My husband & I have just finished making the FINAL payments on OUR home. October 3rd, 2008, was the day we officially FINISHED paying off our ENTIRE home mortgage, every last penny. Hooray, hooray, hooray!
What with the horrible economic situation going on in the world at present - US financial collapse & bail-out, ever-increasing prices of basic necessities such as food & gasoline, the threat of global recession; my husband & I absolutely could not be happier, more content, or feel more secure in our financial situation than we do right now.
We had been planning from the get-go, right from the start of purchasing our house, to pay off our mortgage ASAP, fast, quickly and post-haste. Now, that day has finally been realized, and boy does it feel GOOD! No more sucky mortgage payments, our home is entirely OURS to enjoy! Wonderful. Thank goodness we hatched a quick-mortgage-payoff plan from the start - I can't imagine how stressed-out I'd be in times like these, if we still had the crushing mortgage debt hanging over our heads.
It took us a total of six years, one month, to pay the sucker down. I'm 31 years old, and my husband is 32. We recently had our home evaluated by a Real Estate professional, and she guessed it's approximate market value at present to be around $250,000.00. A 250k asset, entirely in our names. Nothing exorbitant, I'm aware, but our home is comfortable, and provides us with secure living.
It's entirely possible that, given the current economic climate, our home may depreciate somewhat in value - hey, that's normal, given the current possibility of recession. Still, we stand to have made money no matter what. We originally purchased the house for $130,000.00 six years ago. Our house would have to lose a fairly significant portion of its market value, in order for us to lose money on the deal. We've already made over $100K. Suh-weet.
Our home is currently only 6 years old. The house we bought was actually a brand-new construction (contributing directly, therefore, to national GDP - thanks ECON 201, even though I failed that fucking course). We really like having a new house. We know there are no major foundation cracks, the windows & doors are all new, the roof won't need replacing for at least another few years, etc etc etc. The peace of mind of living in a mortgage-free, NEW home, is simply wonderful - I really do believe that NEW HOMES are the way to go, for any young couple thinking about buying.
I really don't feel that we've done anything all that special, in succeeding in paying off our mortgage in it's entirety in 6 years, 1 month's time. My husband is, and always has been, far more excited about the accomplishment - which I really don't see as anything special at all. From listening to other people talk about their finances, and from what I've heard through various sources, it does appear that my husband & I are somewhat of an anomaly. It seems as though it's "normal" to stretch out mortgage-having over decades of time, with many people / families opting for this, rather than the quick pay-down my husband & I opted for. Cripes. Why?
In addition to paying off our mortgage, over the past six years (and one month) that we have had mortgage payments, I can't really claim that my husband and I have ever really deprived ourselves of anything, at the expense of paying the house off quickly. For each of the past six years, for example, we've been able to take lovely vacations to the Caribbean (Cuba) on a yearly basis. We've dined out in restaurants regularly - decent restaurants, with nice food & meals & wine, etc. We've gone out to local shows on Saturday nights. We've been able to continue "renovations" upon our new home, such as finishing the house's basement with floating floors, ceramic tile, a second full bathroom, an extra bedroom, and a wood-burning stove (SO pleasant during wintertime!). We've been able to purchase furniture, household appliances, electronics such as a flat-screen plasma TV with satellite package, desktop & laptop computers, and other things. We've been able to make some improvements to our property, such as installation of a backyard gazebo, and planting a cedar hedge around the perimeter of our backyard. Next year, we may start to think about getting a pool (I want in-ground!). Walking through my house, I can honestly say that there isn't ONE single item here that isn't paid for in full, owned, and entirely belonging to us, OURS.
Is that weird? Am I rich, or something?
I don't usually like to mention the fact that I don't have a mortgage. Okay, so NOT having a mortgage is a relatively recent thing for me - what I mean to say is, that even over the past two years or so, I never used to like mentioning to other people the fact that my mortgage was going to be paid off in full in only two more years' time. NOWADAYS I don't really like mentioning the fact that I don't have a mortgage anymore. Yeah, that's more accurate. I dunno, it just feels weird. I was talking to a guy at work one time - a very nice fellow who I like alot, in his mid-to-late forties, a family man - and during the conversation the topic of mortgages came up. He mentioned that he was in no rush to pay off his mortgage, and would be doing so slowly over the course of the next 10 years. Well, great for him, if he can live with that. I'm 31, and my mortgage is finished.
