[Murphy101]

If it isn't a necessity, it's not worth the debt.

 

We have to have a home below or at least within our means, owning is less than renting for us.

 

We have to have a vehicle below our means for work and other travel, if we couldn't buy a reliable vehicle, we would get a small loan to cover the need and pay it off asap.

 

Medical. Not plastic surgery, but vital care.

 

There's a few other things over the years that have qualified. Broken furnace in winter needing repaired. Or a repair to get the only vehicle.

[gemrae]

A mortgage with a low interest rate while I have income coming in makes sense to me. I earn a higher rate of return on my investments than my home mortgage is, plus the home is (theoretically!) increasing in value. Not to mention the tax deduction, as long as that hold.

 

Having said that, I'd like to have the mortgage paid off by the time I quit working - in 15-20 years?

 

I have a small auto loan, much less than the car is worth.

 

I don't really believe in student loans. I worked my way through college and dd plans to do that as well, while living at home.

 

No credit card debt - although I did have $18000 in credit card debt due to lawyers/court costs during a custody battle many years back. What a relief to pay that off!

[scrappyhappymama]

I think that honorable debt is debt for an appreciating asset that is pretty needed, like a primary home, debt to take care of family, like medical bills for an indigent sibling, and debt to move forward, like education debt.

 

Profligate debt is entirely foolish.

 

Having said that all, I would rather minimize the debt even in the first categories. An emergency fund is crucial, as is saving for education expenses. But failing to attend college or help someone get well or provide a decent home is not good either. In those kinds of cases the debt is the lesser of the evils.

 

And I don't actually judge people who don't feel the same about this--these are my views of what is wise, and they are what I try to hold myself to, but they are really pretty unusual, and I know that.

 

:iagree:

 

And no, I am not for student loans. I think there are lots of other, albeit more painful, options available to students these days. And frankly, if everyone stopped taking out loans and playing the game - prices would have to decrease and the whole system would be more accessible.

 

I agree, to an extent. There are some degrees, especially advanced degrees, that very few people would be able to pay for outright, even working every spare hour. And some programs of study are so intensive that there are literally no hours left to work to contribute to the cost of school, much less living expenses. When my husband was in graduate school, I worked to support our family and pay for insurance, and loans paid for his schooling. They are a burden on us now, but he works in the public health field and is eligible for loan forgiveness after 10 years of payments. And now, he earns enough that I am able to stay home with our children and homeschool them. For us, it was a worthy tradeoff.

 

But the loans for our undergraduate degrees... I deeply regret.

[SquirrellyMama]

To me the roof over our heads is a "cost to live" - something we'd pay whether we rented or own (paid in full or via mortgage - even if paid in full, there are still taxes to pay on the property).

 

To us, the key is how much are we spending to own our home? While the bank was ready, willing and able to loan us what amounted to a mortgage whose payments would equal about 30% of DH's gross each year, we opted to purchase a home that costs us about 20% of DH's net each year and that 20% includes our taxes and insurance. Sure we could have financed more, but why take the risk? As it is, we're ahead on both mortgages (we did finance 100%) and now have 24% equity in the house after less than 5-years (we're over-paying our mortgages)....our second will be paid in full in the next few years and the primary should be done in the next ten.....if we'd financed more, we'd pay for the life of the loan and get nowhere for savings and other goals we have - financing less means we can pay earlier and be debt-free (except taxes) earlier. I'd much rather do that than pay off someone else's mortgage and not own at the end of the final payment!

 

I understand what you are saying. The reason I don't want the mortgage and would take renting is more for the "up and go" possibilities. I'm not a "plant my roots" type of person. I would love the freedom to move.

 

Kelly

[SquirrellyMama]

Kelly, have you read Debt Free U, by Zac Bissonnette? There's a thread over on the college board on that book right now. He advocates what you plan to do.

 

I haven't read it. I'll go over to the college board and check out the thread. My kids are little still but I want to start planning early.

 

Kelly

[Danestress]

We have no debt apart from our home.

 

But theoretically, I would be comfortable with money making debt. In the sense that my family finances can be seen as a business, businesses sometimes take on debt. They borrow to build factories, for example. For my family, it needs to be smart debt, of course - not emotional debt, and certainly not debt that won't likely generate profits.

 

So I would keep a $10,000 medical debt with a very low interest rate and pay monthly installments if the money that I could use to pay it off in full were in an investment dependably paying 8% interest.

 

Let's say the interest rate on a 5 year CD were 8% (it's not!) and my home loan had an interest rate of 4%. If I did the math and calculated what a $20k Christmas bonus could yield if invested in that CD. If that amount were a good deal more than what 20K of mortgage debt was costing (taking into account the deductibility of interest on a mortgage) then I might maintain the mortgage debt because it's more profitable than paying it off and invest the money instead. Of course, most investments include risks, which is why I say "theoretically." You have to have reliable information.

