I definitely think a car is debt.

We have:

Home: $125,000 - Will likely get paid off next year once DH receives workers' compensation settlement. We have always paid an average of $50 extra on the payment. Have been in the house close to five years, but have more like eight years paid on it.

Daughter's Scion 2006 XB: $15,000. Savings should pay it off next year also.

That's it.

Our vehicle is paid for. My Explorer finally died a couple of months ago. So Ijust started driving DH's truck. He was in a serious work accident and now has Epilepsy due to a closed head injury, so he cannot drive anyway. This time next year, I thought I'd buy another new Explorer and I'm thinking we'll finance around $15,000-$16,000 or so. I drove my old one for over nine years and it was three years old when I bought it plus I like the looks of them.

Let me rephrase when I said I don't consider car as debt. We have family all over the east coast. I live in Northern Virginia. I travel a lot (every other weekend at least) either to North Carolina or New Jersey with my two boys alone. DH is always on travel for business. If it's over 5 hours of driving he'll fly, but other than that he takes his car. I brought a brand new car last year and have already over 40,000 miles on it. Because of the fact that I travel alone eith two little boys, I need a reliable car and so I believe that I'm always gonna have a car payment.

We have our house that we owe for another 29 years
$160,000 (6,25%)
Our van which will be paid offin 12 months
$ 7,000 :yay!: (0% interest)
And that's it. No credit cards. No other outstanding bills.

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Parker, Wyndser, and Carson....................Wyndser (in blue) with her cousin

car losn $16,000
credit cards $4,500
we rent so I don't have mortgage

about $20,000 would cover it.

Yes, a mortgage is good debt. because your house will generally increase in value. Sorry ladies...but cars are NOT considered good debt. They are considered consumer debt. since they only decrease in value over the years.

We owe 10 years on our mortgage and that's it, no other debt.

No, cars are not good debt because, as Kim so eloquently pointed out, there is no equity in cars unless you are investing in antiques or something.

I have $84,000 to pay on my house, $6,000 on one cc, no car payment, no other bills. I will have my cc paid off in the next year, thank God!

I am sorry! I only meant to quote you on the first part about the mortgage being "good debt." I wasn't insinuating that you thought cars were also not considered debt.

I found an interesting article on debt. where the author states (near the end) that automobiles are actually exempted from discussion on consumer debt., usually, but not always...so I guess we are all correct about auto debt. Sometimes it is considered consumer debt. and sometimes not.

Very interesting to read...

Consumer debt is consumer credit which is outstanding. In macroeconomic terms, it is debt which is used to fund consumption rather than investment.

Some consider all debt incurred for anything else other than investments unwise, while others believe that consumer credit is beneficial in growing the economy. The difference between perspectives is often a matter of personal values, which can be attributed to widespread social biases. Historically, across many cultures, being in personal debt was considered almost immoral. More recently, an alternative analysis might view consumer debt as a way to increase domestic production. If credit is easily available, the increased demand for consumer goods should cause an increase of overall domestic production. Both domestic and international economists have supported a recent upsurge in South Korean consumer debt, which has helped fuel economic expansion. On the other hand, credit card debt is almost unknown just across the sea in Japan and China, one because of long standing historical biases against personal debt, the other because the economy is still underdeveloped. Theoretical underpinnings aside, personal debt is on the rise, particularly in the United States.

The most common form of consumer debt is credit card debt, payday loans, and other consumer finance, which are often at higher interest rates than long term secured loans, such as mortgages. Interests rates vary, of course, depending on current economic situation and the financial status of the individual, but 12-15% per annum is not unusual.

Long-term consumer debt is often considered fiscally suboptimal. While some consumer items may be useful investments that justify debt (such as automobiles, which are usually but not always exempted in discussions of consumer debt, and business suits), most consumer goods are not. For example, incurring high-interest consumer debt through buying a big-screen television "now", rather than saving for it, can not usually be financially justified by the subjective benefits of having the television early. On the other hand, personal finance advisors like Robert Kiyosaki encourage a more liberal attitude towards taking on debt if it can be leveraged into a small business or real estate. This higher-risk, possibly high-outcome, "personal-finances-as-a-game" attitude runs counter to the traditional mores of rising slowly through the ranks of a company through discipline and hard work, but may have increasingly validity in an age of globalization.

In many countries, the ease with which individuals can accumulate consumer debt beyond their means to repay has paradoxically preciptated a growth industry in debt consolidation and credit counseling.

Well, we have 116,000 in mortgage for the next 30 years (just bought in Nov)
Not much on 2 cars (both will be paid off by june)
Dh student loans about $7,000
CC about $8,000

Hey, Not as bad as I thought!!! But I am so looking forward to those cars being paid off!

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~Happiness is a large family~

We don't have any debt other than our mortgage. I consider it a debt even though it is an investment, simply because we are on a all fired frenzie to pay it off. We have $96K left on it, and we hope to have it payed off in 7 years, without me going back to work. I think I will feel like I am really living it up once we have it payed off. I'm a big fan of the Dave Ramsey book Money Makeover book.