It feels weird. I have no mortgage, and NO other debt. The only real debt incumbant upon our household at present, is a $20,000.00 loan that my husband took out in order to purchase a newer-model SUV. That was his dream - he really wanted this SUV, a Jeep, and he wanted to purchase it after the mortgage had been paid in full. Well, now it is, and now he has. It's a cool truck, I love riding in it and driving it, and am thinking about maybe purchasing an SUV of my own. But two SUV's in one household might be a bit much. It's weird having no mortgage - I still feel like I have to make responsible financial decisions, rather than piss my money away on stupidities. You have to be so careful what you do with your money.
Aside from the SUV loan, we have no other debt, and that really feels great. I personally owe less than $100.00, combined, on the two credit cards that I use & maintain. I'll take care of paying that off with my next paycheque, due next week. I'm not really sure what my husband's credit cards may be like, but it's low, that's for sure. He will also be clearing his debts I think next pay, or wait - by the end of the month maybe, is what he told me. Whatever. I'm not ever worried about it.
My husband & I both work full-time, we have jobs both at the same company. Neither of us have University degrees - personally, not having a degree is a source of shame for me - combined with the fact that I failed ECON 201, which I attempted to take in pursuit of higher education. I guess maybe I'm not so scholastic. I've been working at the same company, in basically the same job, for the past 11 years. My husband is the same.
I don't particularly LOVE my job, but I'm finding lately, that I'm starting to enjoy work more than I ever have in the past. To be quite honest, I've simply quit taking anything that goes on there very seriously, whereas in the past, different work-related occurrances in my life used to stress me out terribly. I guess, with no longer having a mortgage, I sort of feel that meh, even if I lose my job, I can always find another one - at this point, even working at Wal-Mart would provide sufficient income to cover our bills. The worst for me was, like 4 or 5 years ago, with the new house & mortgage, where I HAD to drag my ass in to work every morning, to get the money to pay for it. No choice in the matter at all, no recourse, no being able to say "fuck this shit, I QUIT", etc. But I did it, and my husband did too, and it all seems to have been worth it now. I'm not really afraid of being laid-off or fired - I can't really be fired from my sinecure, and a lay-off is unlikely for someone with my level of seniority. My husband & I both belong to a labour union. Being unionized rocks. Yeah! I really do find myself smiling, joking, and laughing more than ever before at work now. I really feel like whatever happens, happens, whereas before I would take things very seriously and be gloomy if the company wasn't doing well... if I lost my job, I guess, I was also worried about losing my home as well, due not being able to make the payments! I can't imagine how it must be for people who live their entire lives in that place, people who drag out their mortgages over decades (as my parents did - but their situation was different).
Being mortgage-free is the way to go. Don't drag your mortgage out for years and decades, that will only serve to line the pockets of bankers. Pay the fucker off STAT, and you'll have years where you can enjoy a mortgage-free salary or income.
So I suck ass as economics (ECON 201 = FAIL, me). Still, I can offer the following advice, and this is how Hubby & I became mortgage-free in 6 years, 1 month, when neither of us were born into any kind of money (parents are hundredaires), and when both of us have very normal, workaday, habitant-type of jobs. Pay attention. If you want sound financial advice, take it from me, 31 years old and mortgage free (hey, that rhymes!)!!!
- Credit cards. They suck ass. Don't use 'em. If you MUST use (a) credit card(s), do so sparingly, and pay off the entire balance each month. This is what Hunny & I did consistantly. We were able to do this mainly because:
- LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS. Do not spend money you don't have. Hunny & I are BIG proponents of CASH-ONLY living. If we couldn't afford to pay for it immediately, cash, we never bought it to begin with, hence the no-credit-card-debt thing.
- Make supplementary payments towards your mortgage each year. Lump-sum payments. Hunny & I payed down an average of nearly $10,000.00 extra per year, over and above our regular monthly mortgage payments, towards our mortgage principal, for each year that we had a mortgage. This reduced our interest payments significantly, as well as shortened the life of our mortgage, allowing us to pay it off in full in only 6 years, 1 month's time.
