I'm 34 and my wife is 30. We are debt free. We paid our home off, cars, and bought 20 acres with cash 1.5 years ago. I'm blessed to have a good job. I barely made it through high school and no college. My wife has a decent job. My key to being debt free...Start ASAP, I began saving since the day I started working. I have never been materialistic. I bring my lunch to work, drive a humble vehicle, and think through my purchases and don't impulse buy. I'm a big fan of craigslist buying used. We do most everything ourselves....clearing our land with our tractor, fixing our cars and home repairs etc. We save our money, but enjoy it as well. We have been to almost all the continents except Antarctica but do the planning and leg work ourselves. We pay our bills with an air miles credit card, and keep a zero balance. We are not flashy, most people would think we're just getting by if they walked by us on the street. I had a head start by working full time when most people were in college, and no college loans. It could end tomorrow, but you can still make it with the old school mentality! This takes dicipline and not keeping up with the Jones'. We have no kids at this point, things would be different if so, we wouldn't be debt free I'm sure. With the internet now, you can fix almost anything and learn how to do things yourself. Once we build our new home I want to work into being as self sufficient as possible on our 20 acres. The way the economy is looking, that'll be key debt or no debt! Again, I'm blessed with a good job, but it takes hard work to keep it 16 years at this point. Good luck!