take my money.

[Bret4207]

I admire people who are good with money. I'm not. The smart thing would be to sell the farm, buy a small place on a lot in town and sit in a chair watching broadcast TV for the rest of my life. Instead I'm trying to build something while supporting what amounts to 3 families on 2 1/2 incomes. My "investments" are in equipment for the farm, a farm I couldn't get out of what I have in it currently. But those are my choices, I'm not belly aching. I'm slowly lowering my debt but it's sure hard to do when adult kids are out of work or health issues crop up. That's life.

 

[KHornet]

It takes a good man to accept the realities, of life, and meet them head on!

Paul

 

[Intheshop]

It's not about money,in an awful lot of lifes bright spots Bret.

Noticed this really cold morning,single digit nights with 4" of,it ain't goin no where snow...that money can NOT buy,how dang pretty it is out behind our house.Dragging saw logs within feet of the house.Chainsaw and split it all.....leaving packed down snow with wood chip carpet.Can sit out there and soak it up.Work stops,look around at what you have....it may surprise you.

 

[fiver]

I miss our old place which was further out of town.
it was pretty much the wifes parents retirement place.
once her mom got cancer and her dad had the back surgery they were having a heck of a time just getting by and had to ask for help.
I was able to get their old place in Utah sold and sold the other piece of property I had and used that extra money to get them moved into a nicer place they could enjoy for the last few years.
we lived with them for quite a while until they [mostly] got their finances under control.
[I never seen anyone run a negative balance like that in my life]
I got them set up so that everything was paid in advance for at least 6 months [except their mortgage]
then I bought our place here and moved the family over.

it worked out well for everybody and I just let the money I dumped in the place go.
I just looked at it as rent since the wife and kids could go stay there any time they wanted or if they needed help, and I kept some of my stuff there as well.
I could also go shoot down in the pasture and bird hunt or fish in the river bottom whenever I wanted to.

 

[Pistolero]

Bret,
I'm sure you are a lot happier doing what you are doing. No way I would be sitting on my butt watching TV, either. I, too bought
into a country place, in my 60s, although not a real farm, but the mowing and maintenance takes a good bit of time, too. I could be in
a condo in Fla but that isn't what I really want, either. Rather be here, doing things, keeping busy. As far as the "good with
money" part, that is a lot of good luck in finding a shooting buddy who was a good financial guy. And after I knew him for years
as a friend, I decided to let him show me how to manage money. He was a whole lot smarter that way than I ever was. The
main smart thing I did was trusting him. I had figured out the pay the mortgage off early thing, that sure helps, if you can make
the extra payments.

Wife has spent a half a year away from home this year taking care of a sick relative, and I have been back and forth, keeping this
place up, doing it all myself, and then getting to Fla to help there, like cutting up trees from the hurricane, splitting and stacking
that wood, they heat with wood there. I know what that is like. At this point, all the previous generation are gone, so some of that
responsibility is over. People have obligations, and they have to be satisfied, although some push it off.

Intheshop - I could have propane heat in Colorado, but I didn't want to spend the money, choose to keep it all wood heat. I like
needing to go and cut and split and haul wood, build the fire and keep it going during the day. Those are chores that are work,
and when it is below zero I kinda wonder some days, but wood heat requires me to be out in the cold, working in snow, but
exactly like you said -- it isn't the easiest way, but it is a good way, and a simple way. BIL in Fla heats with wood, too. Keeping
up a house built in 1890s in Fla was taking a bunch of my time this year, too. BIL is partially disabled, needed help with cutting up
the downed trees, splitting and stacking, maintenance on the house. I won't shirk family responsibilities that way. We did a couple
of cords while we were "vacationing" in Florida.

Best wishes, Bret.

Bill

 

[Cherokee]

It is a great feeling to be debt free. Retired 7 years ago @ 68, paid off mortgage, enjoying life with my wife of 54 years.
God has blessed us greatly.

 

[Bret4207]

Sure would be nice if things turned around a little here in Northern NY. Jobs and taxes are our 2 biggest problems, not enough of one and way too much of the other! It's a completely different world here than 9 hours south in NYC.

 

[Josh]

I have been working to get completely out of debt, as of right now I have 2 loans and zero credit cards. My first loan is $135 a month personal loan for 6 more months, the 2nd is a $490 mortgage at 4%. I just bought this house, a 20 year mortgage with a 20,000 balloon payment at the end. I will have this house paid off in 5 years, after that I plan in investing in precious metals and finely machined steel.

With 4 kids and a wife it is hard being the only one working, but I make good money. The plan is to be completely debt free at the age of 34.

