It's Simple To Be MF

thaylock

It really is common sense really, but are you prepared to do what I did ? There is no easy answer to becoming MF - just sacrifices for long term gain & happiness...

1. Purchased a house 15 years ago for £64,000 with £25,000 deposit.

2. Saved for the next 6 years - no holidays - no nice cars - no nothing - just worked hard.

3. So 6 years into the mortgage I have enough savings to pay the mortgage off so I thought, well I have never seen the money - I don't need the money for anything so I thought sod it - I will pay off the mortgage - cleaned me out completely but I didn't care.

So I have been mortgage free for 9 years & it's nice not to have to worry about interest rates, losing my job, or anything else for that matter - was it worth giving up nice things for several years - I think so even though I know lots of people will disagree - Well there is not such thing as a free lunch & anything worthwhile having requires effort & sacrifice.

I haven't posted this with the intention to bragg, merely to state it's not easy & it's common sense really - if you can afford to do what I did.


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Barneysmom

Well done! It must be a fantastic feeling to know you're mortgage -free!
We were really saving hard till my son's wedding came up in April then 4 weeks ago daughter bought a new house, so the nippers have cleaned us out :rotfl:
But, now they're off our hands and not likely to cost us loads of money any more we can get back to business and try and get ours cleared a bit quicker.
We overpaid £500 last year and £1200 the year before but this year so far has been pretty hard.

So, onward and upward!
I've got a new jumper, and just said it's got to last 5 years
You just reminded me, we haven't got an overpay your mortgage day thread running at themoment so I'll start one off.....

mark5

Well done, I dont think it would have been quite so easy if you were 10 years younger though!

shirlgirl2004

Well done. It is all about balance. We all have different comfort zones on what we are prepared to give up. We could save a fair bit if our daughter went to state school but I'd rather have a mortgage a bit longer and send her to the school we choose. Those sorts of decisions aren't easy, for me giving up new clothes is a no brainer though.

FlowerPower

I think the hard part is finding a house for £64k these days... around here it won't even get a bedsit

thaylock

I was only stressing reducing your mortgage is a no brainer - it's not rocket science - you may have to give up some luxeries in life to reap rewards else where. I appreciate it's more difficult to do these days due to inflated house prices so good luck to those people who are making overpayments - you will be glad you did in the end when at the time it may not seem like that.

mspoppins

Great example and inspiration for people! It is amazing how little money we actually need to survive. It's the consumerist life-style that says we need to spend on this and spend on that.

Talking about nice cars - I got mine for £1800 and it's the best car in the world so, next time you feel like spending £20,000 on a new model, ask yourself: do I really need it?

shirlgirl2004

mspoppins wrote: »

Great example and inspiration for people! It is amazing how little money we actually need to survive. It's the consumerist life-style that says we need to spend on this and spend on that.

Talking about nice cars - I got mine for £1800 and it's the best car in the world so, next time you feel like spending £20,000 on a new model, ask yourself: do I really need it?

"Do I really need it?" is the question I always go back to when making sure I'm not being frivolous. To make sure I'm being honest with myself I also ask myself "Will I still think I need it next week or will I have forgotten about it?"

FlowerPower

thaylock wrote: »

I was only stressing reducing your mortgage is a no brainer - it's not rocket science - you may have to give up some luxeries in life to reap rewards else where. I appreciate it's more difficult to do these days due to inflated house prices so good luck to those people who are making overpayments - you will be glad you did in the end when at the time it may not seem like that.

Yes, you're totally right. It's really inspiring that you were so dedicated to becoming mortgage free, and it's such a great example to show it really can be done.
Sorry I didn't mean it to come across that I think you had it easy - I really don't think you did! I was in a bit of a pessimistic mood that day - moping about house prices, and how my efforts seem to be having so little effect on that big number on my mortgage spreadsheet!
But stories like yours are proof that those efforts will make a difference, even if it seems ages away now.

Off to repeat my mantra:
*must stay positive, must stay positive*

Vincenzo

Whether it is worth doing really depends on your personal circumstances. Personally I have chosen not to overpay, despite saving nearly £800 per month in interest. Instead I save and invest the extra money. I have actually made a lot more on my investments than I would have saved in interest over the same period but this could of course have worked the other way too!

I expect to move at least one more time and will trade up, so it makes little sense to pay off a mortgage on a great rate (lifetime tracker) only to borrow it back again later.

setmefree2

Well Done:T