when mortgage free...

slevin

do you tell people?

if so does the comment "lucky you" annoy you? for most people it is not an element of luck but a lot of hard work and sacraficies that have been made.

would telling colleagues lead to resentment? could it even make you job less safe? "well we could get rid of xyz, he doesn't have a mortgage to worry about".

over to you people who are paid up and shackle free

[Deleted User]

I didn't tell anyone at work but they found out as I reduced my hours to look after my mum. I think there there was resentment and jealousy from a few spiteful individuals and it did sour what was for me, a fantastic achievement of paying off my mortgage through nothing more than hard work. My mum has a degenerative illness and I alway knew she would need more looking after so paying off the mortgage was essential so I could have choices when it was gone.

The best thing you can do is say nothing - not even to family. Unless you want to be forever treated as having lots of money and good to tap for loans etc.. which OH has had from his workshy brother.

uzubairu

Deleted_User wrote: »

The best thing you can do is say nothing - not even to family. Unless you want to be forever treated as having lots of money and good to tap for loans etc.. which OH has had from his workshy brother.

I know the feeling so I'm 100% in agreement.

littlemissbossy

Deleted_User wrote: »

The best thing you can do is say nothing - not even to family. Unless you want to be forever treated as having lots of money and good to tap for loans etc.. which OH has had from his workshy brother.

Agree with this, I haven't told anyone (except my mum who had been worrying about me and hubby losing jobs), people then assume you have loads of money rather than just being thrifty/careful.

littlemrtinkle

best to keep stum, people just think your happy when you skip around the office with a permanent smile on your face.

donstermonster

Even family now presume i must have loads of money and must have had loads of money to do it, they don't see (or choose to forget) the working 70plus hours per week for 3 and a half years prior to finally paying it off (took much longer bit biggest concerted effort was last 3.5 years)

People have asked for advice as to how to do it but all (bar one) say oh we cant cut back or cut down, or pay for holidays etc etc etc - easy way out, i said that for years !!!

MOST of how i did it was being aware of what i had coming in but more importantly where it was going , i realised that my £2.75 cup of coffee each day was £13.75 a week or £55 a month so i just have it on a Friday and take a flask of yummy coffee in the other days, after 5 months i had an extra £250 payment !!!! Over three years that was about £2k in additional mortagage payments just because i cut back (not stopped) having a coffee each day at work

MY best tip is pay it off in £250 chunks, i knew i could not pay off £70,000 but i could pay off £250 so i would ebay until i had £250 or buy multibuys that saved me £1 each time i used them and put that £1 (each time) in a piggy and when i had £250 would pay it off ,

Just go for it, but be aware of the impact it may have on others i am afraid

llydaw

donstermonster wrote: »

Even family now presume i must have loads of money and must have had loads of money to do it, they don't see (or choose to forget) the working 70plus hours per week for 3 and a half years prior to finally paying it off (took much longer bit biggest concerted effort was last 3.5 years)

People have asked for advice as to how to do it but all (bar one) say oh we cant cut back or cut down, or pay for holidays etc etc etc - easy way out, i said that for years !!!

MOST of how i did it was being aware of what i had coming in but more importantly where it was going , i realised that my £2.75 cup of coffee each day was £13.75 a week or £55 a month so i just have it on a Friday and take a flask of yummy coffee in the other days, after 5 months i had an extra £250 payment !!!! Over three years that was about £2k in additional mortagage payments just because i cut back (not stopped) having a coffee each day at work

MY best tip is pay it off in £250 chunks, i knew i could not pay off £70,000 but i could pay off £250 so i would ebay until i had £250 or buy multibuys that saved me £1 each time i used them and put that £1 (each time) in a piggy and when i had £250 would pay it off ,

Just go for it, but be aware of the impact it may have on others i am afraid

Just wanted to say thank you for this practical post. I'm on the MF2009 challenge and should clear the mortgage in 9 years (I am hoping it will be sooner though). I like the idea of the £250 chunks as it makes it sound more manageable and also that you still had a coffee, just reduced it to one a week. I try and cut out completely and then give in big style. From now on I'm going to try your approach. Thanks for inspiring me and congratulations on being MF.:T

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

I totally agree with donstermonster, its the little things that all add up. We are doing the exact same thing in terms of watching what we spend and cutting out/down on the unessentials that we don't miss. Also the paying off in £250 chunks as it seems easier.

