The Mortgage Free Roll Of Honour

blue.peter

a. The date you decided to become a MFW

It was always an ambition to own my home free of a mortgage, so I suppose November 1984, when I bought my first flat (for £25,000).

b. Mortgage Debt at its highest

£42,000.

c. Mortgage-Free Date

November 2008. And again in November 2013 (I took out another mortgage in August 2010, when I moved into my present house).

d. Your one pearl of wisdom.

First Direct's Offset Mortgage was brilliant for me. I switched from an endowment mortgage to one of these in (I think) 2000. Offsetting my savings against the debt reduced the interest that I was paying, thus making mortgage overpayments easier. It certainly allowed me to pay off the mortgage earlier than I would have done if I'd stuck with the endowment.

e. The MSE Mortgage guides and others that helped you

Sorry, but credit for this must go to the lady at First Direct who suggested that I switch to an Offset Mortgage. I'm not even sure that the MSE site existed then. If it did, I certainly hadn't heard of it.

f. And if you had a mortgage freedom diary on MFW, a link to it.

N/A

Ahaylock

a. The date you decided to become a MF
11 july 1994 when we got our mortgage
b. Mortgage Debt at its highest £75,000
c. Mortgage-Free Date june 2015
d. Your one perl of wisdom.
Try to pay off little bits every year. You can add to this by not reducing your monthly outgoing keep paying the original amount. Each year you will pay off more and more of the loan.
e. The!MSE Mortgage guides!and others that helped you!
This was a decision we made when we got married in 1994.
f. And if you had a mortgage freedom diary on MFW, a link to it.
N/A

sKiTz-0

Adding myself to the roll of honour on my first house paid off. (Though I will be getting another mortgage for my forever home at some point in the future!)




a. The date you decided to become a MFW


May 2011 as soon as I took out the mortgage. When this thread was on page 11.


b. Mortgage Debt at its highest


£56k. I know it doesn't sound a lot, but at the time you needed a large deposit. And there was only me taking the mortgage out, so was still scary enough!


c. Mortgage-Free Date


November 2019, I'm a couple of months late to post.


d. Your one perl of wisdom.


Every little overpayment helps. The small chunks here and there really do add up. My mortgage was a 20 year mortgage when I first took it out. I paid it off in 8 1/2.



e. The MSE Mortgage guides and others that helped you



I read the guides and followed some diaries at the time. I think my biggest motivator was playing round with the mortgage schedule calculator spreadsheet and seeing what a difference the overpayments could make.


f. And if you had a mortgage freedom diary on MFW, a link to it.
N/A

Butterfly_Brain

Mortgage free in 2018
2 years early after an inheritance, we had £3000 left to pay and wiped it out on March 29th 2018 saving over £600 in interest!
The money saved has gone towards rewiring the house

Sagz_2

a. The date you decided to become a MFW: January 2010 was the date of my first overpayment 
b. Mortgage Debt at its highest: £95000.00
c. Mortgage-Free Date: 27.02.20
d. Your one perl of wisdom: throw ever spare penny at it! 
e. The MSE Mortgage guides and others that helped you: just the whole ethos of MSE really. The attitude adjustment of "do I need it, can I afford it, can I get it cheaper, is there a voucher for it" before buying anything has helped me reach my goal. 
Thanks to all who post, the ideas and support got me over the line 4 years early 😁

Cherryfudge

a. The date you decided to become a MFW - not sure. I made some OPs for a while many years ago then life got in the way. I came back to it about two years ago, I think.
b. Mortgage Debt at its highest. It was so long ago I'm not exactly sure, but I think £36,000. That shows how long ago! We've added to the mortgage twice but in the end, reduced the term by three years nine months.
c. Mortgage-Free Date. 28/2/20
d. Your one perl of wisdom. Pennies really do add up, and so do days. If all you can do is add every 10th coin out of your purse, it all adds up: you never pay interest on those pennies again.
e. The MSE Mortgage guides and others that helped you. The Mortgage Free Wannabe threads (thanks to all my fellow wannabes).
f. And if you had a mortgage freedom diary on MFW, a link to it. Sorry, no mortgage-specific diary but it comes up in my DFW diary as of recent years my mortgage has been my only debt. 

beanielou

So pleased for you Cherry fudge   

driver_rider

Reading all of these stories is so encouraging for someone who is only 9 months into a 30 year mortgage. I plan on clearing all of my debts, once they're all cleared I'm going after my mortgage!

dark^knight

Finally, mortgage free and able to post on this thread...

a. The date you decided to become a MFW
Ever since we got the mortgage in 2007. However, I really decided to go for it in 2014, after my fixed rate ended and I was able to overpay a good amount every month.
b. Mortgage Debt at its highest
169,000 when we bought the house in May 2007.
c. Mortgage-Free Date
26th May 2020
d. Your one perl of wisdom.

Set yourself a realistic target date. Then work out how you will achieve it. Even if you miss your target by a few months or a year, it's fine.

e. The MSE Mortgage guides and others that helped you
I want to thank everyone on MSE MFW forum...always so helpful.
f. And if you had a mortgage freedom diary on MFW, a link to it.
I had a monthly update log, but it hasn't been updated very regularly:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5394382/little-big-milestones/p1

How do I get a mortgage free badge?

Youthgonewild

Congratulations Dark Knight. So inspiring. Well done and best of luck in your future endeavours.