I have gotten lots of "advice" from financial people, but they don't understand the prophets' admonitions to get out of debt.
Here is my situation. We have been quite blessed to have our house paid off even though we are in our early 30s. It is not a fancy or really big house, but it fits our needs.
However, it is in West Valley City, UT, for those of you who know it. Granted, it's in one of the nicer areas of the town. Overall it's been a decent place to live. However, a couple of weeks ago, our nice vinyl fence was tagged all over by gang members, apparently expanding their turf. It bothers me to have that influence around. Additionally, we don't feel like the schools are that good here.
We can move to a nicer part of the valley and get a comparable home if we carry a mortgage of about $40,000. I also wouldn't mind getting another bedroom or two because we may end up with more kids. So then we'd have a mortgage of about $80,000, which is still well within our means. With such a place in a nicer part of the valley, I'd feel like we could stay there all the time our kids are growing up. I'm not sure if I feel that way now.
Given the admonitions to get out of debt, what are your thoughts on the situation? Especially given the economy these days? I have a good job and there's no imminent threat of losing it. But you never know. I'd also almost feel like I'm being ungrateful for the many blessings which we have been given.
