Hi Chargeit: <BR>I have a mortgage, a car loan and one credit card. That card does all my planning for me. I always check the newspapers and inserts in my mail for travel bargains. There are plenty to choose from. I also never charge another trip until the last one is fully paid for. European travel is not as expensive as say a 1 week stay at Disney and is certainly more educational.

No mortgage, no car loan, no credit card balance, no student loans, no wife - no debt. <BR>

Dave: <BR>Do you have any secrets to share about the debt free life you lead?

I just prioritize. I rather be in the worlds greatest museums and architecture, and experience the real culture, then stay in a lux hotel. as for airfare, research, research, research.

And if anybody here was "immensely wealthy" would they admit to it by putting their real name down with their response?

My Secret to a Debt Free Life: <BR> <BR>No one wants to marry me, which leaves me with lots of free time and money. <BR> <BR>Actually, I've been very fortunate, fiscally if not romantically. Although I went to a private college, I was able to pay with scholarships and summer jobs. And as an engineer, I was able to get someone else to pay for grad school (that's also why I'm able to begin sentences with "And"). So one of the major sources of debt in America, student loans, has not been a problem. <BR> <BR>I don't own a house, since I've never wanted to stay in any of the places my jobs have taken me. Someday hopefully that will change but for now, no mortgage. <BR> <BR>My salary is well below 6 figures, but I paid cash for my car (1996 model), and my rent is less than $500/mo. I'm not really into gadgets, so I have a 10 year old stereo and a 13" tv. My only real concession to the electronic age is a laptop computer. I would much rather spend $1500 on a trip to Europe than on the latest digital whatever. <BR> <BR>As has been mentioned above, traveling to Europe is not necessarily much more expensive than traveling (by air) in the US. I've never paid more than $600 for airfare to Europe; I travel by public transport, seldom eat fancy meals, and stay in budget accomodations. I know several people who spend more money on their boats each year than I do on travel. <BR>

I live in the northern suburbs of New York City. My husband and I either take one big vacation each year or two short ones since our company gives us 20 vacation days a year. We've paid off the house in the eighth year of a 15-year mortgage (this was a just-in- case-something-happens move), bought one inexpensive car upfront with cash, pay off our credit cards every month and have no outstanding debt. We do not go out for all the latest toys and gadgets. We still have to get cell phones which we consider as something needed for safety reasons than anything else. In any case, we save. We put aside money for travel, for IRAS, investments, etc. We don't go out to eat unless we're celebrating our birthdays or our anniversary and then it's at a really expensive restaurant (an excuse to dress up, I guess). We maybe see a Broadway show and/or a movie once or twice a year . We don't go on impulse buying (well maybe some small items like nice clothes which we don't really need at the time but are such a good buy). We plan for big purchases and expenses by careful observance and maintenance of what we own now. Of couse, the big thing is that we don't we have children and it's not for lack of trying. Aha! you say. But you do hear of people who don't have children and have huge salaries and still whine about not being able to afford to go on vacation. In any case, we do plan carefully for vacation. We do a lot of price shopping and research before we go on vacation. Often we start planning for the next one about a month after we come back from a vacation. This way we have about a year to plan out the trip and come up with the cash. We're going to Australia late September into October, 2000. We decided on Australia around December, 1999. Right now, we already know we will be going on two short trips to the southern hemisphere in 2001. This not to say that all we do is pore over travel books and the calculator (there is still the laundry to do, lawn to be mowed, house and car to be maintained, etc.) The point is that we plan and save.

Most people who get into a lot of debt ARE irresponsible louts. I should know. I was one of them. The comment about bankruptcy being caused by illness does have some merit--but I doubt most of those people were debt free before their troubles started. <BR> <BR>Most of us who got in over our heads way too deeply were living above our means--maybe by going out to dinner all of the time, or buying a car just a little more expensive than we should, or buying a house before we could afford it, taking trips to Europe we couldn't really afford. It all adds up--little, by litte. You might not think you're being extravagant, and then WHAM! Suddenly your getting cash advances on one credit card to make the minimum payment on the other, or floating checks. <BR> <BR>Having learned the hard way, I now have one credit card, and I only have that so I can rent a car or check into a hotel. I pay cash for everything I can. The only debt my wife and I have is a couple of small student loans (soon to be paid off) and one car loan (paid cash for the other car). We pay for our trips little by little--pay cash for the plane tickets, save up cash for spending money, pay for the rental car and hotel when the credit card bills arrive. That way, you never take a huge hit all at once.

Dave, will you marry me? (That "dr" in front of your name wouldn't happen to mean Doctor, would it?)

If you have a lot of debt, it is tough to travel. And if there is more than one of you, the travel costs go up. However, you can avoid travel debt by prepaying, getting a frequnet flyer charge card (check out a site like www.mileageworkshop.com), and home exchange. It took us three years of saving frequent flyer miles, but last year my family of four went to Europe on three free tickets. You can make a trip to Europe for the same cost as a trip here, and you don't have to stay in only hostels.

I'm in debt. My ex-wife ran up over $40,000 in debt. I have a mortgage but no car payments for the last 16 years. I plan on paying cash for my next extravagant car (probably my last one as I keep cars for 20 years). I have put together a financial plan to pay off the debts, which I'm following religiously, save money for my trips so I do not incur any more debts. Traveled within the US while my son was in school and now back to international travel. I use ff miles to upgrade to business class for the comfort (I'm 6'4" and the cattle car seats are miserable for me). I do have a couple of gadgets (a 60" hdtv to replace my broken one) because I take both my SLR and my 8mm cameras with me and also video my grandchildren and both are great on a large screen. I got lucky in the stock market the last few years so will be able to continue to travel after I retire. I have a decent size house but am renting a room out in line with my financial planning.

never took a loan out, except for the mortgage which is almost paid for, and with 2 children, we started saving money from when they were born, and manage to cross the ocean because we shop around and do home-exchanges ... but we don't own a video, or the last gadgets other people seem to have, and don't have the last models of cars - whatever the income, you have to decide what's your priority !!

I'll admit it. I was $30,000 in debt on my 8 credit cards. How did it happen? I was trying to be something I wasn't. I grew up as the poor kid on the block, and as soon as I hit adulthood I tried to cover it up by surrounding myself with 'nice stuff' (and taking expensive vacations). I was 32 before I realized that nobody cared what kind of 'nice stuff' I had, or where I went on vacation, and if they did they weren't worth knowing. <BR> <BR>I am happy to say that I am now almost debt free ($1200 left to pay off). I managed to get a decent job making 45k, and I cut up all but one of my credit cards. I also live BELOW my means. I'm now one of the better off people on my block.

Darva, <BR> <BR>Before you make any rash proposals, imagine Drew Carey if he were to gain weight and lose his sense of humour. (Also, my initials are DRS; getting a PhD was merely a painful, laborious coincidence <BR> <BR>-------------------------- <BR> <BR>On the original topic: <BR> <BR>Obviously, at least some of the people on this website are here specifically to plan a trip. And many of the others are probably here because, like me, they first came to plan and then got hooked. My point is that trip planning and financial planning probably go hand in hand. I doubt that travel is an "impulse buy" for many people on this website, or for most Americans in general. <BR> <BR>Dave

Dearest Dave, I care not a bit about your appearance or personality. I would pledge to be the love of your life, to cook your meals, to rub your back, to never leave your side and to love, honor and obey and all that stuff. <BR> <BR>I have but one desire. Promise me that you won't discard toilets in your front yard.