Quote Originally Posted by Gardnr View Post
I'm with you lac. We spent so much money "keeping up". You must have this, you must have that. It will make your life easier taking care of all this extra junk. You must not drive an older car-it must be less than 3y old. Clothing needs to be "current". AGHHHHHHHHHHH Drove us to the brink of bankruptcy before we were 30! I got pissed and said "no more"!!! We are staying home, eating tuna fish and blue box Mac n' cheese until all this debt is gone! This was 1987. in 1992 all the debt was gone except mortgage. I finished by bachelor's degree and we took a wonderful 2w vacation. But we didn't amass debt. We paid for it in the next 2 months. Dad died in 1994. A few months before I asked him if he had any regrets in this life?

"Just 2. I left your Mom with a mortgage and I should have paid cash for this house instead of living large. And, I never bought that Mercedes". He was a professional truck driver in Europe from 1945-1961 and always had one. "Best car ever made and the last one I'd ever have to buy". instead, he bought a new one every 3y.

Well his regrets turned into my goals. Home paid off. bought our mountain retreat cabin in 2003 and paid it off in 52 months. $100k in emergency fund. Retirement funded to full federal allowable for both of us. All improvements and repairs made to homes-pd in cash (hence we are still not done with cabin). Savings comes first!!!

And that"s how it"s been since then>>>>>>>>>choices are ever abundant now.
Well done!