Filed my return, no new bass gear this year

KingRazor · #1 02-01-2012, 12:47 PM

Filed my taxes and it looks like I won't be buying any bass gear this year, or at least not until later in the year.

But, on the bright side, I can bring my student loan down to below $200.

No new gear, but I'll be practically debt free.

Balog · #2 02-01-2012, 01:03 PM

Being debt free has been one of the best things that's happened to me in my life. Far better than any possession.

Out tax return is going into fixing up the house.

Demon_Hunter · #3 02-01-2012, 01:31 PM

debt free??? what the heck does that mean and how does it feel!?!?

LarryO · #4 02-01-2012, 01:32 PM

Money comes and goes......Don't sweat it.

Gopherbassist · #5 02-01-2012, 01:40 PM

I'm getting a small tax return this year, but I'm going to use it to start a nestegg for bass gear.

MatticusMania · #6 02-01-2012, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Balog

Being debt free has been one of the best things that's happened to me in my life. Far better than any possession.

Im not there, but I would think that being debt free is better than just about any possession one could have.

Chebass88 · #7 02-01-2012, 02:47 PM

We're getting an extra mortgage payment from our return. Not too shabby.

thomashawk · #8 02-01-2012, 02:56 PM

Don't stress it man. I was buried in debt for 20 years. My wife and I made a plan, and while it took 5 years (including mortgage in NYC), we paid everything off one year ago. Since then I have felt rich every frickkn day! Good luck man!

KingRazor · #9 02-01-2012, 03:00 PM

I'll feel better when I have a job. Been collecting unemployment since November and it's really sucked not being able to buy stuff.

But yes, being debt free will be nice, at least until I start at a 4 year university and take out another student loan.

Balog · #10 02-01-2012, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KingRazor

I'll feel better when I have a job. Been collecting unemployment since November and it's really sucked not being able to buy stuff.

But yes, being debt free will be nice, at least until I start at a 4 year university and take out another student loan.

It's very possible to pay your way through college. Loans seem easier at the time, but are the sort of thing that makes Admiral Ackbar get upset.

reasonbass · #11 02-01-2012, 06:25 PM

Better to be debt free, than having to sell your gear to settle your debts.

tplyons · #12 02-01-2012, 06:30 PM

My tax return is covering the portion of my MBA that my company isn't covering.

Joe Gress · #13 02-01-2012, 06:31 PM

After I pay my school bill, my plan is for a shiny butterscotch ASAT. And since my bill got cut by 70% since professors hate my ass, I'm going to eat my cake too.

runmikeyrun · #14 02-01-2012, 09:31 PM

I'll be almost debt free in a few months... clearing $120,000 in debt with a bankruptcy. Divorce sucks.

dragonwagon · #15 02-01-2012, 09:59 PM

I'm currently walking away from a student loan I've been paying on for... forever... and not making a dent. Oh, and I owe the IRS this year. Good times. New bass gear? Hell, all of my stuff is borrowed. I don't even own any yet. Yep, I'm one of those people that will never understand the whole money thing. It's as alien as it gets to my heart and mind.

KingRazor · #16 02-01-2012, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Balog

It's very possible to pay your way through college. Loans seem easier at the time, but are the sort of thing that makes Admiral Ackbar get upset.

If I could afford college, I could afford to not go.

I'm going to college so I can get a job that pays better than minimum wage, because that's all I've been able to get so far. I don't have the skills or experience for most jobs that pay better than that.

The only way I'll be able to afford tuition at a 4-year university is to take out a loan or two.

Balog · #17 02-02-2012, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dragonwagon

I'm currently walking away from a student loan I've been paying on for... forever... and not making a dent. Oh, and I owe the IRS this year. Good times. New bass gear? Hell, all of my stuff is borrowed. I don't even own any yet. Yep, I'm one of those people that will never understand the whole money thing. It's as alien as it gets to my heart and mind.

You can't walk away from student loans. They (like SBA loans) are not bankruptable. You have to pay them in full if you ever hope to work a job other than cash under the table again.

SoonerMatt · #18 02-02-2012, 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Balog

You can't walk away from student loans. They (like SBA loans) are not bankruptable. You have to pay them in full if you ever hope to work a job other than cash under the table again.

Obama passed a law that offers student loan refinancing to recent graduates and forgiveness if you've been paying on time for 20 years (!!) and still aren't caught up.

My tax return is going toward a deposit on an apartment in Chicago and/or my first student loan payment this March/April. The joys of only taking 1 class your last quarter....

Balog · #19 02-02-2012, 09:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KingRazor

If I could afford college, I could afford to not go.

I'm going to college so I can get a job that pays better than minimum wage, because that's all I've been able to get so far. I don't have the skills or experience for most jobs that pay better than that.

The only way I'll be able to afford tuition at a 4-year university is to take out a loan or two.

Factually incorrect. You can deliver pizzas, or stock shelves, or be a security guard, and I bet with a bit of application could run a cash register. All of which are >minimum wage jobs, all of which can accomodate a students schedule, and all of which you can hold 2 or 3 of at the same time. Add in applying for every grant/scholarship you can find, and it's very possible to finish a 4 year degree at a state college without debt.

And look at the guy above you. Student loan debt never ever ever goes away unless you pay it in full. The only way to be absolved of even a portion of it is to prove conclusively that you are so utterly incapable of work that you have no future hope of every making any income whatsoever. What happens if you get thousands (or tens of thousands) in debt for college, then you don't finish? You're right back where you are now, except with crushing debt looming over your head.

You should check out Dave Ramsey and his Financial Peace University course. The idea that it's not possible to live without debt is a vile and pernicious lie told by the credit industry. Prov 22:7 "the borrower is the slave of the lender."

MatticusMania · #20 02-02-2012, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KingRazor

If I could afford college, I could afford to not go.

I'm going to college so I can get a job that pays better than minimum wage, because that's all I've been able to get so far. I don't have the skills or experience for most jobs that pay better than that.

The only way I'll be able to afford tuition at a 4-year university is to take out a loan or two.

If your plan is to go school to earn more money why not just get a second job waiting tables instead?
Think of it like this, school is going to cost a lot, and youre going to go into debt because of it.
That debt will need to be paid off when you finish school, and it'll most likely take a long while to pay your loans back.
So, even if you finish school, how long will it be before youre back to being even? Then how long will it be before youre actually making more money than you are now?