Quote:
Originally Posted by oil pan 4
I have realized that for quite some time now debt is the new currency.
But I tend to do my own thing and say F the trend a lot.
Got this crazy idea one day in 2008 when I owed $140,000 on a $120,000 house that this game is unwinnable and to keep doing this would be insane. So we got a house we could almost buy outright.
As a result I have no credit card debt, our house is paid off, we have no car payments, no rent. Just taxes.
I enjoy something most Americans under the age of "pensioner" never experience. That is not giving a large chunk of my income to ssmell bank.
|
The problem with debt is that it spends exactly the same as cash allowing people, and governments, the ability to spend beyond their means. That coupled with gradually reducing the nominal interest rates to zero over the last 30 years has encouraged overspending and deincentivized saving.
I envy where you are at and would likely be in a similar state if I weren't married. I had car payments once and hated it, paid cash for every car since. Credit card debt is usually zero. Debt on a house... well, that's another story. We're in the process of spending way more than I'd really like to get a home that will meet the needs of everyone in my family... Yikes!