Mortgage free since last week - how.

Fulham_Mark

i've been reading this board for a while so it's only decent that I give a follow-up story.

If you don't read all of this the summary is that as a person with a savings mind-set I was on the path to Mortgage-free well before I had a mortgage. Luck helped lots, cutting down on costs helped much less and taking a few risks and putting up with some pain was the biggie

so, well before I ever considered owning anywhere i was working for the UK branch of a US company that was about to go under. I was so worried that they would just close the UK company and we would be left wage-less one day that for the last 18months I saved like crazy, luck shone and they actually gave us 6months salary to get-lost and not say anything bad about them. Double jackpot.

The web industry was a wreck so all I could find were 3month contracts in various parts of the UK. I took on cheap short-term rents and lived out of a couple of suitcases. luckily the contracts market improved and I was never out of work.

Finally I bought a place just under 1/4 bar with a 30% deposit.
I was lucky and stupid for 3 years and worked for people who were so unpleasant that the only people who would work for them were people on short-term contracts who were happy to get the money. Real bullies and nutters.

After 2 years I moved to an interest only fixed rate mortgage at the low point in the interest cycle. luck again. I was saving more and savings rates were rising. A relative died and left a few grand too.

So thats how. Lots of luck and some sacrifice.

One person asked me "so what are you going to do now?"
well nothing changes. i've lost out on pension contributions and all the house price gains that other many other people have made (I only bought 4 years ago).
I'd say that the most important thing over the last 4 years was finding somewhere nice to live where I'm happy. If anything has made me happier it has been finding good friends who live nearby and new activities for my spare time. The property owning, cash rich situation certainly hasn't made me a catch either!

I could probably stop working in a few years but I'd get bored, moody, lonely and restless.

Mark

zekepes

Congratulations Mark - a fantastic achievement!

dimbo61

well done MARK clearing £170/175K in 4 years is fantastic !
What more can I say
Its great to be debt free and own your own place ( london ! )
If its hard to slow down on the working and saving then consider saving up a
good deposit 20/25% for either a bigger/better pad or a buy to let if you want to go down that road.
GOOD LUCK on being MF

setmefree2

Well Done:T:T:T:T

Steel_2

What a star! Well done!

Hubby and I have been talking back and forth about living off one wage and using the other to pay of the mortgage. At the moment, I'm earning the most although that may not last as I'm self-employed, but I could cover everything at the moment.

That would leave us up to £1300 a month to hit the mortgage with and we'd be clear in about 3.5 years.

But it's one hell of stressful commitment on a self-employed wage.

Fulham_Mark

thanks everyone.
I think I kept my spending to about £1300 a month inc mortgage, holidays and the occaisional bike. Most of this was bills and mortgage.

In you're running a limited company there is a way to take all income (not VAT) and put in into your off-set mortgage account to reduce interest. I didn't do this and it's a bit complex to make it 100% legit so see an accountant.

If you can't boost your income then going interest only and doing clever things with savings is a good option

Mark

noodles42

Well done Mark - and what a great read :-)

I've been working like a dog to get some o/ps in and was seeing other people saying they have cleared £150K mortgage in 3 years and wondering what in hell I was doing wrong (other than treating myself to a motorbike that is). So it was really good to hear that lady luck does play a part.

Congratulations and well done on sticking through nasty employers to get where you are :T

esthomizzy

Well done I love to hear the success stories it spurs me on a bit.