What is your level of debt

What is your level of debt, and what are your plans for dealing with it?

We've slashed our costs absolutely to the bone and are seeking to cut further.
Our idea of a vacation is attending a family funeral. A hot night on the town is Denny's
once a month. We threw the television out the window and I delight in the please come back
letters Direct TV sends us. Most of our regular costs are fixed. Using Skype as our long distance
service was a major coup, thirty bucks a year rather than thirty bucks a month for unlimited
long distance. We buy food in bulk and eat very well as a result, but Deb is a traditional home maker
from another era. Her labor at home could not be compensated on the open market. She grinds
wheat berries and cans. Most of our food is done from scratch. When I say scratch - I'm talking
making our own pasta from wheat ground ourselves. We keep the thermostat at it's lowest level
and the house hovers between forty and sixty degrees with the sun. But we aren't cold. 10,000 BTU
kerosene heaters that can be carried where you need them keep us cozy. The Jim Phillips thermal
TJ's are absolutely incredible. The temp in the house is fifty degrees at the moment, but I am cozy
(Well my feet are a bit cold) Last year before we got the kerosene and the TJ's our heating costs were
65-100 gallons of propane a month plus all the firewood you could chop. So far this year we are burning about 25 gallons of propane and 20-25 gallons of kerosene - which we also use for lighting and some cooking. At that rate of usage we won't need kero until August (200 gallons cost us 1,000) and we won't need propane for two and a half years (eight hundred gallons cost us 2400 dollars) - and we haven't chopped any firewood yet. One other measure we have decided worth doing is to declare it a rainy day and start eating the long term storable food. Done for a year early on it could make quite a dent in the grocery bill along with our flock of chooks.

These savings are all dumped into our mortgage, which is our only debt. At the moment, our mortgage
is $126700. Using the plan I have outlined elsewhere we are aiming at paying it off free and clear in just
over three years.

At least that's the goal. Variation happens. If I get laid off we'll be out in the street like the rest of America. But until then, it is arses and elbows headlong towards the goal. Once achieved we will focus
on improving the property which would be ideal for a horse or two and sell it. Then depart for places unknown and vanish from the tax system and under the radar.