August 15, 2013
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Been there, done that, bought the tee shirt.
Dave Ramsey is my new hero.
I love his quote, “people spending money they don’t have to buy things they don’t need to impress people they don’t like” to sum up what happens when people allow themselves to indulge in their ‘high credit score’.
I looked around my house, my closet, my garage and realized that I don’t need a 5000 sq ft house, I don’t need 40 pairs of shoes, I don’t need 40 purses, I don’t need a particular skirt in 6 colors, I don’t need 18 pairs of Not Your Daughter’s Jeans… the list goes on.
I also don’t need my 6-figure debt load. Or my high 5-figure credit card limits.
I am going to pay off all of my debt and pay cash for everything. I am going to start by selling this house. I talked to a realtor yesterday and found out that in a comparative analysis my house is worth almost $100K more than I thought it would be worth and $60K more than I paid for it just over three years ago. It’s fortunate that I live in a highly desirable subdivision in this town. Lots of doctors move here because of the great hospital campus we have a couple miles from here.
We are looking at buying a house that cost HALF of what I paid for this one – and putting down a substantial amount of money. We’ll get a 15-year mortgage and try to pay it off in five years. My plan is to be completely debt-free in five years.
I’m going to also invest in a Roth IRA. This will be money I’ve already paid taxes on so when it comes time to withdraw, it will be tax free at that time. My goal is to retire in ten years and maintain my lifestyle. I’ve seen a lot of people who didn’t prepare for their retirement who lost everything because they couldn’t make it on just their social security checks (which were never intended to be anyone’s sole source of income in the first place!)
When I was buying this house, a friend asked me “Why are you buying such a big house?” And I answered “Because I can.” That is the DUMBEST reason to buy anything!
Comments (3)
Good sound reasoning and I applaud you on taking the situation head on!!
Good call!
@the_tramp - @maggie70 - Thank you. After sitting down and figuring out my payoff schedule, it has become more real and doable. I am already breathing easier!