Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Following my own advice

wife and i have been trying to get out of debt and be good and do the right things but it was taking us forever. i was a financial adviser for years and i knew the right things to tell a client, but money is behavior, not math. we all know how to save money. but you have to DO the behavior to actually save it, etc.

so after several years of not much progress, our renter passed away while living in our small rental house in the city. we had to gut the whole thing and re-do basically everything, as she had let it get pretty nasty over the last year and a half since her health went downhill.

during the project we discussed ideas and decided we could get way ahead fast if we moved back into it, despite having much less room and being in a not so nice area.

so we listed our home, knowing the market timing was good. guy walked into our open-house and bought it within an hour. even offered 10k more than we asked.

we close on the 13th and this week has been a bit crazy...been 3 months of cleaning and fixing and painting and etc. every night after work and all weekend every weekend.

in short, i decided to take the advice i had been giving for years and live on less and accelerate our debt repayment.

with this sale of the house, we will wipe out more than half our debt, and it looks like 2 to 3 years in the little house will get us out completely. going from a 950 house payment to a 255 house payment, on the little 39k house i bought when i was single.

this is still the land of opportunity, and i am taking advantage of my opportunity. it also woke me up when corona virus hit and boss said 'you and you and you are not essential' and i ended up at home for 2 weeks. i worried like hell...how easily could he have said 'we are closing and you're unemployed' and i would have been in a very bad spot.

i don't make huge money as a QC manager, but i make enough that the two of us can be debt free in a couple years and then build our dream house in the country.

if i can do it you can too. rip off the bandaid and get 'er done. might be the best thing you ever do.

Will be nice to be able to have the freedom and flexibility of not owing anyone anything.

But I also am looking forward to leaving huge tips for a waitress or surprising a single mom or just leaving anonymous donations.

Make sure what side they vote before doing so. Lots of single mom's pull the anti-American lever.

And good luck with everything.

Thanks. Been a long road and I am willing to be uncomfortable for a couple years if it means freedom.

We run VERY little debt on depreciating assets (automobiles etc..) and zero debt on discretionary purchases (dining out, clothing, vacations etc.) but being debt free does not equal financial security. Trying to build real wealth without financing, for the average person, is going to be tough.
Wise investments financed with reasonable interest rates with good cash flow are rarely a bad idea.
A payment on a rental property that cash flows $8,000/year after expenses is a lot different than paying 25% interest on credit card debt spent on dining out and shopping sprees.

Dave Ramsey has misled a lot of people into thinking being debt free equates to being successful. It's not.

Most important lesson I've learned in life, is that that there's very few problems that hard work can't fix.
If you wake up in the morning broke, you probably shouldn't have been sleeping.

And fugg leaving big tips for waitresses and single mothers of unknown character, and emotional donations to manipulative charities. I'll invest in my children's futures. I might owe the bank, but I owe no one other than my family ANYthing.

To each their own. I am going to do what makes me feel good and what makes me free.

The people dave ramsey speaks to need to hear what he says. If they were capable of leveraging assets and day trading they wouldn't be short on the rent.

Good for both of you. Seriously. A man should live life as he sees it.

The best way help single mothers is with dollar bills, one at a time, tucked into a G-string. You can thank me later.

As long as he's wearing a mask.

Smart... glad for you

Thanks. Maybe my sharing the idea will help someone else as well.

The main tenets of Dave Ramsey's "teachings" are common sense.
Don't spend more than you make.....earth shattering.

If you're satisfied with living in a small house in a bad part of town, risking the safety of yourself and your family, have at it. I have no desire to do the 9-5, 40hr a week gig and give what little I have to some dope addict 40 year old tramp slinging hash at the diner. Life isn't a Rob Reiner movie.

What's dave ramsey have to do with me deciding to pay off the cars and student loan so I can use my earnings to live a better life?

Smart would've been not running up a bunch of debt to begin with. Not trying to be a dick, just being honest.

Agreed.

My personal life story proves different, jackmountain.

I have heard many times......"why would I pay off my house, car, and credit card when I can keep my investments, making more money".

Unfortunately.......those higher potential investments usually involve higher risk.
This last 6 months being proof.

That's just an excuse to keep spending anyway.

You can be debt free....and frugally invest.....if you use your brain.

Heard that around 50% of lottery winners file for bankruptcy, within 5 years. That's obviously a problem with money management.

Kicked out on my ear on my 18th birthday, by the step-mother. Both parents dead.

Bought my first house (at auction) at age 20 for $15,150. Paid it off in 2 years.

Got married.

At age 30, bought an 80 acre farm.......Paid off by age 32. Debt-free since age 32.

Bought a 120 acre farm at age 37......with my money. Still have 200 acres today.

The only chance the 5 son's had at latest-greatest namebrands, was Salvation Army and Goodwill stores.

I did pay their college tuition.......if the grades were kept up.

We buy vehicles, do not finance them. Prices matter when you withdraw the money.

Retired at age 58......wanted to at age 55. Living happily ever after.

Ramsey ain't all that, but he has cashed in on common sense.

Be smart.....don't be stupid. Manage your money. A lot like discipline with your fork.

You can invest and still pay down your debt.

Don't wait for that imaginary ship to come in. Heard plenty of those 'plans'.

DON'T PLAY THE LOTTERY!

It's apparent you lost a good lick selling your home. I've never known anyone that would pay $10k more than the asking price for something. I'm sure glad neither one of you advise me on how to make money. Getting out and staying out of debt was true freedom for us. This China flu hoax has put everything into perspective for those of us that live off of rental income. You can't retire and have debt you can't repay.

No we didn't lose a dime. We went 30k more than we paid 4 yrs ago and the guy offered more. And the appraisal was for the amount of the offer. So we did fine.

Lotta negative jerks here unhappy about my personal decisions lol

Glad I don't drag around such b.s. in my life lol

You make your money when you buy. 4 years ago the real estate market was a buyer's market, now it's a seller's market. I don't give a damn what you do, but you won't ever have anything with your thought process. The person that bought it will probably flip it and make $50k.