It's an interesting journey acquiring debt, working hard to earn a good salary then getting some things paid off. Going to Engineering school and graduating making somewhere around $850/mo in just student loans...
Thankfully my wife and I are on the same page when it comes to paying off bills and debt. We are mid 30's, no kids (not having them), two dogs, two cats and a horse lol. She has a equine hobby and I like to autocross and car hobby so things CAN be expensive but we are smart about it.
Just recently, we got through with a mortgage refinance going from 5.25% to 3% saving us $250 a month. With the cash out option for house equity we made a plan to pay off some debt.
Our previous "debt payoff period" was another ~5 years. Doing the refi and following the Dave Ramsey "debt snowball" mentality (we have been doing this for a while) we have been able to kick down the payoff period to ~2.5 years. My Corvette got paid off, her Lexus will be paid off in a couple of weeks.
We previously were putting $300 of extra payment on top of whatever minimum loan payment we were working on. Mortgage saved us $250, paying my car off freed up $350 so that allows us around $900 EXTRA payment on top of minimum loan payment. THAT makes me happy. The fact that if we have any car emergency or unexpected bill, we can simply put the $900 extra money onto that while still paying minimums on all our bills puts your mind at ease.
It takes patience and self control to NOT pocket the money you "freed up" after paying off a loan. We have found a balance of paying bills/saving/spending money for fun and we have made an effort to not increase spending. As of now the plan is to have no debt (other than a mortgage) in ~2.5 years. Then within 3-5 years either move to a house we really want or to build one, and upgrade to a newer truck.
No real point to this post other than sharing my excitement about this process and that there is light at the end of the tunnel!
Thankfully my wife and I are on the same page when it comes to paying off bills and debt. We are mid 30's, no kids (not having them), two dogs, two cats and a horse lol. She has a equine hobby and I like to autocross and car hobby so things CAN be expensive but we are smart about it.
Just recently, we got through with a mortgage refinance going from 5.25% to 3% saving us $250 a month. With the cash out option for house equity we made a plan to pay off some debt.
Our previous "debt payoff period" was another ~5 years. Doing the refi and following the Dave Ramsey "debt snowball" mentality (we have been doing this for a while) we have been able to kick down the payoff period to ~2.5 years. My Corvette got paid off, her Lexus will be paid off in a couple of weeks.
We previously were putting $300 of extra payment on top of whatever minimum loan payment we were working on. Mortgage saved us $250, paying my car off freed up $350 so that allows us around $900 EXTRA payment on top of minimum loan payment. THAT makes me happy. The fact that if we have any car emergency or unexpected bill, we can simply put the $900 extra money onto that while still paying minimums on all our bills puts your mind at ease.
It takes patience and self control to NOT pocket the money you "freed up" after paying off a loan. We have found a balance of paying bills/saving/spending money for fun and we have made an effort to not increase spending. As of now the plan is to have no debt (other than a mortgage) in ~2.5 years. Then within 3-5 years either move to a house we really want or to build one, and upgrade to a newer truck.
No real point to this post other than sharing my excitement about this process and that there is light at the end of the tunnel!