Not having debt is a huge thing. I graduated from college in the spring of 2006 and bought a house at my first job, and was making good enough money that at first it wasn't an issue. My problem at age 22 was that I didn't have enough foresight to see that if the rental rooms quit my budget would get tight quick. I traded in a paid off vehicle for a 5 year loan. 6 months out of college I had committed myself to to two major payments and wasn't nearly prepared as I thought I was for the mortgage. Fast forward to 2008 and my house had lost nearly 20,000 in value and the boom in town slowed down to a crawl and the roomates who were offsetting the cost of the mortgage had dried up. The guitar lessons that I had been giving had also slowed down significantly the year before because I felt like I was too busy. The only relief I had was that gas prices crashed, but that corresponded with the boom leaving town and the roomates.
So, I ended up taking a job in my hometown and living with my parents. 3 hunting seasons ago I read my first Dave Ramsey book and haven't looked back since. The truck has been paid off, the loss on the house is gone, as well as extra payments into the snowball plan. All in all, close to $40k has been paid off in 2.5 years.
Next up is paying off the trailer I just bought(18 months). I will be living debt free at that point, with the exception of my wife's student loans. I just got married so those weren't part of the equation for getting out of debt. But now that I control my finances and they don't control me its not going to be a problem.
I will be pouring into my retirement account as soon as this trailer is paid off and will be setting up a set amount as soon as I figure in some of the extra summer income I will make mowing lawns. This also helps cover gear purchases.....