- SAVE. This cannot be repeated enough, save your money. When you receive your paycheque, SAVE FIRST, then budget for expenses. At my very best, highest-rev level of savings, I was putting $1,000.00 a month aside from my pay for SAVINGS purposes only, and was not spending the money at all, except at the end of the year to put lump-sum payments against the mortgage. I recommend that anyone do the same. If you can make lump-sum mortgage payments, your mortgage will be paid off all the quicker. Plus which, that $1,000.00 a month saved was great to have and nice to be able to draw from, for yearly Cuban trips. Now that my mortgage has been paid off in full, I fully intend to continue my savings plan, $1,000.00 per month, to rebuild my finances in a short amount of time.
- Old cars. Hubby & I were driving old-ass, shitbox cars, during the life of our mortgage. What this meant was that we had ZERO car payments, only the cost of insurance, repairs, and gasoline, during the time we were hammering the mortgage down. Yeah, maybe certain people scoffed and thought we looked like losers, arriving to work in my decrepit looking Tercel, but who gives a rat's ass, and we sure the hell don't FEEL like losers now. Who needs fancy cars? The Tercel did the job, and we are now mortgage-free, so Hunny splurged on his dream SUV. HAHAHA! And, I still have my Tercel for now, and am only starting to think about upgrading it. Old cars rule, they rock when it comes to hammering down a mortgage, and will save you thousands of dollars you can put towards your home, rather than a stupid vehicle.
- Purchasing a NEW house, rather than a re-sale home. This is significant, because we've had no major structural repairs to perform on the house to-date; with the only renovations we've undertaken being towards the completion of our basement living space, as previously mentioned. The roof, foundation, windows & doors, wiring, flooring, etc. are all up-to-date and up to code. This allowed us to devote more of our income to paying down the mortgage, rather than repairing our home.
- Controlling our spending. Our home is far from perfect, and we like it that way just fine. We don't have all the latest furniture, and there are a few issues with various things in our home that we've simply chosen to accept & live with until now, as a compromise towards being able to hammer down the mortgage all the sooner. The blind in our master bedroom, for example, is ripped, and has been such for some time, holding together with tape. Our fridge & stove, as well as our dining room set, are all second-hand items which are at least a decade old. Much of our furniture is actually second-hand, although main pieces such as our living room couches were purchased new. Now that our mortgage is paid, after we rebuild our finances (cash), we will start to think about replacing or upgrading some things inside our home. We elected to control our spending by purchasing second-hand furniture and appliances for our home where possible, in order to save some money, and this worked out well in that it helped us to pay off our mortgage all the sooner.
- NOT using lines of credit or personal loans. Again, we operate on a cash-only basis. When we first moved in to our home, my husband & I each contributed $500.00, for a total of $1,000.00, towards the opening of our joint bank account; and these combined funds provided (and still continue to provide) us with a small "emergency overdraft" balance which we could and can use, in the event we were over-budget one month. This overdraft protection remained constant in our joint account the entire time we had our mortgage, and we would then contribute monthly expense funds to the joint account over and above the cushion every month, to cover regular spending. During the entire time we had our mortgage, I can't ever remember being significantly over-budget. However, the couple of times we were, our small cushion really helped. We replenished the cushion, after eating into it, as soon as we were able to do so. It's nice to know that the cushion is there, even though through careful budgeting, it's seldom used. Having & maintaining this cushion sure beats paying overdraft fees to the bank.
It feels great!~ I'm now working for cash only! No more mortgage payments, yippee!!!
Here's a link to an article from Canadian Living magazine about another Canadian couple who also scrimped, saved, and struggled to pay off their mortgage quickly, as we did. They are also now feeling financially secure, as we do, and our hats go off to them! It does seem that the couple in the article deprived themselves somewhat more than we had to, in order to accomplish the early-mortgage-payoff feat, however they have two children whereas Hunny & I have only the dog & cat to think of as dependents. Irregardless, it's nice to know there are some other Canadians out there who are also reaping the benefits of a mortgage-free lifestyle at a relatively young age. Imagine if everyone could accomplish this. I don't believe the US economic collapse would have occurred, or perhaps occurred to the extent it did, if only more people & families made responsible financial decisions.
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