Debt Free?

Discussion in 'Back to Basics' started by larryinalabama, Nov 27, 2011.


  1. larryinalabama

    larryinalabama Monkey++

    How many of you are Debt Free or trying to become Debt Free as part of your survival preparation plans.

    I was debt free for 15 years, but had to borrow montey to keep my house after my recient divorce. I dont know weather to downsize or struggle throught the next 10 years. I have alaways struggled and managed but I really think radicle economic will happen in the US within the next 7 years.

    I think being debt free in a SHITF senario would be a huge blesssing.
     
    tacmotusn and Alpha Dog like this.
  2. Alpha Dog

    Alpha Dog survival of the breed

    We are working on it have been douuble paying on our vehicle will be paid this year two years early also paying out from under other bills and cutting some extra to have a little more left for preping. I think as you do it would be an advantage to be debt free when SHTF. The econemy is getting closer and closer to falling and the less you have to pay out the easier it will be to stay close to normal living without extra worry.
     
    larryinalabama likes this.
  3. larryinalabama

    larryinalabama Monkey++

    Living a simple county life is priceless, I wouldnt trade my lifestyle for a mansion in any city. THe court system and xwife raped me. I could have litrally robed a bank, as long as it wasnt at gun point and come out way better than getting married. Im trying to figure out what else I can cut loose to regain my debt free status. I really think the economy has already failed and things will contuniue to get woorse.
     
  4. beast

    beast backwoodsman

    been free of all debt but the every month normals (power, phone, web, insurance)
    since 2001, plan to stay that way and am workin on gettin rid of the monthlys
    when i buy a vehicle, its used and i pay cash, dont need pretty, just dependable
    same goes for appliances, in fact i dont buy hardly anything new
    today i got a brand new used queen sized bed for $10
    looks new to me :D
     
  5. melbo

    melbo Hunter Gatherer Administrator Founding Member

    We went 100% debt free in 2008.
    No credit cards - no auto loans.

    We also are on a zero based budget where we 'spend' every dollar of the paycheck into the budget. We use a system of envelopes for all moneys that get pulled as cash.

    When a kids birthday or Christmas comes around, we just go to that envelope and like magic, the budgeted amount of cash is sitting there. It took a long time to get on this system but I can't imagine living any other way. I don't think my wife and I have had a single argument about anything since '08.

    Perhaps I'll scrub some numbers out of my budget spreadsheet and post it someday.
     
  6. Alpha Dog

    Alpha Dog survival of the breed

    I went through the same thing a few year back, and I agree I would never trade country life.
     
  7. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    Been Debt Free since 1992, and No divorces. That helped a lot. Saved my money, Invested VERY conservatively, and lived within my means, ALWAYS.
    Life is always better, when you live this way.... .... YMMV...
     
    tulianr, Sapper John and Pax Mentis like this.
  8. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Monthly bills only. I can make it, I think, if propane stays reasonable.
     
    Sapper John likes this.
  9. melbo

    melbo Hunter Gatherer Administrator Founding Member

    Oh yes, I have monthly cost of living bills, just not paying interest on anything or carrying any weight on my shoulders.
     
    Sapper John and ghrit like this.
  10. RightHand

    RightHand Been There, Done That RIP 4/15/21 Moderator Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    Been debt free for at least 20 yrs, maybe more. If I don't have the cash, I don't buy. Only interest I ever paid was mortgage interest. I'm what my friends call "fiscally conservative"
     
  11. beast

    beast backwoodsman

    debt free is the way to be, if everyone in america was so
    the govt would have a better clue on how to be the same
    and the fed reserve and stock markets couldnt control us
     
  12. weegrannymush

    weegrannymush Monkey+

    I have been in constant debt since the day I got married in 1953. Managed to clear the debt about thirty years ago amid great rejoicing - however, three weeks later I got a huge gas heating bill because something had been wrong with the meter and I had to borrow $3,000 to pay it, so I was back in debt again. I was never able to clear it again and in fact, it was added to considerably over time. However, when my daughter passed away in August, I found that she had left me an insurance policy on her life....bless her, anyway, she knew how much the debt bothered me and also she wanted me to have some extra security besides my pensions. So I have cleared my final debt, my MasterCard. After 58 years in debt (most of which was not my doing, certainly not because of spending on my part... mostly for emrgencies, car repairs etc.) I am OUT OF DEBT and have done some good with some of the money, for others, and now also have some money in the bank I would rather have my daughter back and I'd happily keep the debt but since the Good Lord didn't see fit to leave her with me, I am grateful to be debt-free at last. To paraphrase.....Thank God Almighty, I'm free at last!!

