For me I think marriage saved me from debt. I was thought it was no big deal to have a small amount of debt. My wife has taught me we should never be comfortable having debt outside of a house, car, and student loans.
My wife had some CC debt when we got married and I have a car note. We started working Dave Ramsey's "baby steps" in March 2010 and we will be debt-free (except the house) by June 2011. We will have paid off about 40K of debt in 15 months. Every extra penny we make goes towards the debt including all of my band/music money. I tell you what, we will NEVER buy anything we can't afford to pay cash for (besides a house) again. Especially cars. Car notes are the epitome of stupid. Never again.
Way way too much. I'm not in that last category, but it's still too much. My wife and I were nothing short of financial r****ds during and since college. We've finally put a stop to the stupid spending, but it's going to take us a while to dig out of it. We'd make progress in the past, only to have something come up that caused us to use the cards again beyond the point of being able to pay them off within that month. We've now cut them up except for one for emergencies which carries no balance. The others are getting paid off as much as possible every month.
It's about 3,000. We're still paying for last year's Hawaii vacation and some home repairs, but don't have that much to go to finish paying all that. The credit debt can be divided into "needs" and "wants." Everybody WANTs a big-screen TV, but no one EVER needs this. Get your "wants" only when you have cash to spend it, not when you have credit to use. I like how nowadays credit card statements tell you how long it will take you to pay a balance off if you're paying only the minimum (goes between 20 and 30 years) and how much you'd be paying in interest. NEVER pay only the minimum. Use common sense. I had A LOT of credit debt before I got married and didn't have any financial sense. Thanks to Mrs. Swoly and some major planning, I can enjoy nice things now, like my photography and other hobbies.
Put down <1k because, like a few ppl before me, I pay off my CC monthly. I do have a mortgage at < 5%, and I really don't mind paying it off as slowly as I can at that low of a rate, when I could be contributing more to my 401K and Roth.
Around $2,000 in credit card. I'm really trying my hardest to pay it off. Good thing I have $2,500 left on my car then I can finally be debt free by end of the year. I had a surgery that put me in a bit of debt but been paying it down ever since. It sucks but gotta do it. I also have mortgage/house bills/wedding rings to worry about but I split the bills with hubby. He doesn't have any credit card debt because he pay them off every month. He only has his tuition loan.
If you’re making 10% on an investment and you’re paying 6% on a new car note, you’re only netting a 4% return. And that doesn’t even take into account the depreciating value of the new car itself, which falls faster than the Rockets championship hopes after Yao Ming inevitably gets hurt again this year. (sorry, couldn’t resist) Why not pay cash for a 2-year old car AFTER it’s already lost half it’s value and make the full 10% on your investment instead?
I usually pay the credit cards off every month, but I occassionally carry a balance a short while to manage cash flows. It's a good thing when people realize they shouldn't abuse their credit and keep their spending under control. But, I see so many people overreact and take it too far in the other direction -- cutting up credit cards and insisting on not buying anything on borrowed money. Credit cards are very useful when used responsibly. And, if you need to buy something to facilitate making or saving money (with houses, cars and education being the primary assets in this regard), it's stupid to wait until you've saved for it. Interest is not the debil, negative NPV purchases are (whether you borrow for them or pay outright).
its a little over $2700 right now, although only $900 is mine (I let my mom use my card to pay off some bills). I pay $300 a month instead of the minimum of $55.
A few years back we were up to 35000 in Credit card debt. Now we have none. That was a great feeling. I have $120,000 in school debt but as a public service employee in 8 more years it will be completely forgiven with no tax consequences. We have a few thousand left on my car but that will be paid off in 3-4 months. I have always paid more than the car payment minimum. Looking to buy a house next year.
But if you use your investment to pay for/off the car, then you don't have that part of your investment money.
i'm lucky my parents scared me way back in the day regarding credit cards. i have 2, but one is just a backup for emergencies. i never leave a balance on the one i use. it's nice being able to build my credit and get the occasional $50 back in rewards...i love chase.
