Has anyone here been able to stay ahead of the debt?

[StanleyZEN]

I will say I am somewhat in debt, but it's manageable. But, I would like to eventually get ahead of the debt and pay it all off, and continue to pay off any debts as they come in. Is anyone here living good enough to where they're ahead of the debt? 

[James]

2 Years ago I completed my goal of having zero interest bearing debt in my personal life. I finally paid off my mortgage against the advise of so many people. Yes I still use credit cards but just to manage day to day activity and to get my cashback rewards. A balance never gets to the point of having a interest charge hit the credit card. I do use debt in our personal life in a smart way though still but make sure I always have the cash to cover the expense. 

So we purchased my wife a new car last year. Ford was offering 0% interest. So we picked that up and I just invested the total value of the car with the cash that was going to be used to pay for the car. I am pretty sure I can beat the 0% rate and I also know that if anything bad were to happen the capital is there to cover the car. 

Not having to worry about making a mortgage payment though and thinking about what rock bottom looks like when you have no debt is a great feeling. Knowing that I could live with any minimum wage job and still live in my home is very freeing. 

I am a strong advocate of living a debt free life and staying within your means. It keeps you away from having to be a corporate slave and gives you options about how you want to live your life instead of that being a risky endeavor. 

[Stacey]

I had debts. Some of those I paid off, others I had to ride out and let fall off my record because it was already too late to make a difference. As of now, I have 2 credit cards and I seldom use them. I am almost too afraid to be in a position where debt is chasing my every financial decision.  

[Xavier MG]

Yes, i am still working my way out of debts, but since last year, i developed a formula that works perfect form. It is all about your mindset. 

 I adopted a strategy from Brian Tracy's "Get Out of Debt". I realized i was spending more than i earn! That was forcing me to always be in debts. I resolved to change that and practiced frugality for the last 12 moths. I stated slowly be saving 1% of my income and using 99%. Today, i save up to 20% of my income and still live a decent life. By only doing that, i now have 6 months of saving. I can stay for 6 months without income and still maintain my current lifestyle.