As for peoples attitudes, well, we were seen as skinflints, weird, tight, eccentric because we bought groceries from aldi and second hand clothes, used things up and didnt waste anything, but now the same people are saying (do I detect a glint of the green eyed monster?) that its a good idea what with the credit crunch etc.

People know we are aiming and working towards paying off our mortgage but I can see it becoming a problem when we have because they will then see us as being loaded and maybe we'll be classed as tight if we don't splurge like them. We have worked so hard and spent so much time and effort doing this that now its become a way of life and actually good fun, brought us closer as a family and I can't see us changing. We originally started our os ways because we were stoney broke and had to in order to survive but it gets easier the longer you consistetly do it.

So, in answer to your original question, I will be sorely tempted to tell but will probably keep quiet because peopl do get jealous and won't necessarily like it.

getmore4less

slevin wrote: »

do you tell people?

if so does the comment "lucky you" annoy you? for most people it is not an element of luck but a lot of hard work and sacraficies that have been made.

would telling colleagues lead to resentment? could it even make you job less safe? "well we could get rid of xyz, he doesn't have a mortgage to worry about".

over to you people who are paid up and shackle free

I built up to it by telling people how much we cut back on everything to try to pay off the mortgage, build up a big emergency fund(redundancies have been a risk for years) and try to retire early, cheap this, cheap that, clothes from charity shops etc. also pointed people at hotukdeals and MSE when they ask about stuff, I am known for getting the best deals on everything at my place.

We also have an offset(100%) so we can pick and choose what we say without having to lie

Now talking about early retirement that does cause some eyes to pop.

I actualy think on the job front it can make you more secure, they are less likely to give you grief once they know you can walk.

I also think it depends on your age and status we are 50's and no kids that can make a big difference to peoples attitude, they can see it was relativly easy against someone still a bit younger and a few kids.

The other thing to watch out for while heavily focused on the mortgage is that once paid off you do have a significant surplus and need to have plans in place for this, maxing out the ISAs early is a good idea even if the mortgage takes a bit longer, also worth consider practicing other investements to see what suites you.

Remember you accumulate savings faster than you pay of the mortgage because you are no longer paying interest you are getting it paid to you.

StuartGMC

getmore4less wrote: »

Now talking about early retirement that does cause some eyes to pop.

I actualy think on the job front it can make you more secure, they are less likely to give you grief once they know you can walk.

Yes, early retirement these days with pension cutbacks etc is certainly becoming rare at 55. 62-63 is still viable for those on final salary schemes but I think less and less likely as I get there (44 now). The era of early retirement and pensions which would support you are over; state pension for me will be at 66.5yrs, company scheme is 65 but we are already seeing people working beyond 65 and that's not something I wish to be forced to do.

The other thing to watch out for while heavily focused on the mortgage is that once paid off you do have a significant surplus and need to have plans in place for this, maxing out the ISAs early is a good idea even if the mortgage takes a bit longer, also worth consider practicing other investements to see what suites you.

Remember you accumulate savings faster than you pay of the mortgage because you are no longer paying interest you are getting it paid to you.

Very good comment; despite aiming to reduce overall mortgage term we have since we moved to offset in 2006 also been building our Stocks & Shares ISAs; well the money has gone in, value went up then crashed of course, but it is recovering very rapidly so should out perform savings I think from mid-2010. We could have delayed until MF, but the stock market funds are long term returns so earlier you start the better. In fact some of ours have risen 35% since January, so we're only about 18% down vs investment. In addition, just subscribed to a magazine to learn more in preparation for the planning of investments and savings from next year when we should be MF.

In essence the mortgage should be considered alongside your other long term financial planning for pensions, savings and investments.

At work they know we are aiming to clear 10yrs early, but also that I have a desire to buy the Jaguar XF in 2011. As a manager, they just assume I'm paid a much higher salary than is actually the case, and I use the ideas of offset, op etc in discussion with staff about taking overall responsibility for planning your life i.e. do a formal review every 3 yrs to look at your 5 and 10yr plans. In that context it seems more acceptable to then look at the amount of interest saved and how it can benefit you in the investment planning for retirement.

LookAfterThePennies_4

Initially when I started the MFi3 challenge I was telling people of my plans, however I have stopped telling people now, mainly because people either don't believe me when I say I'm aiming to do it in 3 years or they think I must have some other source of income that I'm hiding!I joined the MFi3 challenge in August 2007 and am due (fingers crossed) to finish paying off the mortgage in August this year. However I won't be telling people when its paid off as I feel that I can be proud of myself without other people knowing.