What are your thoughts regarding your own Personal Savings/Debt Methods?

[Slappy from New Haven]

Originally Posted by fredtoast

The key issue here is that remodeling a kitchen is not an expense. It is an investment.

Home equity loans are so cheap right now you might as well get one to do the kitchen the way you want it. The small amount of interest you will pay will be recouped in the added value to your house.


I never had any credit card debt until I was in graduate school. then I ran up a few thousand because I thought I would be making big money when I graduated. Unfortunately that didn't happen and I was already in the habit of spending money I didn't have. It took me a few years to get out of that hole, but I have never paid any credit card interest since. I now get between 2% and 5% back on everything I purchase, but I still doubt I will ever regain the money I threw away on credit card interest.

The interest on the HELOC is also tax deductable

[fredtoast]

Originally Posted by NC Bengal Mike

Your gonna do all that for 5K? Hell my cabinets were 12K

5k is pretty cheap for an entire kitchen, but 12K for just cabinets is ridiculous.

[Benton]

Originally Posted by NC Bengal Mike

Your gonna do all that for 5K? Hell my cabinets were 12K

One ten foot section of lowers and uppers and another six foot section of just lowers. With hardware it's around $2,500. Installing with some friends. My kitchen's a little odd in that it used to be a lot bigger, but the past owners turned a third of it into a giant walk in pantry. So having tons of cabinet space isn't a necessity.

I also don't have any building permits where I live.

But $12k? Either your kitchen is 2,000 square feet or you got some serious handmade stuff. I don't need custom made, just something that looks decent and functions.

[Slappy from New Haven]

Originally Posted by fredtoast

5k is pretty cheap for an entire kitchen, but 12K for just cabinets is ridiculous.

You must have cheap crap in your house and a pretty small kitchen.

[Slappy from New Haven]

Originally Posted by Benton

One ten foot section of lowers and uppers and another six foot section of just lowers. With hardware it's around $2,500. Installing with some friends. My kitchen's a little odd in that it used to be a lot bigger, but the past owners turned a third of it into a giant walk in pantry. So having tons of cabinet space isn't a necessity.

I also don't have any building permits where I live.

But $12k? Either your kitchen is 2,000 square feet or you got some serious handmade stuff. I don't need custom made, just something that looks decent and functions.

I have a boat load of cabinets and it is custom made, all wood no press board. And it is custom.

[WeezyBengal]

I use a credit card for everything. EVERYTHING. I have a capital one miles card and average about 1 free 400 dollar flight per year. Its awesome.

That being said, I make damn sure to pay my credit card off to a zero balance EVERY month. There is 0% interest on the card but still, I hate having the debt over my head.

[Who-Dey Girl]

Originally Posted by WeezyBengal

I use a credit card for everything. EVERYTHING. I have a capital one miles card and average about 1 free 400 dollar flight per year. Its awesome.

That being said, I make damn sure to pay my credit card off to a zero balance EVERY month. There is 0% interest on the card but still, I hate having the debt over my head.

I have thought about doing this. Just paying everything I normally pay with the credit cards and paying off every month to get the rewards.

[fredtoast]

Originally Posted by NC Bengal Mike

You must have cheap crap in your house and a pretty small kitchen.

What is your entire house worth? That will tell me if you overpaid for your cabnets.

I buy good stuff but I don't let people rip me off. I am a smart shopper.

[Who2Dey]

I have never used a credit card. I keep one for emergency in case there is a problem with my checking and savings accounts.

Gained a perfect credit score when I was younger by opening a Zales jewelry account to get a discount on a $400 chain and immediately paid it off before I owed interest on it.

The only debt I condone is in the way of mortgage or car loan. If I could go back I wouldn't have bought a car new...slightly used is the way to go.

Rather than putting extra money in stock or 401k I am paying towards the principle of my house and should be debt free by 36. I'd rather not be handcuffed to banks at all. I don't know how much a dollar will be worth in a few years, so I want to use the ones I have to help me rather than sit on them or gamble with them.

