Hellobee Boards

I think debt free means no mortgage, no car payments, no cc payments.

I think debt free means you don't owe anyone anything!

I would consider people debt free if they have the means to pay off their mortgage. I know a number of families who keep a mortgage because that interest rate is lower than the interest they make on other investments.

I think a lot of people mean consumer debt free when they say debt free. That's what I would mean by it because mortgage free is really not realistic for the vast majority of people I know. Being consumer debt free is a much more achievable goal!

To me, it means no mortgage or any kind of debt. So we will probably be in debt for a long time but I don't feel too stressed about it. Our debt is pretty practical, mortgage and 1 car payment. I plan to pay off the car and keep it for several years after just like I did last time.

I know that it technically means NO debt at all, including mortgage...but I'd FEEL debt-free if all we had was our mortgage. Our graduate school loans are killing us.

technically it would mean no mortgage...

However DH and I have a current target of being debt free which we consider to be no CC balances, student loans gone and no secondary mortgage products (we dont have these anyways).

We lease cars....but if we purchased I would want those gone too...

Totally debt free, no payments of any kind. No mortgage, no loans.

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: Yea I'm ok with mortgage debt, but I think a lot of the debt free push started back when mortgages were actually potentially risky and not really an "investment". So I can see in that sense why its considered "debt" and not an "investment". But if you're smart about it (purchase property within your means, look at property values, keep up your home, make updates etc) it can be an investment even with mortgage interest.

I suppose it would mean no mortgage and no student loan, car, or consumer cc debt, no medical debt, no lawyer fees debt- no debt!

I think you can be debt free with a mortgage. Its about where you want to put your money. If you have a low interest rate, it makes sense to put that money somewhere else to make you more money.

It means no debt at all to me, but Dave Ramsey's plan helped us separate consumer debt from mortgage debt, which allowed us to have the will and desire to attack everything and get it all paid off. If we had considered the mortgage in our "total debt payoff plan" it would have looked insurmountable and we may never have gone for it. Now we're consumer debt free (no credit cards, no car payments, no student loans, etc.) and plan to pay off our house quickly. Without the separation we wouldn't have started to begin with.

I think there are different kinds. Truly debt free means nothing at all owed, but no consumer debt is the first thing that comes to mind for me. I would be happy with that first

@winniebee: yes, I almost consider my loans in the same vein as a monthly utility, like rent or mortgage. We have a small mortgage in student ooans, and we will be paying them off for a while. But it has helped us stay afloat in grad school, so it is another living expense to me. It will be annoying, but whatever. As long as I can get on a repayment plan, it is what it is.

When I say it is my intention to be debt free, I don't count my mortgage! I guess I feel that my mortgage isn't really debt because the house is worth more than the amount we owe the bank so we are kind of in the black there.....

True letter of the definition means no debt whatsoever. But most financial planners will group debt into different categories, with mortgage being different from other debt. In my mind, debt free means nothing but mortgage. No student loans, no financed purchases (incl vehicles), etc. We strive to stay debt-free by that definition. Plus we also put a lot of emphasis in our budget on paying down our mortgage faster than we have to.

Debt free to me means no consumer debt and no student loans. I don't consider a mortgage a part of that unless it's not your primary residence.

Debt free means positive net worth to me. If I hold a mortgage at an insanely low rate and decide not to pay it off b/c I think my money is better off invested, I don't see my mortgage as true debt.

I don't consider debt secured by collateral to be in the same category as unsecured debt! Especially if the underlying asset is a good one (a good house with strong value, a good car that has strong resell value, etc.).

Debt-free to me personally means no unsecured debt... plus you're living within your means and paying down your secured debt. But I recognize that you can't be truly debt-free if you have even a little secured debt!