Mortgage values are fine, property values are in the toilet.

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I'm sick of .sig files

According to these folks the actual debt per citizen in California is around 10k

http://www.usdebtclock.org/state-debt-clocks/state-of-california-debt-clock.html

Other websites will probably have different numbers.

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I'm sick of .sig files

So you are living like our grandparents?

If you don't have the cash for it you can't afford it. Quoted from my grandmother.

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86 300SDL. 250,xxx on #14 Head. One eye always on temp gauge.. Cruising towards 300K

Debt used intelligently for personal needs is usually a requirement when first starting out especially. As a way of life continuing on that treadmill is not the best ideal.

Using debt to make money is often usable but there should be no personal gaurantees. Using debt for quickly depreciating assets is really questionable other than once again when you are just starting out.

Instead buy that type of asset after the heavy depreciation is done. Many items out there a month old only realise 50 percent of their initial cost. Yet they have 99 percent of their usable lifespan still existing. Finding them when the need is there is sometimes a problem.

Far too many couples break up at one point or another. The official rate of breakups is fifty percent or better I think.

Debt becomes so inhibiting that one of the largest factors in breakups is financial in nature. Plus when it is all said and done both parties may go their separate ways with basically nothing. After all they never really owned much of anything when they were together. It was just a debt driven lifestyle. You can basically have the same lifestyle but paid for just by using a little common sense.

The now very old method of paying yourself first is in my opinion more important and valid than ever. Or at least no less so.

In the topsy turvy world of US finance . . . you need a good history of debt to obtain a credit score . . . which provides access to more than just a mortgage or car loan.

I must be doing something wrong..........

I only owe about 2 kilobucks......

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Palangi

2004 C240 Wagon 203.261 Baby Benz
2008 ML320 CDI Highway Cruiser
2006 Toyota Prius, Saving the Planet @ 48 mpg
2000 F-150, Destroying the Planet @ 20 mpg



TRUMP .......... WHITEHOUSE
HILLARY .........JAILHOUSE
BERNIE .......... NUTHOUSE
0BAMA .......... OUTHOUSE

I only owe about $19k maybe a bit less on student loans. I'd pay it off but the interest rate is so darn low it just seems like a shame to waste the money.

OTOH I have no issue borrowing to invest in land.

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2006 CL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2026 Genesis GV70
2007 Tiara 3200

Plus your share of the national debt.

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags

Is that accurate? I mean, if you were to buy a bunch of mortgages from lien holders in AZ of FL, would you offer as much now as you would have 4 years ago?

I have always tried to live that way. I got that from my dad. He taught me the value of hard work, good savings habits, and the value of high net worth versus just high income (with expensive tastes). I did have a mortgage for a long time, but I paid it off as quickly as I could. Besides that, I have always paid cash for cars, took good care of them, and kept them as long as I could.

Since I have also been very fortunate to have good health and no catastrophic, unforeseen personal disasters in my life, I've managed to get to this point debt-free. I also was fortunate to have a great job that had almost unlimited earning potential for most of my adult life. So, I saved most of what I made and tried to spend as little as possible. I don't feel like I've really done without anything I really wanted and certainly not without anything I actually needed.

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

Borrowing for appreciating assets is okay. That would be things like real estate (though obviously not in a super-heated RE market such as the one we recently passed through). Borrowing to invest in yourself, like for an education, is okay, too, as long as you keep it within reason (Do you really need to gat to Harvard?!).

Yes, I have borrowed money for other things, but never unless I already had the money to pay for the thing itself first. If I could use somebody else's money for less than I could use my own, I did it. (0% car loans, etc)

I use credit cards for convenience, but pay the balance every month. I'm probably not one of Citi Banks favorite customers, but that's okay. I can live with that.

Doing without things I think I'd like to have has not been nearly as hard as having to pay back money for crap I bought impulsively, later regretted, and is now falling apart even though I might still be making payments.

None of this ever seemed radical to me until I began looking around to see how many of my friends and neighbors lived.

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

I was thinking more along the lines of this...If I borrowed 100k to buy a house a few years ago, I'd still pretty much owe a 100k today. The value of the property however is in the toilet.

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I'm sick of .sig files

Yahoo should have done an indebtedness poll on the interweb where everyone paid cash for everything, only uses credit wisely and is completely debt free!

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“I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy, He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life.” - donald trump Source

Personal debt isnt the issue for you guys in the USA at the moment. Its public debt that is spiraling out of control.
Its been a case of "live within your means even if you have to borrow to do so" for too long.
The last thing that is needed is for the USA to end up like some of the EU countries.
If you dont have the money, leave it on the shelf !!

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Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club group

I no longer question authority, I annoy authority. More effect, less effort....

1967 230-6 auto parts car. rust bucket.
1980 300D now parts car 800k miles
1984 300D 500k miles
1987 250td 160k miles English import
2001 jeep turbo diesel 130k miles
1998 jeep tdi ~ followed me home. Needs a turbo.
1968 Ford F750 truck. 6-354 diesel conversion.
Other toys ~J.D.,Cat & GM ~ mainly earth moving

^^ Yes, Mommy.