Just Paid Off ALL My Credit Cards!!

[bphillips]

I disagree. I don't spend more just b/c it's a card. I get about $100/month in free cash back.


Don't mean to take away from the OP ( I congratulated him earlier). But there are reaponsibke credit card users out there and they really aren't that rare.

I agree.. Ours would be on a debit card otherwise and there is no discount in most cases so it makes no sense for us to use the debit when the credit at least earns rewards. Got around 110k points accumulated right now just from normal spending that would have been spent on debit cards anyway. Always paid off monthly of course

[PBUCKSHOT]

I threw all credit cards away 10 yrs ago ,,,,, like me dads says if u cant afford with cash dont buy it!....(small things)

Hey on a complete side note...I saw your old blue Chevy loaded up on a truck trailer headed North 2 days ago. I was filling up a the Love's outside of Three Rivers and saw here headed out. Man it looked tough.
To the OP, Congrats brother. Hope the financial decision you made helps you guys get closer to you goals.

[ArcheryAddict]

We went from 5.5 to 4.5. There is no penalty to pull out equity. You can only pull 80% of the equity tho. We pulled out about $46,0000. Have your lender run the numbers and see how much it will affect your payment if you pull out the max you can pull. Hope it works for you!


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When we did it, we pulled out 60K but it flipped back into a building and other home improvement items. Our payment went up about 160 a month, but that was because we did it for 20 years, knocking off 5-1/2 years of payments. I want to do it GIn for the straight up balance, but do it for 10 and knock off another 3-6 years depending on how short we could go with the same payment or slightly less.

She wants to do it and add a pool, but I'm against it. Son goes to college in 2018 and I want to sell it and move. Don't want to drop more coin in it for only a partial return and lowering the list of potential buyers.

Just haven't talked her into it yet.

And supposedly all the experts are saying they expect the Feds to up the interest rate after the elections and/or before the end of the year.

Thanks for the info.


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[Mike D]

Not to rain on your parade but how many years did you owe before and after the refinance. Yeah technically you paid off the CCs but you really just transferred the debt and likely for a longer term.

[bakin7005]

I realize this is a controversial subject and lots of opinions on both sides. Today I shared our story over at my blog. I took a brief break from my wild game recipe posts to tell our debt-free story. $99k in student loan and consumer debt and we sold the house and got rid of the $170k mortgage. There's a lot more information in the post, so if this topic interests you feel free to check it out. It's been quite a ride, but it sure has strengthened our marriage and our future.

[ATTACH]821297[/ATTACH]

http://www.mywildkitchen.com/our-debt-free-journey/

Great story! We started FPU and are hosting a group through our church. Great stuff! I emailed your blog to my bride.

[Coachs Wife]

Great story! We started FPU and are hosting a group through our church. Great stuff! I emailed your blog to my bride.

Thank you! Feel free to share it with your class, too, if it'd be helpful. There's a link in this article to my grocery shopping tips, too (without couponing!).

[12RingKing]

congrats to the OP!
agreed, you are a unicorn and that's great but studies do show that about 88% of people do not pay off their credit cards each month and spiral from there.
That said, even for those who do pay off credit cards, we spend more with plastic than we do using cash and would probably save more than the "free" $150 we get. Take McDonalds for example, according to studies and Ramsey - they found people spent 40% more when they started using credit card machines after just taking cash. Credit card companies aren't giving away money - they know that we will spend more (on avg. 14% more or so) when using plastic. Not against it but I recently had a millionaire tell me he went to debit card to pay for airfare and he's saving more that pays for his free hotels he was getting with the credit card usage.

Credit card companies bank on people carrying a balance. The people who don't do that can get rewarded with certain cards.

They can also offer good rewards cards because they charge the vendor for each swipe. Works out well for them.

I have no idea how your millionaire friend is saving money not using a reward card. Maybe that's why he's a millionaire and I'm not.

[Leon County Slayer]

Credit card companies bank on people carrying a balance. The people who don't do that can get rewarded with certain cards.



They can also offer good rewards cards because they charge the vendor for each swipe. Works out well for them.



I have no idea how your millionaire friend is saving money not using a reward card. Maybe that's why he's a millionaire and I'm not.

Only by what I mentioned that by using cash most folks spend much less than if they were using a credit card. I'm sure that's not how he attained his wealth but one of the approaches and disciplines that helped


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[Gbird]

Not to rain on your parade but how many years did you owe before and after the refinance. Yeah technically you paid off the CCs but you really just transferred the debt and likely for a longer term.

We bought in 2002 for 86k. It appraised for 181k. Yes, we transferred debt, but the interest we are paying is WAY lower at 4.5 vs 14-22. I don't see how we went wrong. Plus, we have some money in savings, which we didn't have before.


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[bphillips]

Only by what I mentioned that by using cash most folks spend much less than if they were using a credit card. I'm sure that's not how he attained his wealth but one of the approaches and disciplines that helped


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I would likely lose more using cash by not keeping up with change personally. Debit card works just like a credit card unless you keep a small enough amount in the account it comes from to limit you so no saving there either. I realize I've gotta pay my CC at the end of the month though so that's keeps me from wasting with it

[12RingKing]

Only by what I mentioned that by using cash most folks spend much less than if they were using a credit card. I'm sure that's not how he attained his wealth but one of the approaches and disciplines that helped


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I see what you're saying now.

I tell my friends about what I do, and it's not for everyone. There's a certain mindset you have to have, because it's very easy to overextend yourself.

[Mike D]

We bought in 2002 for 86k. It appraised for 181k. Yes, we transferred debt, but the interest we are paying is WAY lower at 4.5 vs 14-22. I don't see how we went wrong. Plus, we have some money in savings, which we didn't have before.


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Ok so you bought in 2002 so you've been paying for 14 years.

How long did you refinance for?

If you were paying 14-22% for credit cards something is wrong.


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[Lonestar_HOYT]

Isn't the interest on the home loan a tax write off and cc interest isn't? Might be another benefit to his situation.

[ytsejam]

I realize this is a controversial subject and lots of opinions on both sides. Today I shared our story over at my blog. I took a brief break from my wild game recipe posts to tell our debt-free story. $99k in student loan and consumer debt and we sold the house and got rid of the $170k mortgage. There's a lot more information in the post, so if this topic interests you feel free to check it out. It's been quite a ride, but it sure has strengthened our marriage and our future.

[ATTACH]821297[/ATTACH]

http://www.mywildkitchen.com/our-debt-free-journey/

Awesome! We have a similar story, I'm just not good at putting it into words like this. We lead fpu about 1.5 yrs ago, do you mind if I share this with some of the folks from our class? I think it may help re motivate them.

[Leon County Slayer]

I would likely lose more using cash by not keeping up with change personally. Debit card works just like a credit card unless you keep a small enough amount in the account it comes from to limit you so no saving there either. I realize I've gotta pay my CC at the end of the month though so that's keeps me from wasting with it

I hear ya and I'm not knocking those who do. I still use a credit card periodically. Just saying for the majority, this is the case. Those that use cash for what they can and debit cards for the rests apparently spend less.


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