Help - why do I want to be mortgage free?

pavlovs_dog

i think a lot of people would kill to be in your position - to be able to 'comfortably' afford overpayments.

personally, i'd find it hard to relax and breathe easy until i knew the house was mine. i'd rather get rid of the shadow, and be able to use my surplus funds to spend as i choose.

but only you know whats best for you and yours. you dont know whats around the corner. if you have money put by for a rainy day/the roof caving in, and you can overpay with money to spare for a bit of fun at the end of the month, then i'd say go for it and get it over and done with. you know then that that £x hundred/thousand per month is yours to spend guilt free on holidays, college funds for the kids, getting a loft conversion etc

do_it_today!

This has been a very interesting thread with many rational for and against arguments MFW! emotionally I too wanna be MF asap so I dont have to stay in a life draining job! however feel I cant leave until a) have cleared debts b) start on the mortgage but in theory I could die 6 months time and what a waste that would be....on the flip side I could start my family in 9-18 months time and then feel torn about having to go back to work so soon (that I dont want!) a happy medium between the two would be good so my plan is that we knock off the consumer debt and part over pay part save some cash (although really I would love to be MF in 3-5 years!) but that would be quite a bit of pressure I think £127k

Kaz2904

ok op I have to say this- what happens if you get landed with Satans child(as some of us do!) and decide that you really need to work? Either way not a problem but it may cost mowre for childcare. If and when you get to thatstage don't beat yourself up some children are hard work and become easier once with other people (been there done that) just don't feel bad if it infringes on your payments- weight it up work or strangle be-elzibubs (sp) child?! It's hard to explain to the family that it's better for everyone fore you to work (been there done that!) hope all goes well!!!

wisbech_lad

I am doing it the other way round - I won't buy a house until I can pay for it in cash. So no mortgage in the first place...

Of course, this attitude is also tied to my career (I move countries every few years) and the fact that my wife and I still haven't decided where to retire to in the end (Bali/ Vancouver/ Sydney are the current front runners, with Bali the favourite)

I do save 50+% of my gross salary, to make up for the fact that I don't have a "forced" saving from a repayment mortgage. We found that once spending went above a certain amount, it didn't make us any happier, so we don't spend above a certain amount! (which is a low % of my salary - I am lucky in that I have a job I enjoy anyway, and it happens to pay pretty well as a bonus)