WOOT! 100% Unsecured Debt Free! 1st time in 10+ years. - Page 3 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Botnst · #31 10-08-2008, 07:24 AM

Congratulations Swamp!

I have about 4 yrs left on my mortgage then I'll be eligible for your club membership.

B

SwampYankee · #32 10-08-2008, 07:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graplr

Awesome Swamp, absolutely awesome. I remember about a year ago talking about debt and you weighing in on it. Way to go!

I have payed off 15k in the last 10 months and I have about 19k to go then I will be 100% debt free. My goal is 1 year from now. One credit card and one loan...I can see the light!

Thanks, Graplr! Awesome job and keep it up, that's some aggressive reduction! The satisfaction, and relief, is every bit as great as you think it will be.

SwampYankee · #33 10-08-2008, 07:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tankdriver

Nice work.

Thanks, tank!

SwampYankee · #34 10-08-2008, 07:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

Thats sometimes a very good idea, a local bank is doing them for 4.5%. Use the HELOC to pay off all the high interest debt, and now you have just one payment, with less interest, so if you keep paying what you were it eats the principal fast! Just can't go rack up the debt again.

Good to hear Swamp!

I will owe just under $20G's when I get out of school. If I can still sell houses I'll have to sacrifice one deal to kill it.

Thanks, Hattie. I was one of the fools who did a refi + cash back, early on in my financial excavation, to pay down my debt only to rack it back up again. I've still got plenty of equity but I'm tired of loans and the process in general, even if it might expedite the matter. I'm probably just going to double or triple the payments and pay it off early.

And trust me, there is no danger racking it up again!

SwampYankee · #35 10-08-2008, 07:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 732002

Well done!

I would pay off the 10% car loan rather than putting extra
payments on the mortgage. Mortgage interest should be lower
plus a tax deduction.

Save emergency money.

401K vs mortgage: I would add more $ to the 401K than mortgage, after
paying off the car and emergency savings.

Thanks, 73...!

That's my line of thinking right now. I'm really just tired of loans.

I upped my 401k contribution to 8% (the company matches up to 4%) figuring I wouldn't really notice it too much since a bigger chunk of that paycheck will be staying home now (and it's probably the time to buy low to sell high

). Once the van is paid then I can really tackle the mortgage.

SwampYankee · #36 10-08-2008, 07:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kerry

Well done. Nothing like being debt free. It's liberating not to have a lease on your future labor.

Thanks, kerry! Very true, even if it's only a recent sensation for me. Now the only lease payment I'll have is the first 4 months of the year for the taxmen.

SwampYankee · #37 10-08-2008, 07:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Botnst

Congratulations Swamp!

I have about 4 yrs left on my mortgage then I'll be eligible for your club membership.

B

Thanks, Bot! But I wish I was eligible for your club membership! I'm nowhere near where your at, I'm only unsecured debt free (still have one more car loan and a mortgage to go). I'm hoping to get on track about where Chad is now, 14-15 years until I get rid of that mortgage payment. Maybe sooner if the wife ever goes back to work.

732002 · #38 10-08-2008, 10:23 AM

http://buildingequity.blogspot.com/2007/04/401k-vs-extra-mortgage-payment.html
"401K vs. Extra Mortgage Payment
If you find yourself with some excess income these days, you may be wondering whether you should put more money into your 401K or pay off your home mortgage faster.

Which is better?

From a purely financial perspective, if you have a low, fixed mortgage rate you are better off putting money into your 401K account. There are 2 reasons for this:

Any extra money you put into your house will have already been taxed. That means that your money has already lost 20% of its value before you are able to use it to pay down your mortgage. 401K contributions are pre-tax, meaning the money goes into your 401k account before any taxes are removed from your paycheck.

Your 401K will likely earn more than what you pay in interest on your house. Let's say your mortgage rate is 6%. Even at a conservative 8%, your 401k will out-earn what you pay in interest by 2%."

I know earning 8% on your 401K seem like a fantasy right now.

Mistress · #39 10-08-2008, 10:25 AM

I am really proud of you, not many people can say that dude. Just make sure it stays that way.....

Hatterasguy · #40 10-08-2008, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SwampYankee

Thanks, G! I also came to the realization that I'm "only" 7 years away from kid #1 ostensibly going to college

and I'd better get myself out of the hole before I started digging that one. Then #2, don't know what the future holds for #3 but won't rule out anything, then #4.

It feels good even if only temporary.

Our house will see some long-delayed attention, too.

Talk up the Navy! Thats what my dad tried, and it didn't quite work.

Or the Coast Guard Acadamy...

Things are cheap now, if the interest rate on your mortgage is low I'd pump more into the 401k and maybe buy some good stocks. Like GE, Toyota, etc. Companies that are going to come out of this strong. Thats my 2 cents.

Dee8go · #41 10-08-2008, 10:28 AM

I hope to have my mortgage paid off in a couple of years. Unfortunately, it will be because I have sold the house. I have high hopes for the one after that, though.

WVOtoGO · #42 10-08-2008, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mistress

I am really proud of you, not many people can say that dude. Just make sure it stays that way.....

What she said.

Congrats on a tough job well done.

Keep that energy up and start putting some away. The more of that you do, the far better you’ll feel about a lot of life’s issues. Not just money ones too.

There are far greater comforts brought via financial freedom than you’ll ever imagine.

Hats off to ya Swamp. Good job.

rs899 · #43 10-08-2008, 11:46 AM

That is wonderful- great news. I wish everybody could do this.

Quote:

It does feel good, but there is a bittersweet aspect to it when I think of all the money I essentially pissed away.

If it makes you feel any better, you might well have put a lot of this "pissed away" money in the market and lost it , as I did. Lately I have been thinking" Why didn't I run up a credit card debt and live large, instead of being so frugal as not to have had squat all these years". Why did I forgo cable TV, cellphones, new cars, grow my own food? I never had any debt- haven't bought a car on a loan in 20 years , my mom holds our mortgage. Why do I feel so raped and violated these days with regard to a goodly piece of my retirement savings that has gone down a rathole?- but that's another story.

Rick

Plantman · #44 10-08-2008, 12:09 PM

Good job!

It motivates me more to hear of people doing that. I'm working on a 2(hopefully) or 3(more realistic) year plan to do the same.

FWIW, stop worrying about the past mistakes, and enjoy your new freedom, you deserve it.

Kudos!