Those obsessed with becoming mortgage free... 3 June 2009 at 8:06AM in Mortgage-free wannabe 30 replies 7.9K views

ironman1

As I've said this site/forum has really helped me since I started using it. I can't wait (how sad!) to start overpaying my mortgage and will try to do so every month or when possible.

My question is, once you start, do you get a bit 'carried away' with it all? I mean would you now think twice about booking that next holiday or even the big day out planned for next month?

I don't want to be come over obsessed with these payments. I still want to do things that I enjoy and have done since I started working. I've never taken out a loan (except the mortgage!) and have always tried to have a few grand in savings, yet still do things I enjoy like going on a holiday or two a year, going football etc.

This is just an interest into how others on here live their lives... Some posts I've read sound quite scary as if paying back the mortgage is the only thing on some peoples minds and all they care about? I really don't want to keep checking every penny and I doubt the missus would let me, but sometimes I feel like it when I log onto this site!

RobertoMoir

I'm not sure I count as a MFW in the sense its used here, but for my 2 pennies worth, what matters is what works for you. If some people want to "go nuts" on paying back the mortgage ASAP no matter what, then good luck to them. If some people want to plod along and pay it off over its "expected" time frame then good luck to them too. I see myself as more "balanced": overpay what you can when you can as long as it doesn't interfere with having a decent life in the meantime.

What matters, I think, is making your money work for you, whatever that means for each one of us.

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

My view is that I can't have my cake and eat it! My choice is that I either pay off my mortgage or live a financially incontinent lifestyle.

My advice is to give it a go with small steps at first. If you try to give everything up and live on bread and water by candlelight for 10 years then you would be lucky to last the week! The trick is to find ways to do the things you like but cheaply. Sit down with your family and discuss what your priorities are and what things you can give up and what things you can't. For us we like to go on holiday but have found cheaper alternatives that we are happy with that fit our budget.

We have given up eating out as its just not worth it for us. try reading 'The Tightwad gazette' by Amy Dacyyzn, I read this from cover to cover and learnt a lot about money saving when I thought I'd seen it all. Its even worth buying as its over 900 pages long and I recouped the cost within the first week by using the money saving tips. It is also good as a catalyst to re-examine your attitudes to spending and saving money.

As for being carried away with it all, well...over the last 3-4 years I would say that not a day has gone by where I haven't thought about my goal but if you take a look at my sig you can decide for yourself if that has been worth it

Any goal in life requires an expenditure of a certain amount of mental effort, even if you were doing a 3 year degree or working overtime to try for promotion, its a goal that you have to focus on in order to meet your target.

I freely admit I am obsessed and I am determined to pay off this mortgage but its a good place to be and I am happy that I have spent time and effort doing this as it has been a huge challenge and benefited my family.

Good luck whatever you decide

Numenor

I'd consider myself fairly balanced too. Paying off the mortgage isn't the be-all and end-all of existence. In the last 8 months I've put together a new computer and gone on holiday, totalling about £2,000 of expenditure that I didn't strictly need, but I have to have a life. I'm just more frugal on a day-to-day basis than I used to be.

littlemrtinkle

another totally obsessed :-)

ironman1

Before anyone gets the wrong idea, I think its great everyone is trying to pay off their mortgages asap, especially with the amount of people in serious debt that I know.

My point was to see how it 'affects' peoples routines. Does it change the way people go about treating themselves and their partners to holidays or even come down to going to a different supermarket over a 10p difference on a box of tea bags?

It's already got me thinking about how much I can overpay on my next mortgage due date at the end of this month!

Im going on holiday next week, which was paid for ages ago, in a strange way it will save us money in terms of food shopping etc for the week we are away.

It is good to know how much we are saving in terms of interest if we overpay regularly

RosieTiger

This is just about finding what works for you - we regard the regular OP as just another bill so it runs in the background. We have left enough over to carry on nice lifestyle, but we know we are fortunate. Others wont have that choice.
But either way, I believe once your eyes are opened you can't close them again. I certainly do think about what i buy - not in terms of changing supermarkets to save 10p on an item. We tend to buy our food at a shop we prefer and know it's more expensive - our money our choice. On other purchases, I think before buying these days, do i really need it, will it make my world better if I have it - just thinking before spending.
But - life's for living now and I also know that being MF would not be worth it for us if we have to sacrifice everything we do !

MoneyQueen

Hi,

I think you will have to decide what works for you and what level you are comfortable with. In our case, I am totally obsessed but DH is fairly balanced.

StuartGMC

Remember it is not a one-off decision. You need to look at the mortgage as part of a balanced portfolio to include pension, your savings, investments and life too. We've overpaid since we started the mortgage in 1994, but the amount of OP dropped a lot once OH went part-time when DD was born. Since then slowly things have picked up but we have always had a good annual holiday, I change cars less frequently etc

The budget I have includes some pub money each month, I still choose to pay for lunch in the staff restaurant and I drive a 3.0L S-Type; but these are choices as RT says. You need to look at things that you know will be required, like how often you change the car (if 3yrs then you need to save 1/3rd of the price to change each year), allow for fridge and freezers to last say 5yrs; what about replacement kitchen, bathroom, windows/doors, soffits/guttering etc

Basically, work out your budget for the above and include in it the things which are important to you in life; if football is part of your life then include it in the budget, life is also for living too and you're on a long haul with the mortgage.

If you also monitor your expenditure then you can make improvements bit by bit e.g. change washing powder and save £100 per year.

However, regularly review in the same way you do your career; sit down each year and undertake an appraisal; are the goals realistic and still valid, are changes likely ahead (redundancy, children etc) which impact?

In summary MFW is simply an extension of taking control of your finances and planning over the next 5 to 10 yrs. Best wishes

Tesco_points_addict

I consider myself to be totally unbalanced!

TPAx

DragonLady

I would say it can become a focus, but not to the exclusion of every ounce of fun! My OH and I are committed to making overpayments as and when we can. My OH is very thrifty - he makes all our meals, he shops very wisely and we are fortunate to live in a relatively rural area that still has butchers, greengrocers, fishmongers etc which offer better quality for less cash than the supermarkets.

I will admit to a getting a buzz from seeing the balance come down...and down! When one of us has made an overpayment, we can't wait to tell the other. We also offset our savings against the mortgage to bring it down (albeit not that much!)

Budgeting is a great idea though and I was staggered when I realised how much I was spending on things that I don't need - that just became a habit. I could easily get through £15 a week on coffees from Starbucks and the equivalents. For things like that, I have cut down to save cash and I do notice the difference at the end of the month when I see what I can move into savings or off the mortgage. The key is that every little helps!