By debt free I mean the only bills you would have are the mortgage, and monthly bills like phone, internet, power. NO car payments, NO credit card payments, NO installment payment of any kind.
Even better for those rare folks who have paid off their mortgage, and live off grid.
2007-09-18 05:08:28 · 16 answers · asked by Bohemian_Garnet_Permaculturalist 7 in Environment ➔ Conservation
You can still have good credit, and not have huge debt on credit cards. If there is something we want, but more usually need, we will SOMETIMES put it on a credit card. When the bill comes, the entire amount is payed. No minimum monthly payments, as that is totally idiocy.
We are frugal, but NOT cheap. That is such a difficult concept for people to understand. We do not go out and spend money on frivolous cheap junk. When we need something we buy quality items that will last a LONG time.
My husband is doing a lot of construction of barns right now. He needed a quality hammer. He got advice from his Master Carpenter best friend. You can get a hammer at the dollar store, you can get one for $5 at WalMart....or you can buy a true quality hammer (made in America, by the way) for $27.95. Our carpenter friend has been using his on construction jobs for 25 years. That is just one small example.
We do not ever feel sucked in to "keep up with the Jones."
2007-09-22 02:06:32 · update #1
People who strive to find peace in their lives, and finding happiness in simpler things will lead a much more fufilling life. People who take pride in their own abilities, bodies, and minds, will be more confident, and better prepared to deal with whatever the future throws at them.
Our next home will be large, 5000 sq ft, straw bale house...totally off grid, and constructed by ourselves. It needs to be so large to hold our huge personal library, since we are avid bibliophiles.
Imagine a country where people strove to have no bills, pay of mortgages early, and produce their own power. They would learn to THINK before flipping something on.
Imagine the good they might do for their communities, and neighbors, and the world, if they taught their children to honestly be happy, and not always desire "more."
What if the focus became on people, relationships, animals, and the world, and not on aquiring "stuff?"
2007-09-22 02:18:25 · update #2
Hi!
As a Franciscan, I don't have a bank account - but am allowed a building society account that does not let me borrow. It works for us. We have a simple home and a reasonable mortgage and our surplus money supports local and more further afield projects.
Living beyond ones means is on a par with our species living beyond the planets means.
Good question.
Good wishes.
2007-09-19 07:17:41 · answer #1 · answered by pilgrimspadre 4 · 4⤊ 1⤋
I have never had a car payment in my life, and I am 44. I keep the same used car for 10 years or until it's not worth fixing anymore. Then I pay saved cash for another used car. So far I have not owned a house, as I'm a single mom and renting is more convenient, gets my maintenance done without my having to worry about it, etc. I have never owned a credit card, except for a brief time in my 20s I had a store credit card, but cut it up because it was making me buy frivolous overpriced crap I didn't need. You might think we live an austere life, but we don't at all. We travel, attend cultural events, have a big organic garden, mountain bike, etc. I just stay away from credit at all costs. My grandma taught me that. I have lived a fine life without it. I don't like being beholden to anyone. I guess I forgot about my student loan, I did borrow that, but that was pure necessity. If we elect Dennis Kucinich for president, no one will have to have student loans hanging over their heads ever again. So yeah, it is a form of conservation. I don't believe in being wasteful. I don't have cable TV, and I shop at yard sales for furniture (except upholstered furniture like couches or mattresses, those I buy new, just because of the potential for past grossnesses to have occurred on them...lol)
2007-09-20 10:44:13 · answer #2 · answered by ViSaja 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
The first logical link I can see that living a debt free lifestyle would be that you're a moderate consumer and not indulging in excesses that could be hard on the environment. No 12,000 square foot house, summer home on the beach, three SUVs in the drive, five acre grass lawn that's watered daily, etc.
More-and-more homes are going "off grid" these days -- many in rural areas, but this is still a challenge for many home owners. Keep in mind this also includes getting your own water, managing your own trash / waste issues, integrating several power generation methods, etc.
2007-09-18 10:28:34 · answer #3 · answered by Andy 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Just because consumerism is a common cause of both does not prove a link between debt and conservation. Your logic is flawed.
vcxzzxcvvcxzzxcv is the most correct, not the monk. Just because you have no money does not make you any greener.
I can replace my car at a cost of at least $10,000 per year, or I can pocket that money and take a month long tall ship cruise around the Mediterranean. Which is greener?
"What if the focus became on people, relationships, animals, and the world, and not on aquiring "stuff?"
---
Like enough books to fill 5000 sq ft? I wonder how many trees, how much fish glue, how many hay bales ... just how much nature are you going to destroy in the process of "conservation"?
2007-09-18 17:23:42 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
You must always be careful with credit cards, car loans, mortgages and debt consolidation. Persoanlly, I was in debt of over $100,000 at one point in time, roughly 4 years ago. I am proud to say I am now DEBT FREE. It is very confusing on what to pay first how to chop down your debt, but there is a lot of good content out there to help. I have also started my own blog to help people out by talking about what I think is important. Check it out sometime!
http://credit-and-loans.blogspot.com/
2007-09-18 21:18:25 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, I view living debt free as patriotic and to be free of the chains of the big banks as true to the ideals of our founding fathers. I will never buy another car that I cannot pay cash for. I long to live "off the grid" in a manner like you describe but alas, I am poor so I will probably resort to some kind of financing to attain land and building materials for a sustainably built home/ranch complex.
2007-09-18 09:14:26 · answer #6 · answered by mazeman25 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
You can be debt free but keep your credit world "radar" active by charging items to a credit card, then pay the balance off every time you receive a bill. You are still debt free, but showing that you have good credit.
2016-05-17 21:04:56 · answer #7 · answered by miranda 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A debt can be good if it is for conservation purposes, like buying a more economical car, or energy efficient appliances. These purchases will pay for themselves over time, and you will save more money than the interest you paid.
The worst debts for conservation, are expensive consumer items, like big houses and SUVs that have no purpose besides wasteful consumption. But the debt is just a symptom of the waste. They shouldn't be purchased at all.
2007-09-18 09:00:10 · answer #8 · answered by russ m 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
I don't see the connection between being debt free and conserving the environment. I am debt free except for a mortgage, but if I wanted to, I could leave my lights on all day and night and be driving around in a Hummer with nowhere to go. Very wasteful even though debt free.
2007-09-18 05:55:31 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
I see where you are going with this. In order to live debt free, you have to eliminate a high spending high consumerist lifestyle. Which means that you are more self sufficient in fuel, food and dealing with your own wastes. To live debt free means that you have to automatically chose the most economical actions in terms of money and physical labour/self production.
Debt is a spiral, the more you borrowing the more interest accrues. By being debt free you have spare cash to invest in owning your own land/green techonology/planting. Can give you the opportunity to work less so less travel, less new clothes, packed lunches etc less environmental impact all round.
2007-09-19 06:28:44 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 1⤋