I've Done It!! I'm Finally Mortgage-free

llydaw

thank you for your advice. My aim is to clear the mortgage, which I will start paying into once the major building works are finished on our house, which will be March. Your story has been very inspiring and I'm determined to remain focused.

Enjoy your freedom from debt.:beer:

pink_fairy_7

Well done on paying it off and thanks for some good advice. You're right, you just need to focus and it can be done.

We hope to join you in 5 years.:D

keeperbear

Excellent news! Well done! The best feeling in the world. What will you do with the spare cash?

I loved paying off the mortgage on my flat, and have since used the spare money to finance a 2nd home in the USA.

Martinslovechild

keeperbear wrote: »

Excellent news! Well done! The best feeling in the world. What will you do with the spare cash?

I loved paying off the mortgage on my flat, and have since used the spare money to finance a 2nd home in the USA.

Thanks!

As I said in a previous post, i'm keeping tabs on the housing market. As I strongly believe that there will be a crash after 2010, I'm going to save towards a (hopefully much cheaper) second property which we'll purchase at the bottom of the next housing cycle (approx 2013-2015).

If this doesn't work out, then there's nothing lost. We'll use it for future holidays/early retirement/new hi-fi. Anyone's guess really!

Well Done on buying a house in the States. They're getting cheaper over there almost by the day, and with the pound getting stronger (now over $2 and could hit $2.25 says Barclays), your decision to buy there will hopefully prove itself to be a shrewd one.

keeperbear

Martinslovechild wrote: »

Well Done on buying a house in the States. They're getting cheaper over there almost by the day, and with the pound getting stronger (now over $2 and could hit $2.25 says Barclays), your decision to buy there will hopefully prove itself to be a shrewd one.

Thanks. I hope it will be a shrewd move, but it is certainly low risk considering that I am mortgage free in the UK! After comparing the UK and US housing markets, it seemed madness to even think about buying a bigger property in the UK.

Good luck to you and your mortgage freedom!

cupid_s

Congratulations!
I'll be taking some of your tips on board to help me in my quest - thanks.

Martinslovechild

cupid_s wrote: »

Congratulations!
I'll be taking some of your tips on board to help me in my quest - thanks.

Cool! Go for it Cupid!

Remember to keep me posted with how you're progressing with clearing your own mortgage.

Lord_Lardington

Congratulations on superb stoozing and mortgage-freeness.

One question … I might be missing some point here but am I too infer that although you are mortgage free you still now have £50k+ in credit card balances left to clear (admittedly at 0%)?

Cheers

Lardington

Martinslovechild

Lord_Lardington wrote: »

Congratulations on superb stoozing and mortgage-freeness.

One question … I might be missing some point here but am I too infer that although you are mortgage free you still now have £50k+ in credit card balances left to clear (admittedly at 0%)?

Cheers

Lardington

Thank You kindly, your Lordship .

I have approximately £40K outstanding at 0%, some of which is in my name and the remainder in my wife's (although I do all the admin). The entire pot is currently sitting in my wife's savings account (she pays less tax than me!).

So in answer to your question - the mortgage is fully paid off. The outstanding £40K remaining on 0% credit cards is simply now my stooze pot. I pretty much decided to give up stoozing because the fees make it difficult to see a good return, but then a couple of card offers came along which were too good to refuse!

As BT fees keep hitching up (one of my cards has increased its BT fee from 2.5% to 2.75%) and the average now appears to be around 3%, I would consider a new card only if the 0% period has a long enough duration.

For example, £6000 at 0% for 12 months with a 3% fee would still net me £108 after tax assuming a savings rate of 6% gross. On this basis, I'm currently making approximately £720 p.a. after tax.

I'm not going to retire on this amount, I agree - but it pays for my car insurance, car tax and house insurance, so I consider it worth the effort.

Lord_Lardington

Very much worth it, especially now you've built it up.

A very enviable position, well done again.

Cheers

Lardington