I'm 32 years old and I'm 100k debt free and here's what I learned

Last year I paid cash for a wonderful house. I still have a new car and a new truck. I have a beautiful wife and everything I could ever want. <br><br>1. Buy an inexpensive house. If you're going to buy new, the realtor and the builder need a commission. Skip that and get something that was built in the 70s, 80s or 90s that's been kept up. I'm living in a 1960s fixer right now. It was 1/4 the cost of my last house and has 10x the character. Talk in person with the seller. If you get a good read on them you might be able to get a better price. <br><br>2. **If you have debt, stop using your credit card.** Learn to love cash. <br><br>3. Buy a cheap car. It doesn't matter what you drive. In 5 years, you'll want something new anyway. If you're in a hurry to buy a car, you'll get skinned. Buy a car and drive it for a year. In a year you'll know exactly what car you want. When you add a second vehicle to your household, consider selling your old one. I have a new truck and a new car, but I also have two kids, and we live in rural Texas. You don't need two cars. <br><br>4. Do your grocery shopping at Aldi. Nothing is cheaper, and nothing tastes better for the value. They might not have your favorite brand of ranch dressing, but their ranch is just as good. <br><br>5. There are some things for which you should never go cheap. Your mattress, for instance. There's a good chance you'll regret it. Having a good mattress to sleep on is better for your long term health than anything you could do for yourself otherwise. You spend 1/3 of your life in bed, it should be comfortable, and you should go to sleep early and wake up early. <br><br>6. You don't need subscriptions. I've tried them all. I've had Spotify, Apple Music, Apple TV+, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Audible, Kindle, and many other things. I still have Audible because I have hearing loss in one ear and it drives me nuts to wear earbuds. I still have Amazon Prime because I used it enough for it to be worth it. I rarely use the others. I still have Netflix and Hulu, but the last time I used them was over a month ago and only because I was sick as a dog and didn't want to get out of bed. <br><br>7. If you don't like a certain food, try cooking it yourself. I used to hate tomatoes, but my wife used to make the most amazing fresh homemade pasta sauce that I could have eaten forever and never gotten tired of it. Now I love tomatoes. <br><br>8. **Use time wisely.** I used to be so in the mindset of "time is money" that I would hire people for everything. Hire people to mow the yard, hire people to clean the house, hire people to fix things. My experience has been that the quality of hired labor is really poor, and that the things they're hired to do are overpriced for both labor and materials. So if you're hiring someone to do something, you're paying for labor time, materials, and profit. If you do it yourself, you only need to pay for materials. Plus, you'll know it's done to your standards. <br><br>9. Read a lot. I used to have to use audible because I was spending 3 hours per day driving so I could listen to books. I read at least 50 books per year and have for several years now. I'm not saying it's for everyone, but it's been huge for me, and I'm not sure where I would be without it. <br><br>10. Buy new instead of used in certain areas. This is the opposite of what I said about houses. When it comes to things that have engines, new is usually better. I'm on my 3rd car in my life. The first car I ever bought new, the second I bought used. The new one was a 100% perfect car. The used one was a money pit. I bought a new truck, and it has been perfect for 8 years and 110k miles. I bought a new car, and it has been perfect for 2 years and 15k miles. I have never once had trouble with a new vehicle, and I have never had a used vehicle that didn't need lots of repairs. You might be different. <br><br>11. **Read the fine print.** Whether it's subscriptions, credit cards, \*ahem\* chambers gold, or whatever, companies are built to make money. They will make as much as they can in ways that you won't notice until it's too late. Do you have a Chase Freedom Unlimited? What's your interest rate? I have 7 Chase and Citi cards, and I don't pay a cent in interest ever. I always pay my balance, but I also always read the fine print. <br><br>12. The most important thing is time. My house and everything in it could burn to the ground and I would be able to rebuild it in a year or two. But you can't put a price on time. Make sure you're using it wisely.<br><br>YTA if you think this is a humble brag. I'm in the same boat as you. We're not wealthy. I've just learned a lot on my financial journey and am passing on knowledge. <br><br>Edit: I should clarify that the "100k debt free" is a combination of student loans, cc debt, personal loans, and new cars. I still owe 280k on my house. Which is the cheapest house I could buy in this area with 4 bedrooms.