    Debt is a terrible thing, a dreadful burden. I was raised in a home where debt was considered absolutely sinful. There was a funny situation regarding a washing machine though. My Mum bought one on "hire purchase" and kept it a secret from my Dad who was away at sea at the time. The danged thing kept breaking down and when he eventually found out that she had bought the machine on time, he never let her forget that she was being "punished" because she had bought it on credit. I don't think she ever bought anything else ever again except by cash. Even the Bible weighs in against debt...it's a mug's game to be sure but it takes some of us a long time to learn the lesson and even longer to get out of the mess we are in!
     
  13. UGRev

    UGRev Get on with it!

    I am 50% there. But hell yes..digging out of this debt grave is one of my top priorities. I've completely stopped buying ANYTHING that I could not pay cash for. That includes things like car service. No cash.. no buy..
     
    gunbunny likes this.
  14. Seawolf1090

    Seawolf1090 Retired Curmudgeonly IT Monkey Founding Member

    My only debt right now is one small credit card (mostly for gas and travel), and my van payments. Keeping it manageable is the answer, if you have to carry it at all.
     
  15. mysterymet

    mysterymet Monkey+++

    We are trying to become debt free. We decided when moving to PA that we would get a much cheaper house so we could pay it off much faster. Once I unload my NY house we will be able to pay double mortgage on our new house. (relo company will buy it in January if we can't sell it) The company I work for kicks butt for taking care of their people when they move them.
     
    Alpha Dog likes this.
  16. larryinalabama

    larryinalabama Monkey++


    True words of wisdom Thank You
     
  17. ozarkgoatman

    ozarkgoatman Resident goat herder

    We had very little dept then I bought a sawmill, started making a little money then the economy went down the crapper. None I'm no where near out of dept but we don't buy anything on credit are paying more than we have to every month. When we get out of this hole I will never have credit again. I use to look at credit as a tool now I see it for what it is, which is enslavement.

    BWM
     
    larryinalabama likes this.
  18. beast

    beast backwoodsman

    a good sawmill can be a serious blessing after TSHTF
    dad has a nice one on the farm and im damned glad its there
    someone turned me on to an old hit or miss abandoned out in the woods
    gonna go check it out see if i can resurect it for sawmill power
     
  19. Pax Mentis

    Pax Mentis Philosopher King |RIP 11-4-2017

    I've been really lucky and we managed to get debt free in '98...2 years before our target retirement date for me.

    Within a month of my health insurance from my job ending, I had a heart attack that could have brought it all crashing down had I not had the incredible foresight (it's a joke people) to not only get my scrawny little butt shot off in November of '69, but spend the 18 months prior effectively taking regular showers in Agent Orange...so the VA (thank you taxpayers) covered that one. Needless to say, I was not without insurance when the next one came along and Medicare kicked in a couple years later. Shortly thereafter, the VA decided that the heart issues were AO related and bumped me to 100% service connected

    My wife retired a few years later and had slightly better timing , as she went into the hospital with what she thought was a respiratory infection and was diagnosed with lung cancer the week after her last day working...and 3 weeks before her insurance was to end (8 years later, she is still "clean"). We also discovered that she had been covered by CHAMPVA since I went to 100% but we had never read the literature.

    So many things went right for me that it constantly amazes me. Being one of the rare non-religious preppers, I can only attribute it to luck...but then, my father used to say that luck is the most important skill to have. We have inadvertently done so many things over the years at exactly the right time that I could never write an autobiography because it would just be too unbelievable...even a goodly number of our "mistakes" over the years have ended up being beneficial.

    (Pax knocks on wood)
    [peep]
     
  20. Alpha Dog

    Alpha Dog survival of the breed

    Another positive to being debt free is less paper trail the harder it will be for Big Brother to dig in to your biTness
     
    Pax Mentis likes this.
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