(no subject)

[cyrano]

If I incur no further expenses, the plan is to be debt-free by... 2017.

Comments

[kirbyk.livejournal.com]

... Well, at least it's a date! You're not moving further into debt, for a change!

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Well, yes. So long as I don't need to buy a car. Or move. Which would probably entail buying furniture.
But yeah, at least there's a tunnel at the end of which I can eventually place light.

[kiras.livejournal.com]

Hey, you've got my Mum beat. That's something at any rate.

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but at least your mom got a degree (several?) out of the process. I'm feeling... like I managed to put myself fifteen thousand dollars in debt and failed at the same time.

[kiras.livejournal.com]

She has degrees, but never completed the program for which she's in debt. And that debt has something like TRIPPLED due to bad mis-management since it was incurred. Never ever ever EVER default on a student loan, folks! She finally let me start helping several years ago. I'm still sorting out the fallout. I had to build a Visio diagram just to get the sequence of loan transfers straight. I tell you, it could be a LOT worse.

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Wow. It's very hard to default on a student loan. I tried, through basically ignoring it and hoping it would go away, and moving a lot so they couldn't remind me. I failed.

[yukonsally]

Less than 10 years! Yay!

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Yay silver lining. (:

[sararainmaker.livejournal.com]

At one time in our society most people did not have debt, but it's obviously quite the opposite these days. One can not possibly buy a house with cash anymore, or really even a television. We have become dependant on loans and credit.

with that said... When I am 60 years old my mortgage will be though, but I doubt we'll live in this condo that long. 2017 isn't so bad :)

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Yeah. But in 2017 I won't have a degree or a house....

Actually, I just bought a television, not with cash but with a debit purchase which is a lot like cash.

[sararainmaker.livejournal.com]

:) neither will I, probably. will likely have to refi a few times. :D

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

Wow. Suddenly three more years on my auto loan doesn't seem quite as heinous...

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm afraid of what happens when my little 1991 Del Sol gives up the ghost. She's paid for!

[sararainmaker.livejournal.com]

Holycow! and I thought my 94 S-10 and my husbands 95 jetta were old :)

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

Hmm...contrary to popular belief, most cars that have been well-taken-care-of (i.e. religious about oil changes and checkups, any potential issues fixed right away rather than the whole cross-your-fingers-and-hope-it-isn't-life-threatening) will last you a goodly while. Sure, it gets more expensive to maintain as it gets older, but still cheaper than a car payment. So it might be worth the investment to have a mechanic you trust look her over thoroughly next time you go in for an oil change - look for worn or damaged parts, etc. You know what they say about an ounce of prevention...

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

I try to take her in quarterly for a full check up. (Right now it's more like six months.)

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

Understandable. Good luck, then. =)

[darth-snarky.livejournal.com]

Even if I manage to finish my bachelor's in 4 years, there's no way I'll have all my student loans paid off by 2017. And before 2017, I might buy a car/condo/go to grad school or something. So... not alone! And you're probably less likely to incur further expenses than I am.

But, anyway, by 2017 we'll all be living in Florida and paying off our Mexican bookies.

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Hee! I completely failed to make the Billy Joel connection.
And if you need crash space, I have friends in Florida. We'll totally put you up.

[fayroberts.livejournal.com]

Kudos!

Good luck with that, that's a brilliant thing, fella.

(My bank thinks I'll be out of debt with them by 2017 also, but I'm planning on it being about 5 years sooner... if, of course, I don't buy a house, a new(er) car (please don't die, little old Skoda, please don't die!), or anything else apart from food, medicine and rent, etc., and transport costs don't rise... and I never get paid any more than I do now... I don't think it's unfeasible, just hard work. Let's be debt-busting pals!)

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

I love this plan. Right down to 'please don't die, little Del Sol'. It's only $20.000 (which I think is roughly the equivalent of 35 Euros) so that's not such a hard goal, really. $2.000 a year.

[jeckcrow.livejournal.com]

You should see what home "ownership" is like. I think I can stop making payments around... 2037. :)

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Well yes, but then you end up with a 'home'. I don't know how property taxes compare to rent, but I think it must be nice to own the place you live.

[jeckcrow.livejournal.com]

Here's the big lie of home ownership. In the long term there are indeed benefits, but it's really a long term situation. In the short term, you're still effectively paying "rent", it's just called "mortgage", and if anything breaks, you pay to fix it out of pocket. Yes, you can make alterations to your home if you're feeling adventurous, or have more money than you know what to do with, but if you fail to make payments you can still be "evicted" like a renter. It's just called "foreclosure". So, short term, it's like a less good version of renting. Long term it pays off... Mostly...