Coming to terms with IT.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-14-2008
Coming to terms with IT.
17
Wed, 03-18-2009 - 12:47pm

I have been thinking about debt and the things I want in my life and I have come to terms with something. I will ALWAYS be in debt. I want a house & we need two newer cars. I can try the first car without debt but I doubt that will happen. Then we need to save for a down payment on a house and that will lead to more debt. And all this will happen in the next 10 years. I refuse to go with an old beater car because we live in the country and I don't want to risk breaking down anywhere on my own or with my kids.

So Debt, debt, debt. Unless there is a significant windfall in my near future(and that is not likely)......I am doomed to debt until I am in my retirement years. Even if I throw every red cent at this debt, which I wouldn't because I need to save for retirement and help with kids education, I don't think I could topple it for years, like 25 years.

I guess on the brighter side it would be secured debt, I still hate it.

Anyway. Depressed today. Hope to have my unsecured debt paid off in one year.



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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-10-2003
Wed, 03-18-2009 - 1:22pm

I'm sorry you are feeling down today. I know it can be frustrating (I was there yesterday).


I try not to look at the BIG picture. If I did I would probably curl up in the fetal position somewhere ;)


Getting rid of unsecured debt is a HUGE accomplishment, especially given that the majority of households carry revolving debt. Don't write that off so quickly. In terms of mortgage, the way I look at it is money I would be spending anyway (to pay rent) but I'm building equity in something that is mine. At the end of the day, even though I owe, its well worth it (and I am working on fast tracking the mortgage to have it paid off way sooner).


Cars, well thats a personal choice in terms of what you buy and how much you spend on them. I don't have a car payment. I worked like crazy to get mine paid off in two years. Its not hard to pay off a car when you divert all the money you WERE sending to unsecured-debt-but-don't-have-to-anymore-because-you-were-a-superstar-and-paid-it-all-off ;)


Bex -

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-14-2008
Wed, 03-18-2009 - 1:39pm

Bex,

I really needed that today. Thank you so much. I will keep going and I will make this happen!

This Board is awesome!!!!



iVillage Member
Registered: 03-17-2003
Wed, 03-18-2009 - 2:16pm
It is a sobering reality.

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-14-2008
Wed, 03-18-2009 - 2:56pm

I think if you meet the goals of:
saving for your retirement, saving some money for yours kids' education and not having debt by the time you retire, you are doing awesome. I have those goals, too. I think part of the problem is that all those goals are huge, and very long term. Therefore they are very overwhelming.

Don't beat yourself up over choosing to have newer cars. We make that choice, too. I am years away from needing a new car, but I think of it all the time. I try to convince myself that next time I will buy used. But then I think about how long my commute is, I travel a lot to see my family (all live out of town), I drive as part of my job and dealing with car problems adds a lot of stress to an already stressful job. So, I may make the choice to buy a new car next time, too. Hopefully I will have good luck and I will have lots of money ready to buy in cash or at least a good down-payment. But only time will tell.






iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2005
Wed, 03-18-2009 - 3:32pm

Hang in there.

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-01-2008
Wed, 03-18-2009 - 4:51pm

This is the way I sum up the debt of a house.

Norma


"Patience is the best remedy for every trouble"- Plautus


iVillage Member
Registered: 11-17-2007
Wed, 03-18-2009 - 4:58pm

Can I talk to you like a Dutch Aunt. At least half my married life which is a round 22 years. We never carried any debt or if we did it was never more then maybe 2,000

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Wed, 03-18-2009 - 7:07pm
At this point I can't envision myself living completely debt free for a long time. For now I'm focusing on the CC debt where they can change the terms whenever they want. If we can get rid of that things will be so much better. At least with secured debt, you generally have a fixed payment and an eventual end to it when you will own something outright. We have 16.5 years left on our current mortgage. If we don't move (which we very easily could in the near future) the house will be paid off when I'm 53 and DH is 57. We might be able to start paying cash for cars, but not while we're still paying off CC debt. Both of our cars are older and have a lot of miles on them, but we're going to try to keep them going as long as possible. Still, I don't see being able to pay cash for one for a long time. But hopefully, we'll have a better down payment and can finance them for a shorter time and maybe somewhere down the line we can do it. It think just getting rid of the CC debt will make a huge difference.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-25-2009
Wed, 03-18-2009 - 9:42pm

There is a lot of truth in what you said, but one thing has changed so rapidly is the cost of attending university, and with the disappearing well-paying blue collar jobs, one must have at least a bachelor's degree, if not an advanced degree, to get a reasonably well-paying job. (And depends on the subject, even some bachelor's degrees are not worth that much on the job market).

Talking to some older friends, and using your dress as an example, say forty years ago one might be able to work full-time at minimum wage for a summer and to pay for almost a year's tuition in a state school. These days one summer at minimum wage would not even come close to paying for half a term of tuition, lest an entire year. As a result the amount of student loan one carries gets larger and larger, and it becomes more difficult to become completely debt free.

I value, respect, and agree with many of your old-fashioned values, unfortunately things have changed so much, so quickly.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-17-2007
Wed, 03-18-2009 - 9:56pm

I respect your views also. But I do not agree with the collage thing totally. I know a lot of folks that make more then a collage grad. There are a lot of jobs out there that trade school would be a better option.

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