STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

needsfashionadvice · Kate Spade

Anyone else trying to pay off all of their debt?

BargainQueen · Marc Jacobs

We dont have a house yet, but we have a 'fund' going. DH just bought a truck last year and I'll be done w/my car in less than 6 months. We've really cut down on CC debt this year and by March we should be debt free! We are working towards your step 3 (buiding a 3-6 mth fund) and step 4, since we havent done much in that dept. Its a work in progress, but cutting down on shopping/eating out really helps TONS.

needsfashionadvice · Kate Spade

We don't have a house yet either, we're hoping to buy one at the beginning of next year so I wanted to get some of the smaller debts paid off first. Congrats on getting things paid off early next year by the way! That's awesome!

Suasoria · Chanel

We're really close to paying off all our CC debt. When we remodeled the house we put a LOT of purchases on our cards versus paying cash. We've paid off probably $50K in the last 2-3 years. There's just a few grand to go.

That will leave us with mortgage only, and while it would be nice to be free of that, we'll no doubt sell before we get there. Plus part of me feels more secure with money in the bank versus a low mortgage balance.

halleybird · Hermes

always! We have a couple of cards with smallish balances that will be paid off early next year. I have 16 months left on my car, and then we will just have the mortgage/home eq loan and my husband's car. My student loan debt will be active in a few years, though. I agree with Suasoria about mortgage debt, though -- I don't mind having that, and there's no WAY that's getting paid off anytime soon. Even my in-laws, who could pay off their mortgage, have a very small one (I think for tax purposes?).

halah · Kenneth Cole

College loan debt can provide a bit of a tax break at least for a couple of years out of college right?

needsfashionadvice · Kate Spade

halah wrote:

College loan debt can provide a bit of a tax break at least for a couple of years out of college right?

We get a form every year at tax time for the interest paid on mine and DH's student loans and we do get a break on that. I've been out of college for 4 years now so I'm not sure how long I'll be able to get that break. I'm just so ready to pay those off! The payment each month isn't that big but I'll be paying them for 20 years at this rate!

Suasoria · Chanel

For me it was MUCH smarter to pull money out of our house and pay my student loans off in one shot. This was when mortgage rates were really low, so now it may not be the same benefit. After years of paying minimums (when I could afford even that), it felt great to be free. Plus my credit score shot up to the 700s!