I'm not sure there will ever be an easy answer to financial problems. I'm sure our parents and their parents said the same things through the depression. It seems everything runs in 20 year cycles (+-). In 1981 I think it was, in CA we paid 19.24% for a 5 acre place and that was a good deal at that time. I cringe now at how hard that mortgage was to make. When my husband took a promotion in another city we were able to buy some property with a mobile. We lived there for two years while we built a home paying for it as we went. We were able to own it free and clear in a few years which made a big improvement in our life, and later made it possible for us to pay cash for another home. However, we too have been through many ups and downs, I think anyone who has lived for a long time has, so I can appreciate how much effort it took for you to bring yourself out of debt. It's hard to discipline yourself over the time it takes to make a difference.
Since my husband had to take early retirement in 1993, due to his health, our retirement is much lower than if he had worked till 65. We are fortunate for what we have but there are times I worry expenses may rise faster than we can keep up with them. We made some adjustments 6 years ago knowing chances were we weren't going to get any younger :) We do still have credit cards and even use them, but we take a certain amount of cash every month and that's what we live on. CCs are for purchases outside our normal living expenses and we pay for them the next month. That said, we aren't raising a family anymore, which makes a big difference. Nor do we care if the neighbors have a newer car - which they do, or a fancier house, which they do, LOL. There won't be a big estate to leave our kids but neither are we leaving them any debts and hopefully, we'll go to our final rest never having to depend on any of them.
Roger you might share the name of the class you took. I know there are several books available, wish I could remember the name of one, it's pretty good. Goes on the order of paying off the smallest debt first, then the next, and the next etc. More to it than that but a good premise. Our church felt debt was one of the biggest burdens facing young married couples today and for several years they provided a weekly class on how to manage money, establish savings etc.
DIY has become more than a hobby for many people and I appreciate all the advice and instructions I've gotten from the list over several years.
OT: My husband had a big air compressor, had it for years. He was always saying he wished he had a small portable one but this one still worked. Yesterday, it blew the circuit. He got it going again and it made a funny sound and blew the circuit again and wouldn't start. Perfect time to get a smaller one but he was concerned about how he would get rid of the old one. The neighborhood is having a community garage sale starting this morning, I said put it out in the driveway with a free sign. He did, "Free, engine probably needs work". One guy stopped as he was putting it out and the next time he looked it was gone, LOL.
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