The Mortgage Free Roll Of Honour

sarahevie1

Afraid I totally forgot about this thread, sorry. But as I've only been a month into mortgage free I hope it's ok to post on here

a. The date you decided to become a MFW :
Hadn’t thought about it until I joined MSE in December 2010. Although remember being horrified by my first mortgage illustration based on a 30 year term we'd have paid back £306,000 to borrow £143000:eek::eek:

b. Mortgage Debt at its highest :
November 2007 – £143,000

c. Mortgage-Free Date
24th August 2018

d. Your one pearl of wisdom.
Have frugal fun along the way, learn to see no pleasure in material things, charity shops can be your best friend.

e. The MSE Mortgage guides and others that helped you
All the diaries on the MFW board

f. And if you had a mortgage freedom diary on MFW, a link to it
Sarahevie's single quest to mortgage freedom.

Brambleberry

I've finally made it! Currently mortgage free and debt free :j

a. The date you decided to become a MFW
I've always wanted to be MF, since reading the Tightwad Gazette in 2002 and finding out it was a thing, and actually possible.
b. Mortgage Debt at its highest
Total of £120000, plus other random debts along the way.
c. Mortgage-Free Date
October 2018
d. Your one pearl of wisdom.
Don't be discouraged if people laugh at your budgets. Each to their own, two spreadsheets with about 14 pages each has worked for me! (Simply - know where your money is going and what it's doing when it gets there )
e. The MSE Mortgage guides and others that helped you
I've read many of the MFW diaries, so many inspirational journeys on there, and many thanks to the MFW 2018 group, especially to Hiddenshadow and Pawlala for providing a structure to see off the last year of payments. I've also lost count of the times I've tinkered with the overpayment calculator to figure out what I can afford to do.

charlie3090

a - august 2011

b - 76000

c - 12/10/2018

d stop wasting money on "things" you want but dont need

e reading people diaries, its inspiring and so many great ideas

f no diary,just an avid reader/lurker.

unkster

I started on MSE in October 2011, i cleared my debts, Mortgage and bought 2 almost new cars by August 2018. I'd like to thank everyone on here for all the tips over the years.

Youthgonewild

Well done to all of you

Bacman

My wife and I took out a mortgage in 1996 and I insisted with the bank to have the longest interest-only mortgage we could get. We couldn't make changes to the policy until after the first 5 years, on that day we went in and after saving very hard for 5 years managed to pay half of the mortgage amount so took out a repayment mortgage (longest term again to pay less interest per month) and ploughed everything we could into it. Bottom line is we paid off the mortgage in full on the house in 8.5 years from start. No luxuries, everything we earnt went into paying off the mortgage as it was cheapest overall to do that.

We later sold our house and bought a flat which was far cheaper, meaning we could retire early.

I also have gained over £80 on Checkoutsmart and have about half that on Topcashback.

So kind moderators, could I please have the following badges please? Thanks very much!

beanielou

Bacman~~you will have to post on the revelent threads to get your badges I think.
I think MSE Badger looks on the different threads.

What badge is the coat holder one?

Sherbet66

a. The date you decided to become a MFW
2009, when the interest rate crashed
b. Mortgage Debt at its highest
£129,000 (2008)
c. Mortgage-Free Date
01/11/2018
d. Your one perl of wisdom.
Excel/Google Sheets is your friend
e. The MSE Mortgage guides and others that helped you
Overpayment calculators keep you motivated!

AL150N

... since 2005 (after 25 years)
Highest debt: somewhat over £100000.
One pearl (not perl, that's a computing language :-) of wisdom would be per Mr Micawber "Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen [pounds] nineteen [shillings] and six [pence], result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery." In other words, simply live within your means. It's served us well for the last 40 years.


You might want to add a link to information about interest rates. In the 80s, our monthly payments were well into four figures when interest rates were hiked into the high teens. That's something nice not to have to do any more!

Sherbet66

Date Mortgage Free: 01/11/2018

Highest Debt: £119,000

One Pearl of Wisdom: Don't forget that even after the mortgage is paid off the land registry still has the mortgage provider listed as an "interested party" in your property. You need to update the land registry to reflect the fact that you own the property outright. In Scotland this has to be done by by a Solicitor which costs around £160, elsewhere in the UK it can be done DIY for free.