Last year, I was celebrating the fact that we were debt free in early August. By the middle of August, we had officially purchased a house and were once again in debt. I don't necessarily believe that everybody needs to take out a mortgage to buy a house, but it is the one debt that I accept. It can be okay to take out a mortgage, because a house is an investment. Now, this doesn't mean that you should go and put yourself into 30 years of debt. I am personally a fan of the 15-year mortgage, because I prefer to get debt out of my life as fast as possible. Due to this belief, my wife and I took out a 15-year mortgage and have been making extra principal payments.