Debt Free!

stickyfiddle

As of 2 days ago, I am debt free for the first time since I stared uni 13 years ago. Granted I haven't done the mortgage thing yet but it's a very nice feeling. 

(apart from a credit card used only for airmiles and paid in full every month, which doesn't count).

CabbageCat

Congratulations on your Independence Day.

boogieman

Let the gassing begin. 

octatonic

Congratulations Sticky.
It is a good feeling, isn't it?

fretmeister

I purposely kept a tiny bit of my mortgage.

Couple of reasons - if I've got one, it's easier to get more money from the same bank if I need it, and because it acts as sort of an insurance policy - it prevents a particular type of fraud when someone claims to be selling your house or attaching a debt to it. Between the Land Registry and the bank I'll get notice if anyone tries that.

A few years ago there were several cases where people found out massive debts had been attached to their mortgage free houses. The scammers had run off with the loan money.

It all gets sorted out in the end, but I'd rather that not happen.

joneve

Sweet! Nice going mate. 

Mortgage not withstanding, we have about 8k of debt which we're not incurring interest on and chipping away at, so it will be a great day when we've finally got rid of it! We could pay a huge chunk off now, but would prefer to keep some money in savings in case we need it. 

fretmeister

In 6 years I'll have to find money for university fees for my eldest.

Good parent: I will find a way to pay, no matter what.
Bad parent: If she arses up her A-Levels then she won't be going....

Mmmmm

octatonic

fretmeister said:

I purposely kept a tiny bit of my mortgage.

I think mortgages are a bit of an exception when it comes to debt especially when interest rates are so low, the capital growth outstrips that rate and the debt it serviced by someone else.

I'm debt free except for the mortgages- I know that is a bit like saying I don't have any STI except HIV but in my mind it makes sense.

Grunfeld

Nice one!  It's good feeling. 

stickyfiddle

I've already put a deposit on a hefty bit of Bad Cat gas that should arrive in the next 6 weeks. I *am* passing close to Coda on my drive from Heathrow to Norfolk next week though...

FX_Munkee

fretmeister said:

I purposely kept a tiny bit of my mortgage.

Also the bank has to keep the deeds to your property instead of charging you to store them.

boogieman

fretmeister said:

In 6 years I'll have to find money for university fees for my eldest.

Good parent: I will find a way to pay, no matter what.
Bad parent: If she arses up her A-Levels then she won't be going....

Mmmmm

Start putting some money away regularly now or get a life policy on her.

If she gets in: you've got a head start on the debt.

If she doesn't: holiday, new car, gas fund!  

fretmeister

boogieman said:

fretmeister said:

In 6 years I'll have to find money for university fees for my eldest.

Good parent: I will find a way to pay, no matter what.
Bad parent: If she arses up her A-Levels then she won't be going....

Mmmmm

Start putting some money away regularly now or get a life policy on her.

If she gets in: you've got a head start on the debt.

If she doesn't: holiday, new car, gas fund!  

All in hand.

It's quite useful having a brother who is one of those evil bankers.

chrispy108

fretmeister said:

In 6 years I'll have to find money for university fees for my eldest.

Good parent: I will find a way to pay, no matter what.

Why? She might need a bit to live off but student loans will cover the fees.

DefaultM

Apart from the mortgage I'll be debt free in July 2018, and I'm never getting a credit card again. What was supposed to be a £2k spend paid off in 18 months turned in to £3.5k going on to a balance transfer after the 18 months.

jamiexsilver

At one point I owed roughly 20k to loans and credit cards, I seriously cannot explain the sense of joy when I paid the last payment off my consolidation loan I took out. Then a few years later I got 7k in ppi back, I can joke about it now that my irresponsible lending as a young un helped to get the deposit for my house.

fields5069

I get pretty nervous about any debt over £1000, so apart from the mortgage and a store card which gets paid off every month (but is in effect giving 500-1000 free overdraft every month), all I've got at the moment is about £1000 left to pay off a 0% card. I know people put holidays on a card, and maybe we should start doing that as we've only been away recently because my parents paid for it, but it would worry me to have 3-4 grand on a card.

Of course, I'm an older bugger who got a half grant and excellent financial support from my parents so this world of student debt is completely alien to me.

LoFi

I hit that point about 4 years ago (again, excluding mortgage) - I was pretty much there when I bought my place 6 years ago, but solicitors, buying furniture, etc set me back a bit again. Not sure exactly when it happened - just noticed one day that what was left in my bank at the end of the month was more than the total I owed to various people (at 0%). I'm actually still in that state - I have a couple of grand on a credit card, but it's at 0% and I'm getting 3% on my current account, so no point in paying it off.

It's a nice feeling - knowing that when I buy toy X, it's with money I have, rather than money I'm planning to earn in the future. (That said, if I were to buy anything significant, I'd try to get interest-free credit, simply because it makes more financial sense).

CabbageCat

I know I've said this before but I'm completely the opposite to Octatonic. I didn't consider myself debt free until the mortgage was gone. If I owe someone money (or favours or stuff) I am in debt.

fretmeister

chrispy108 said:

fretmeister said:

In 6 years I'll have to find money for university fees for my eldest.

Good parent: I will find a way to pay, no matter what.

Why? She might need a bit to live off but student loans will cover the fees.

I don't want her starting her working life with a shit load of debt.

DefaultM

Luckily my student loan was only about £6k and it will be paid off in 2018. I can't imagine £9k a year, especially for the same course I did because it was completely worthless.