I try to keep roughly half a years salary in savings that is off limits just in case. Once my mortgage is paid off the extra money will likely go back into another investment property of some sort.

Foreclosures.

I also plan on refinancing soon while rates are soooo low.

Gold used to sound like a good idea, but seems pretty useless the further you step back and think about it and the dollar.

[fredtoast]

Originally Posted by Who2Dey

I have never used a credit card. I keep one for emergency in case there is a problem with my checking and savings accounts.

Gained a perfect credit score when I was younger by opening a Zales jewelry account to get a discount on a $400 chain and immediately paid it off before I owed interest on it.

The only debt I condone is in the way of mortgage or car loan. If I could go back I wouldn't have bought a car new...slightly used is the way to go.

Rather than putting extra money in stock or 401k I am paying towards the principle of my house and should be debt free by 36. I'd rather not be handcuffed to banks at all. I don't know how much a dollar will be worth in a few years, so I want to use the ones I have to help me rather than sit on them or gamble with them.

I try to keep roughly half a years salary in savings that is off limits just in case. Once my mortgage is paid off the extra money will likely go back into another investment property of some sort.

Foreclosures.

I also plan on refinancing soon while rates are soooo low.

Gold used to sound like a good idea, but seems pretty useless the further you step back and think about it and the dollar.

You seriously need to get a card with no fee that gives cash back bonuses. People who pay their full balance every month come out ahead. I put about $25K a year on my card, and my bonuses range from 2% to 5%. That works out to several hundred dollars a year.

[Slappy from New Haven]

Originally Posted by Who2Dey

I have never used a credit card. I keep one for emergency in case there is a problem with my checking and savings accounts.

Gained a perfect credit score when I was younger by opening a Zales jewelry account to get a discount on a $400 chain and immediately paid it off before I owed interest on it.

The only debt I condone is in the way of mortgage or car loan. If I could go back I wouldn't have bought a car new...slightly used is the way to go.

Rather than putting extra money in stock or 401k I am paying towards the principle of my house and should be debt free by 36. I'd rather not be handcuffed to banks at all. I don't know how much a dollar will be worth in a few years, so I want to use the ones I have to help me rather than sit on them or gamble with them.

I try to keep roughly half a years salary in savings that is off limits just in case. Once my mortgage is paid off the extra money will likely go back into another investment property of some sort.

Foreclosures.

I also plan on refinancing soon while rates are soooo low.

Gold used to sound like a good idea, but seems pretty useless the further you step back and think about it and the dollar.

No way you have a perfect credit score with only one credit card. As a matter of fact no one has a "perfect" score. The score calculation is a complex mathematical equation that cannot come out as perfect.

a credit score is a moving object based on activity. Plain and simple. The key do "great" credit is manageable debt

I will agree on gold though. Price can only go down.

[Slappy from New Haven]

Originally Posted by fredtoast

What is your entire house worth? That will tell me if you overpaid for your cabnets.

I buy good stuff but I don't let people rip me off. I am a smart shopper.

The cost of my house is irrelevant to the cost of cabinants. If I buy custom made oak cabinets and put linoleum on the floors what exactly do you know about my house?

Do this. Go price a single custom made two door 3 x 4.5 cabinet (oak) with no press board, all solid wood and tell me what you come up with.

You cannot get this from Lowes or HD

Also. The cost of goods is dofferent in Tenn than they are in Charlotte

[Who2Dey]

Originally Posted by NC Bengal Mike

No way you have a perfect credit score with only one credit card. As a matter of fact no one has a "perfect" score. The score calculation is a complex mathematical equation that cannot come out as perfect.

a credit score is a moving object based on activity. Plain and simple. The key do "great" credit is manageable debt

I will agree on gold though. Price can only go down.

Maybe not perfect but at the time that I needed a near perfect credit score I had one. Zales for the car loan, then zales and car loan for the mortgage. Other than that I've never had my credit score checked because I haven't had the need.