You find yourself totally out of debt, no rent, no house payment, no car payment, no loans what so ever, what would it take for you to go back into debt?

If my children really needed help.

I wouldn’t. Not for all the tea in China.

Hospital bills.

If my apartment burns down.

Depends on the other expenses and income.

The unforeseen looms over us all Squeek. A month ago you could not have convinced me that uncontrollable wild fires might ravage places like Napa or Santa Rosa.

@stanleybmanly GA

Something I want or need.

Sometimes debt makes sense, depending on interest, terms, need,etc. Being debt free is not some magical mantra for being virtuous.

Tell me about it @stanleybmanly this summer we had a wildfire come right down to the edge of our town, the bombers and crew did an outstanding job keeping our town safe but local out laying properties were not so lucky.
@elbanditoroso
But it does cut down on a great deal of worry, we have had a breakdown at work and have been off most of this week, and could care less enjoying the down time and not fretting over if I am going to make this months bank payment.

I’m debt free. I don’t have shit to my name but a 17 year old station wagon.

“Debt free” is overrated.

Each of us personally with the amount of money we each currently have? Or, do you mean what type of thing are we willing to go into debt for?

For years the only debt I had was one leased car, but I had enough to pay it off at once if I had wanted to. We chose that debt because my husband likes to change cars every few years, and the cars we own we don’t change a lot.

I could have bought my current house outright, but we chose not to, because we are assuming we might rent it one day, and because if we get around to building a new house, it will be very difficult to get a mortgage on construction, so we took a mortgage on this house.

If I had a sudden, huge, expense I didn’t expect, like healthcare bills, that would be a debt that maybe I wouldn’t pay right away.

If we had no earnings, no job, for five years, I might wind up buying some things with debt. I’m not sure exactly what my situation would be, and what I would need to do.

If, God forbid, a huge life event happened, like my husband died, that would affect my finances too. I would most likely prefer to stay out of debt, but I don’t think I’ve thought of everything that would happen.

I agree with @Muad_Dib. I would rather owe thousands and thousands of dollars when I die, than be debt fee. My heirs are not responsible for my debt, so why not? The debts will be subtracted from my estate, but if there is no cash there, who cares?

I just paid my aunt’s $800 credit card bill while she was dying in hospice when there was no estate. We thought about not paying, but decided against it.

@JLeslie There is something to be said that debts are promises to pay, and it is a moral obligation. This is especially true for small businesses. Giant corporations get write-offs for unpaid debts, so they don’t need the money.

I am debt free.
My wife and I don’t do a lot of traveling, except for seeing the kids, but there isn’t a lot of extra money. I am hoping to cruise next year, but we may have some expenses from my son’s wedding next year.

In the U.S., with our shitty health care system, a huge medical or hospital bill can easily bankrupt you, debt or no debt. Have you checked out how much a PET scan costs?

If you still depend on your salary, then loss of your job could also put you back into debt.

As others have mentioned, unforeseen circumstances, such as fires, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, etc., can also put you into debt. There are no guarantees.

An emergency. Beyond that, nope. If I was disciplined enough to get out of debt, I would be disciplined enough to not go back into it.

@YARNLADY Pretty much everything someone doesn’t pay, other people are paying that bill.

Although, I think some people are so underpaid that that’s immoral also, to use your word, so I’m not very judgy about leaving debt behind, believe me. Plus, like I said, we thought about not paying, so it’s not like I wouldn’t dare.

The thing is credit card debt is unsecured debt. People with less money get so screwed with high interest rates and fees on credit cards when they need to use them, and can’t pay them off, and part of those fees and interest is other people not paying at all.

When it’s a mortgage, the bank can sell the house, and usually the mortgage is lower than the value of the house, but not always. I think in most cases banks don’t get burned with foreclosures, except in years where the entire market tanked.

What I don’t like is the idea of charging up a big bill purposefully to kind of screw the system.

I never said not to go into debt,most people have to, to buy a home or a vehicle or further their education but once out of debt, what would it take for you to take on a debt burden again?

We worked our asses off to pay off the house early, and pay off all credit card debts, and we kept putting the payments away and had enough saved to buy my new truck without having to borrow a dime for it.
I’m not saying we wouldn’t ever take on a future debt but I think it would only to buy another home or property, anything else if we couldn’t buy it out right we just won’t buy it.

The older I get the cheaper I get. Can’t imagine going into debt for any reason. I don’t think I could stand it.

I hope I never need to use credit again other than the monthly use for convenience and paying it off each month.

Being in debt is not the normal course of events. If you’re a student, or have a low-income job, that can happen, but it isn’t sustainable and either leads to resolution or insolvency. Many people advocate being on permanent overdraft to get money they wouldn’t otherwise have, but if they analysed it, they’d realise that paying fees and interest on their overdraft wipe out the point of having one. It’s always best to make settling your debts your first spending priority. Not only does it reduce the burden on the people loaning you funds, it wipes out your interest payments.