I remember a discussion I had long ago on that subject with LibTards, probably on Raging Bull. I told them how debt used to be cause for embarrassment and was a net BAD thing. They were quite insistent that it was a good thing since it allowed them to get things now that they otherwise couldn't afford.
I've never been able to think like that. I took out debt to buy my first two houses, but I paid them both off early. I'll never take out a mortgage again.
And I've never paid a cent of interest on my credit cards. When I move to New Hampshire, I plan to stop using them, though I'll keep one with me. It's like a cell phone - I don't want to carry it, but it'd be stupid not to have one for emergencies. Things DO come up where I don't have as much cash in my wallet as I might need. But I have to make an effort to get close to operating on a cash-only basis. There's no other way to even get close to approximating an 'off the grid' existence.
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