Good thread, sorry I missed it earlier. I'm one of those debt free guys; I have no loans outstanding. I pay off my credit card each month to keep the interest payments at $zero. I really hate monthly payments.

I've been thinking about getting a new truck; when I looked at the price of a new one in the same model, I realized that it would cost a significant chunk of savings and nothing would change. Then I'd have to fix it up to get the same capabilities of the truck I have. I'm considering getting a new/remanufactured engine and changing the clutch in my old truck. It would cost more than I could sell the truck for today, but it would cost much less than a new truck AND my taxes and insurance stay at the lower rate. I could easily get another 10 years out of it with no car payments and low taxes/insurance.

I hate mortgages. I did a spreadsheet a few years ago comparing tax write-off benefits of a mortgage, with the same funds going to a saving account and gaining interest. Suffice it to say that lowering your mortgage payments saves a huge amount of money. Pay off as much of your principle as early as you can to reduce your interest outlays. I have little pity for any of the folks who got caught up in the sub-prime debacle. There's no free lunch, so if something looks too good to be true, expect it to try and take a bite out of your ass. Now lending institutions are looking to get bailed out and folks are having their homes foreclosed. It's a tough situation all around, brought on by greed.

There's no way I could afford to buy the house I live in. Instead, I pay half my GF's mortgage as rent. She gets her principle paid off earlier and I don't pay increasing rent on the much smaller condo-apartment I was in before. It's better for both of us.

Other than that I live below my means, it keeps me cash-flow positive.