christ-on-a-stick

Lady - A pure-luck combination of circumstances, parental goodwill and income from my second job

Circumstance: 8 years ago, BEFORE the housing boom, friends of my grandparents were looking to sell their 3b/b ranch house private party (read: no real estate agent which adds to the cost) 'cuz they had already bought a big house and needed to move quicklike. So while it had been listed at $225k I got it for $187.

My (grand)parents "gifted" us $50k for the down so the original loan was only $137k.

So the payment was under $1000 but I always paid at least $1500/month and sometimes a double payment, then every year at Xmas for about 5 years they gifted me $10k toward the principal.

Last year (December 2001 actually) I had finally accumulated a large chunk of change from my side work (literally saving EVERY PENNY of it for about 6 years) enough to pay that sucker OFF and have a little left over for my MINI

Long story short it would have been impossible if not for all the circumstances coming together (pre-boom price, private party sale, parental generosity and my willpower in saving all that ill-gotten booty instead of spending it!)

Shake

So ... unless you all are lying (which I don't think by the way), it would seem I win for having the most debt!

I used to be good, even after graduating with nearly $30k in student loans to repay, I saved enough during my 3-year military deferment to pay one (of the 3 loans I had) completely off. During that time, I also managed to put away a grand or two to help pay for my wedding. After that, lots of things happened. The Jeep we really shouldn't have gotten, and we're paying for it now with higher payments on our minivan. We also shouldn't have eaten out as much as we did. Also, I should mention that my wife spent nearly 3 years in real estate (a commission-only job) which hurt us as well - yeah, we got to write off a bunch on taxes and got big refunds, but those didn't help much. Actually, we did fine for the first couple of years we were married ... charged furniture and paid it off early! After my son was born, we realized things were getting WAY out of control, but we still thought we could recover. We were robbing Peter to pay Paul, tranferring balances and still charging. The truly amazing thing was that we were almost never late on a payment and almost always paid more than the minimums!

Early last year, we realized we needed help. We went to a credit agency for consultation. We were sure they could help us out. The woman told us we should seek legal counsel and consider filing bankruptcy. Let's just say our debt was well in excess of that $75k figure (I think it should probably have been $7.5k)! We were advised to stop paying our credit card bills (to show lack of ability to pay) starting several months before our court date. It got crazy with all of the phone calls ... thank the IPU for caller ID! So, we filed chapter 13 (they don't take any of our stuff ) and my wages are garnished (post-tax, of course ). We are allowed to send extra when we get bonuses, tax refunds (not this year unfortunately, though). We sent an extra $1,000 when my wife got her bonus earlier this year. I won't get one from my company 'til next summer ('04).

All of our credit cards are gone. All we have now is a debit card, which can be used like a credit card, but we have to get permission if something's going to run over $500. The nice thing was that while we were not paying our credit cards for those few months, it allowed us to actually start saving again, and get us to budget our money better.

Anyway, for your second poll question, cheetah, I'd say that if you're normally paying off any balances that you incur, it wouldn't be bad to take on a balance for a short time. Just pay more than the minimums each month! It'll actually do your credit some good to carry a balance briefly! Just pay it off on time, if not sooner. The crazy thing about my situation was that in spite of our huge debt, my credit rating was still quite high since we paid our bills on time.

lisarea

Due to extended un- and underemployment, my savings are pretty much kaput now, and I have a big fat couple hundred bucks on the CC that I haven't paid off for a couple of months.

Other than that, house. I don't even do car payments. I learned this from an old boyfriend: Decide how much you're going to spend on your car per year, minus gas and such, and do that. If you pick $500, buy a $300 car that'll run for a year. Or a $700 car that'll run for two. If the car starts costing too much, buy another one. With this policy, I've actually come out ahead for the most part. I got a $500 car that ran beautifully for about 5 years, with a minimum of repair bills. It helps that I take buses and walk and ride my bike when I can, of course. I would consider taking out a car loan for something very cool like a hybrid or a mint condition 1964 Thunderbird, but not for a boring regular car.

