Early in our marriage we bought a new car. Hated having to have car payments. Vowed we would never do that again. After that - the only debts we ever had were mortgage for a small house. If we didn't have money in the bank to pay for something - we never bought it. But also - in context - in the 1970s & 1980s the Church preached staying out of debt in a big way - so that's what we did. (By the way - we have been blessed tremendously through the decades in following that advice. Not having any debts is so freeing - not only financially, but also emotionally and brings less stress into our individual lives and our marriage and family.