 

[KHornet]

Being debt free was a goal of mine for many years before I finally achieved it. Paid off
the house about 5-6 years ago, and all I have are monthly bills: utilities, phone, Cabela's
etc. Buy most things on Cabelas credit card, and use points when I build up enough for
another weapon. Was hard to get there but well worth it in satisfaction when achieved.
Paul

 

[RBHarter]

Well I am a worst offender .
I don't count the house as debt . It's more of an estate tax credit payment . If I out live my folks it's mine all clear except tax man and the 20 yr "loan" will see them into their early 90s . As an only child , not the spoiled punk type ,I was raised more like the middle child , sharing enough of Dads name to make the ownerships vague I own it already and just help them along in their golden years . That leaves me with about 6k in "good" roll over debt . No loans , no car payments just an occasional toybox binge . In truth the bulk of the current debt is in fact from the vacation calamity that left us in a bit of a lurch . $750 tow bill , 3 extra overnight rooms , 2 weeks of a rental car , 9 extra road meals , repairs etc . I'm living the golden life ..........

 

[smokeywolf]

We still owe about $90,000 on a $500,000+ house. I could liquidate investments and pay it off, but would see no actual gain at this point. Plus, the house will be sold in the next one to two years anyway. We'll pay cash for the next house.

 

[Ian]

Just try to get out before the current credit bubble pops and everyone, everywhere is broke overnight. The stage is set and the instant the FED enters stage right to do the scene where they bump the interest rate it will happen, and it's coming soon. We've seen this show before: in 2000 we saw the dot coms pop right when the interest rate was bumped, then the housing market in 2005 popped for the same reason, driving us to within 20 minutes of extinction in 2008 when the fed managed to transfuse enough funny money to keep the country on life support until now, and when the 65 trillion in vacuous credit-with-no-collateral hits the ceiling it will fall like a house of cards and there quite literally aren't enough assets in the entire world economy to bail it out next time.

 

[fiver]

my investments were geared towards the fed raising interest rates.
but they dumped more cash into quantative [sp?] easing instead.
when trump got in I could see how his economic theory's will work, and will turn things around in time.
but they will get a lot worse before they get better.
it's just how it works.
there is gonna be a lot of I told ya so's coming for the next six-nine months from the left side, but as things start working the way they should, things will improve back towards the way the true market is instead of the artificially buoyed indicators.
the market should drop and house prices should raise some as things go along.
but to an average that is more sustainable for everyone.

 

[Bret4207]

I really don't know how we've made it this far as far as money goes. Things should have popped several years back. The only reason a dollar is worth a dollar is because we can't imagine it not being worth a dollar! Just a few years back there was talk of literally abandoning my former employers obligation to pay it's retirees. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd hear that idea floated. Yeah, it never got any traction, but when the next crisis comes along.....???

If things do go south I'll be a hurtin' unit, like most other people. I don't care what your "investments" are worth on paper, you have to be able to get your hands on the actual cash for it to do you any good if it gets bad.

As far as QE1, 2, etc., I understand the concept of paying off a dollars debt with a new dollar worth 60 cents, but when you flood the market with gazillions of dollars it just adds fuel tot he fire.

 

[smokeywolf]

If things fall apart; I mean really fall apart, you need to own your house, need plenty of whatever the County Tax Assessor is taking for payment, food, water, medical knowledge and meds or access to same. Pensions and Social Security would evaporate. If you made those preparations, you'll figure out the rest.

Yes, I prep, but not a "prepper". Keep it rational and in perspective. While urbanites would call it over the top, country folks call it just normal.

I sure like Bret's signature.

 

[freebullet]

Yes, I prep, but not a "prepper". Keep it rational and in perspective.

Seems like a lot of the "prepper" types today don't get that. Being prepared isn't the same as being a "prepper".

While not debt free yet we are working very hard & smarter than ever to get there.

After loosing some family, friends, & even clients at a seemingly young ages, I find it important to have some fun along the way. Life's to short.

 

[Bret4207]

I used to concentrate in "prepping" a lot more than I do now. I have just about everything your average pepper would want, but at some point I realized I don't have enough manpower to make use of even half of it. Theres a reason people used to have large families (the Amish still do) and that it was common to see older kids farmed out to a neighbor or relative who was short on manpower.

Working to get out of debt these days is very difficult IMO. Part of it is the cost of living, taxes, inflation, etc. The other, larger part is our expectations. I don't know many people that ever brown bagged it for lunch if they worked at a business or in town. I don't know more than 3 or 4 people that don't have so called "smart phones", satellite/cable TV, take trips or vacations, etc. or a regular basis. It's their lives, their money, but why live like that and then complain about being "poor"? You make choices and live with it. My $9 Tracfone works fine for me, but my minister living on what to me is a pittance always has a new phone. His choice. The point being, a lot of us make it harder on ourselves to get out of debt or at least increase available cash flow. I think it takes a somewhat uncommon person to be able to step back and look at what their doing and see where they are goofing up in reaching their goals, and then an even rarer person that actually does anything about it.

 

[Ian]

I used to concentrate in "prepping" a lot more than I do now. I have just about everything your average pepper would want, but at some point I realized I don't have enough manpower to make use of even half of it. Theres a reason people used to have large families (the Amish still do) and that it was common to see older kids farmed out to a neighbor or relative who was short on manpower.

You hit the nail on the head right there.