 

But basically, I would not want a penny of debt that was for consumer goods or entertainment. I would tolerate medical debt if I had to. I would consider debt possibly "good" if it let me generate more income than the debt costs.

 

Student loan debt is a tricky thing because a lot of people think it will increase their earning more than it actually does.

Edited December 6, 2010 by Danestress

[Murphy101]

To us, debt is banking on money you don't have appearing in the future.

 

We are tremendously leery of doing that regardless of what it is for.

 

Truth we don't like to hear is that there are very, very few jobs where you never have to worry about being laid off, fired, outsourced, or whatever.

 

If you are one of the select few with that type job, yea you.:)

 

But for most people, or at least dh and I, to my mind it just doesn't make sense to get a debt you can't guarantee with realistic expectation of paying. For the most part, I can't think of any income/job with more than a two year expectation of prospects for the average employee. So other than a mortgage, I can't see my way to anything requiring I still owe on it two years or more later. And two years would be a big purchase, like a car or huge major surgery.

 

Otherwise dh and I have a policy that debt should be needs only and it shouldn't take longer to pay off a debt than create life. :) So the debt can't last longer than 9 months. If it would take longer than 9 months to pay off the furnace repairs, we'd have to seriously consider letting it wait and hope for a mild winter.

[TheAutumnOak]

We have a mortgage but sometimes I'd love to sell the house and rent just so we would have the freedom to pick up and go.

 

That is funny because we are trying to buy the home we are living in to have more freedom...I feel like you are forced to rent an apartment if you want to stay there...If you rent a house, the owners can at anytime force you to move because they are selling or whatever else...I want to be able to stay in a place without being forced to move...

 

I use to feel like you feel though...

[TheAutumnOak]

I would love to have no debt...We do not have credit cards and such, but I would take on a debt for a mortage (we are renting to own our house now), medical bills I couldn't afford, or necessary home repairs I couldn't afford (like our heat went or roof or something like that)...We are not at the point financially yet where we have enough saved to pay for everything that could come our way, so if an emergency happened, I would take on debt...

 

That being said, I am not taking on debt for children's educations, breast implants, new windows, or stuff like that...I will help the boys as best I can with shelter and food and such, but they will have to take out their own loans and be responsible for paying them...I will have to live with the small breasts God gave me...We will replace windows after we buy the house slowly and as we have the money...It takes way to long to get out of debt and turn things around, so I have to think long and hard before taking on a debt...

 

We drive our cars until they coast to the side of the road and buy another one used with whatever money we have on hand at the time to buy it with, so I wouldn't take on a car loan either...Unless the cars end up on the roadside too quickly and we are desperate ;)

[AnitaMcC]

A poster recently said she felt a mortgage was a debt worth having, as she could enjoy it with her children, and college debt was worth having, if it meant her children could go to a school both she and they felt comfortable with. What kind of debt is worth having for you?

 

None..

 

I really hate having debt and I wish we could get rid of it all. Most of it is gone but we still have mortgage, car, student loans, and medical. Once that is all gone then I will be relieved.

[AnitaMcC]

No college debt either. I expect that my children will need to take on some debt for their educations but we are not taking any on ourselves. We will support them in other ways - we help with tuition, they can live at home without contributing financially, we buy their clothing, etc.

 

Same here. We will not take out debt for our kids college. They can earn a good solid education without us putting ourselves in deeper debt. We are trying to get rid of our debt by the time we are 50... not add to it.

[ChristineW]

Both Dh's and my parents paid for 4 years of college so if needed we would take loans to put our kids through college--though the game plan is to pay for state school with cash. Grad school though or more than 4 years for a bachelors and they are on their own. Student loans and financial aid is easier to get for grad school students than undergraduates.

[Audrey]

None.

 

The amount of interest we pay on our mortgage makes me physically ill. I can't wait to pay the sucker off. I have encouraged my kids to attend the state university so they can live at home and pay as they go with our help. There is nothing we want badly enough to carry a credit card balance; if we can't pay it off at the end of the month, we don't buy it.

 

 

I couldn't agree more. Mortgages, while they enable you to purchase an investment that is usually worth more in the end, charge outrageous amounts in interest. Over the course of a mortgage, you could reasonably have paid nearly double the listed purchase price. And, that's not even mentioning the less than fair mortgages that have brought a lot of people nothing but grief in the past few years.

 

College is not worth the debt. Period. If you want to go, there are many ways to pay as you go and not incur debt. Think of it as gaining an education in stark reality as well as an education in your field.

[IsabelC]

We follow the "don't borrow for depreciating assets" rule.