Readers speak on debt — surviving vacation

After a couple of weeks away from the office, I returned to the expected flood of e-mails.

But after wading through the spam, I found some useful comments on recent columns, which I'll share today.

A reader named Liz wrote to say she is amazed at the financial messes other letter-writers have talked about in recent weeks.

"My husband and I are in our 50s and have been debt free for about six years," Liz wrote. "The only debt we have had from the time we got married was our home.

"As I have been reading your articles lately about debt I think it might be helpful to define the different kinds of debt. There is debt for those things that are essential: a home and education. There is debt for things that are helpful: a car. Beyond that, every other kind of debt, in my mind, is frivolous."

Liz wrote that she and her husband went years without dining out or buying furniture for their living room because they could not afford it.

"But, there is an interesting thing that happens when you work and scrimp and save to stay out of debt and pay off your home. All of a sudden, you are wealthy. You own your own home, your retirement account and investments have grown to amazing proportions and you are at peace with yourself and the world."

The best time to start such saving habits is early in one's life, Liz wrote, because that gives compound interest more time to work its magic.

"I am sad to read about people nearing retirement whose debt load is burdensome or who have not saved for retirement," she wrote. "It must be an awful worry. Keep encouraging people to get out of debt and to learn the blessing of making interest instead of paying interest."

I will, Liz. And thanks for your example.

Several friends, colleagues and readers also said they relate to last week's column about working extra hours before and after a vacation.

One reader, who wishes to remain anonymous, wrote about a vacation to Alaska she and her husband took last year. They exhausted themselves preparing to leave, she wrote, and perhaps because of that, she grew ill on the plane as soon as the trip began.

Touring Alaska was amazing, she wrote, but she "couldn't help wishing I was back home in a bed that made me feel better, and work that wouldn't pile up because I could address it on a daily basis. I also knew I'd be coming home to hundreds of e-mails.

"At one point, in a small, rather ugly cigarette-smoke-infested hotel room, which was costing a fortune ... I saw a 10' by 10' patch of grass the owner had planted next to a picnic table. That patch of grass became breathtaking to me. Why? Because it resembled my tiny patch of grass in front of my tiny downtown Salt Lake home. At that moment I realized I could have a vacation and go nowhere."