I had managed to stay debt free the last 12 years. House paid, cars, trucks and other vehicles paid for. March 8th I bought a second house, nothing fancy 80K. I was able to pay over ½ cash and plan to pay the balance off by the end of the year. Then I will have more funds for my toys. O yea the new house is about a 70 minute drive from The Gap, coincidence? Maybe

 

ugh, I work as a debt collector. About 70% of the people I call are idiots, the other 30% have medical bills. I feel sorry for them. Healthcare in this country is outrageously expensive.

 

Anyone see sicko? It touched on a lot of good points and simply reminded me of how messed up our medical system is. Poor=death? WTF

 

Canada FTW!

 

debt free,no cc.
ive started saving for a house considering,ill only be able to save money when living with my parents.

 

car payment, and small cc, but i lucked out, and don't have to worry about paying for school until 9 months after i graduate

 

No debt, yet! Pay phone bill. Got the miata and toyota pickup for free, all upgrades and toys I pay for, gas I pay for and Insurance I pay for. Honda odyssey FL350 (small upgrades) got for free, have to pay a small insurance fee to ride on gov't land. Living with parents and paying for college with fasfa and out of pocket money (and get re-imbursed from both of my jobs) as well as free benifits from UPS (health, dental, the works.)

Got it pretty good right now.

 

I got a little bit of credit card debt that I carry but generally less than a thousand ... I think its like $500 right now.

 

I guess there's one good thing about being old enough to father half of you guys.

I'll keep a mortgage as long as I live. No reason to pay a house off at todays rates. Just sold my Forester and that's the only payment I had aside from credit card bills that get paid off every month.

I'm married though so I'll always owe at least half of what I make.

Frank

 

I've been in debt for the past 10 years, mostly back taxes. Long story. I'm about 6 months away from being out of IRS debt. I've had CC debt for about 6-8 years which will be paid off in about 6 months too. Once I've paid all that off, i'll have an extra $800 in my pocket/month which is about $800 more than what I've got now.

Got 1 car payment (out of 4 cars) and a mortgage. I won't complain for a second about the mortgage because I love being a homeowner.

 

yeah, except the part they don't tell you is that in cuba you have to live in fear to get it, and in canada you have to pay a 50% tax rate to get it.

mike moore should die in a puddle of his own vomit. propaganda FTL...

 

for the most part, but he softening market worries me as I have two houses without a ton of equity. Temporary I guess....

 

Best time of my life was when I was 18, lived at home and made $14 an hour and was on my parents insurance. I had no bills to speak of and took home about $480 a week. Then I go a cell phone, my own apartment, a car payment and a credit card within six months, it's eight years later and hasn't been the same since.

 

every canadian I have ever spoken to has been very happy with their healthcare system. they find ours horrifying.

 

You don't think you're at a 50% tax rate?

There is of course:
Federal Income Tax
FICA
State Income Tax

But also:
Property Tax
Sales Tax
Gasoline Tax
Utilities/Communications Tax
Vehicle Registration Fees
Various Licensing Fees (Drivers, Marriage, Fishing, Hunting, Pet etc.)
Cigarette Tax
Parking Meters
Toll Roads

It adds up to be about 50% of your income for the entire middle class.

An expanded list...

 

I was going to say, my tax rate is about 33-35% of each pay check. Thats not counting any tax I pay on the other general **** I buy and NOVA where I pay a tax every year just to own a car I paid for.

In general I carry a student loan debt, which is a given if you spent a lot of time in school. Otherwise I try to carry no debt.

 

dude I wish I *only* paid 50% to taxes.

 

I'm 36, two kids, we owe 15K on our mortgage but that's it. But the wife wants to buy a nicer house in the "city" (about 40K people). And I was going to get another car when it was paid off... I keep telling her that most of the rooms in the trailer do not have leaks in the roof but all she does is complain.:gay:

 

Even at 50% (which it isn't) I'll take it. How many people are finacially ruined in your country because they or a family member got sick? How many in Canada?

No system is perfect.

 

on our trip to canada last year we asked a few people how they liked national health care. the general idea I got was that it's a lot like jiffy lube. quick, cheap, and half-assed. maybe i exaggerate a little.

of course they will probably cover you as a foreigner and are injured while you're there. so that's cool.

I carry some credit card debt, but all way under 10% APR. every time I get a "3.9% for the life of the balance" offer, I take it. and then about 4K in student loans that are slowly being paid off. no kids, no house, no wife yet. Did take 7 months off to "find the right job" so that didn't help.