Lets talk about debt.

[Blevyou know]

My situation:

I just recently came out of debt other than a home mortgage. (Paid off school loans, credit card, vehicles, etc.) Now I will begin to save. I hated the feeling of being in debt and obviously love the feeling of having "no" debt. So basically I sit here and save. Save for retirement. Save for emergencies. Save for the future. Bottom line is, that isn't fun! I'm a single 24 year old with a dog and cat, no wife and no kids.

I've always listened to Dave Ramsey, a talk show host who strictly believes in NO DEBT, SAVE, SAVE, SAVE. When do I get to have fun?

Share some experiences and tips as to what you have gone through or done, good and bad.

Enjoy your Thursday. I'll be sitting at work... Trying to work.

[Jeff_in_Atl]

Open a brokerage account somewhere and play with trading. I use Fidelity. I am handling my mom's retirement money. Money market rates are 4.98%. The stock market is running about 3.5% for the year.

[Performin Norman]

Start paying into a retirement fund. The sooner your start, the more leverage you have by the time you retire.

Another thing, don't get to conservative. You need to enjoy some of that money while you are young. You are only that age once.

[Joe K. 99 Zeee!!]

Check around for a credit union that has some good interest rates for their accounts. Credit Unions are non-profit, but act just like a bank. They work for their account holders. In doing so, they usually offer higher interest rates on accounts and don't charge the same nickle and dime fees that banks do. Most have some sort of restriction to membership. Sometimes you have to live in a certain area or work a certain place.

More interest means more flexibility to spend or save without any sacrifices.

Check out this site: http://www.creditunion.coop/

This is good as well: http://www.joinacu.org/

I use Navy Federal and absolutely love it.

[Gary94Formula]

Great start.... Save in the matching accounts where you can get the most bang for the buck. Your ahead of most and keep up the good work. However, don't save it all and not enjoy yourself. You'll only regret that later. You can find things that are fun that don't cost a lot. Focus on those first.

I've been debt free for years and I'm well on my way to retire at 55 with a house and a vacation home..

[Jeff_in_Atl]

Start paying into a retirement fund. The sooner your start, the more leverage you have by the time you retire.

Another thing, don't get to conservative. You need to enjoy some of that money while you are young. You are only that age once.

Yea let me second this. Put as much as you can in a retirement account. It's pretty amazing when it gets into the 6 digit range. One day in the stockmarket can make it go up or down the value of a car.

[Blevyou know]

GREAT info fellas!

[Blevyou know]

Retire at 55 is my goal. That sounds great!

[sneitzel]

...enjoy some of that money while you are young....

It's all about balance. By all means indulge in some of the things that make you happy. Just make sure that that indulgance does not come at the price of short circuiting your future.

Take a small amount of the money you are currently saving and put it into a separate savings account. Separate from your retirement and separate from your emergency fund. When you see something you like that is going to cost a significant sum check your "fun" account and make the appropriate decision from there.

Scott

['STANGETR]

I'm a single 24 year old with a dog and cat, no wife and no kids.

WOW!! I'm 24, have a husband (or 2......just kiddin'!), 1 son, 3 cats, 1 dog.....and I'm broke You got it made, baby!! Stay with it, and stay away from those credit cards

[Christopherrr]

stay away from those credit cards

:ointing finger:: Evil! EEEvil!!!! LOL!

I'm in such a hole...CC are great to build credit, but man, don't go over board with them. I was such an idiot when I was young.

[Blevyou know]

Definitely staying away from the credit cards minus the two that I have for work and to simply build credit. I may start a roth IRA on top of my company 401K. Does anyone have one?

Stangetr: You sound like you have a nice busy life! That's definitely a good thing!

[Craig 94 TA GT]

I'm 26 and currently putting in 15% into my 401k, and the company matches 5% to give it a total of 20%. I'm almost maxing out my ROTH as well. I'm also putting large chunks into my credit union earning 5% APY, as well as a safe mutual fund that pays roughly 9%.

The only thing I don't like is: inflation is roughly 3%...if you earn 5% interest, and pay 25% back into taxes, your net gain isn't so hot. It is safe though, which is one definite plus.

The trick I've been using for my credit cards is....buy something expensive (like a Moser 9") and pay it off right away. It brought my score up to the near max.

Hopefully all this saving will pay off one day...sometimes it's tempting to blow a lot of it for 600 horsepower