Not since I graduated from college, with student loans, have I been debt-free.

My husband recalls that when he left college, he didn’t have any money but he didn’t have any debts either. Until he married me.

What started off as debt in the form of student loans turned into a car
loan, turned into more student loans (for graduate school), turned into
another car loan, turned into a mortgage and another car loan.

Photo by jenn_jenn

Along the
way, we picked up a credit card or two (or three or four.) Like most
Americans, debt has followed us from one job to another, through
multiple careers, from the Midwest to the East Coast to the West.

Last week, my husband and I paid off our mortgage, after living in the same house for 17 years.  We have no car loans. (We financed our last new car in 1991 and have been buying well-maintained used cars since then.) We’ve always had a habit of paying off our credit card bills each month. This summer, my husband suggested we take it one step further. We went to a system of paying cash for most things. Our last Visa bill was $68, of which $15 was our sons’ monthly fee for World of Warcraft, reimbursed in folded up ones and fives.

The bottom-line is that becoming debt free is possible. It takes discipline and patience and a willingness to change your lifestyle. It means paying yourself first, by saving small amounts over a long period of time. And it requires the pragmatism of living below your means, rather than splurging when bonus time comes around (which by all economic indicators, won’t be coming for awhile.) In return, you’ll have peace of mind and more freedom to pursue what matters to you, rather than what will pay a mortgage and car loans.

What’s the first step for you in becoming debt-free?