My dad actually bought HOUSES with cash, so by his standards, I'd be living on the edge.

On the furniture thing: My decorating ideal is the sort of upscale 50s bachelor look, sort of like Uncle Bill's apartment from Family Affair. Combined with minimal woodworking, restoration, and upholstery skills, this allows me to furnish my house just to my liking almost for free. You know all those giant square wood things you see in thrift stores with layers of fugly paint on them? Check the joints. Look inside the drawers and stuff. I swear they used to cut down one huge old growth oak tree to build a single desk. Terrible, horrible, decadent waste, with all the stunning center-cut pieces used for the backs of furniture and stuff, but it IS better quality than the new stuff, for the most part. And the $5 price tags don't hurt, either.

That's not to say that everyone should do this, because if they did, I wouldn't get all the good stuff. But I do think it's worthwhile to consider what you're going for and whether it's worth it to you.

SinEater

Not counting our mortgage or any consumer debt, between my University loans and my wife's school debt, we are about $200,000 in the hole.

Yes, that's 200 Stacks of High Society.

That's mainly my wife's Med school loans, BTW. After 4 yrs of Rutger's, 4 years of MCP/Hanneman U.(now Drexel U. Medical), 3 years of Pediatric Residency, 3 years of Neonatology Fellowship, we can finally start making payments.

That will be in July of 2006.


I Win.


~SinEater~

cheetah

Well so far, we have less than 10% of respondents being the "average." Does that mean infidels are better money-managers? That's what I'll say anyway! Sure, there could be some misreporting in that article and various other factors, but subjectively, I feel like the members of this community seem to show more common sense than the average person I know, and maybe that extends to money management. On the other hand, being totally unscientific, that's all just my opinion. Congrats to everyone here for being so thoughtful about their financial issues!

Daggah

Hehe....

I have exactly {$0.00} in debt right now.

No car payment, no house payment. I give my mother money every week, but it's not official.

Of course it helps that I'm 20.

Amen-Moses

The average merkin is ONLY 75,000 USD in debt???

I would have thought most merkins credit card bills would exceed that!

Amen-Moses

abe smith

I rent my Federally-subsidized studio apt. i do not own a car nor any other vehicle. My child is a man, husband , father; thoroughly self-sufficient. I own no credit cards, debit cards, charge accounts; have no mortgages, no loans to pay. Until my phone bill comes today or tomorrow, I have no yet-unpaid bills. My 2 pensions are banked to my checking acct every first of month; I always have more money there than I need. I have more discretionary income now than ever before in my life. My monthly transportation cost is $Eleven-a-month (for an allday everyday go-everywhere in my all-over area) bus pass. That cost may go up a few bucks shortly because my City & State are in money-trouble. I use no doctors and no prescription drugs. I almost never eat-out, except to throw a party when my near & dear visit. I do not take vacations = I can think anywhere. Subscribe to the 7-daily Boston Globe, Science News, and Time, all at laughably-low cost ("professional discount"); buy the Tuesday NYT. Buy about $100 of books a year = remaindered or secondhand. I wouldn't mind living in a cell; or in a tent in the woods, but doing the latter wd probably be more trouble than my present style.

Given all-this, money is not what It's about. If I could HEAR, I'd probably buy an occasional classical CD. Obviously all-this is more than you want to know.

NialScorva

$75k in debt not counting car and house absolutely blows my mind. I can't imagine doing that. I still have $2k in credit card debt from being unemployed last year, and it bugs me that I ran up that much. Everything else is student loans (which don't count since interest rates are indistinguishable from inflation) and car payments. Rent is what kills me. $1700 per month for my two bedroom in Tyson's Corner. Need a roommate soon.


Anyone looking?

Talulah

I have around $9000 in student loans and around $9000 left on my car loan. Also around $200 on a credit card but the bill hasn't come yet.