The Mortgage Free Roll Of Honour

CJRyder

Please badge me! I'm mortgage free by 33!

a. Date that you decided to be a MFW

It's a series of events but always been a desire ever since the family home was paid off when I was still in school.

I have always been debt averse and wanted to be free when still viewing houses for our first home. We re-fixed our deal just before the pandemic and I  wanted to be free more, particularly as I was furloughed. My parents split during this time and sold the family home. Mum fought hard to get me a cut as her plan was always to downsize and give me a percentage and it was agreed despite Dad's reluctance. Earlier this year I found out what the figure was and did some mental calculations. It was possible and our mortgage period ended 31st July.

The final trigger was the day Russia moved into Ukraine...

b. Max mortgage debt.

£89,000

c. Repayment Date

21st July 2022. 6 years, 6 months on a 19 year mortgage.

d. Pearl of wisdom.

Life, the planet and yourself are all one sealed and balanced system. If you take, something has to give and vice versa. Use all the resources that you have access to and use them without fear. But use them sustainably and pay yourself first. Most importantly Time and Health are the most precious resources that you have. Use these wisely and NEVER sacrifice your health for something as common as Money.

e. Guides/Boards that helped

Old-style Money Saving.

f. Diary? Never had one.

We bought our first home and we plan for it to be our Forever Home. Hopefully time and circumstances will be on our side. Now we're going to start fixing the cracks (quite literally in some cases!) and sorting out any housekeeping (Will creation and similar).

Finally, when the paperwork is all complete I am going to order physical Official Copies of the Title Papers.

nmaria

A. The date you decided to become MFW
   3 years into our mortgage in 2006. Just looked at the statement and saw how little was paid of with normal monthly payments and realised that the bank was making money on us…..

B. Mortgage debt at his highest
 £145.000 with extension when we decided it was the ideal location to live close to motorway, airport and lots of green around us. 

C. Mortgage free date
  25 July 2022 8years and 6 months early
 
D. Pearl of wisdom 
don’t be afraid to start overpaying even when it’s tiny amounts. Our first months where £10 but with the overpayment calculator we could see it would make a difference. We stopped buying expensive on the go drinks and took a flask with sachets of cappuccino and tea bags. That money saved went straight into the mortgage. 

E. The MSE guide that helped

I did read a few diaries but the main help  was the overpayment calculator and the constant access to see the mortgage outstanding balance. 

F. Mortgage free diary….
never had one and now regret it as it would have been great to let the children read of how we did it. 

L9XSS

Please badge me as I achieved MFW on the 9th August 2022

A) The date you decided to become MFW
I took on my mortgage in Feb 2008 on a 10 year fix over a 25 year term...just before the financial crash. 4 years later and stuck on a 5.67% rate and seeing the interest I was paying led me to this site and this forum, so in 2012 I decided I wanted to overpay and lower the term and then remortgage when the penalties were more in my favour.
Mortgage debt at its highest
£195000
C) Mortgage free date
9th August 2022
D) Pearl of Wisdom
Set yourself milestones along the way of your journey, celebrate every little overpayment as it’s a win for your future mortgage free self. 
E) The MSE guide that helped
Nothing in particular though I’m an avid reader. The diaries of others helped tremendously, the support network is very helpful and motivating.
F) Mortgage Free Diary
The firs one “Joining the quiet revolution” lost my password so the last few years it’s been “Woohoo”

Mickyh-s

Well done @L9XSS!! 🎉

stoplurking

A When I joined the mortgage free in 3 Take 5 challenge, January 19 I think.  Challenge was run by the fabulous Trix-a-Belle. 

B About £80k 
C 6 November 2021
D if it’s what you really want then go for it, and join a challenge as it is a great motivator. 

E I didn’t really follow the guides as such. Just the challenges and some brilliant MFW diaries. 

F I did not have a diary.  

Good luck to anyone who is hoping the be mortgage-free. 

f0xh0les

Please add my name to The Mortgage Free Roll of Honour (the only honours list I will ever make )

The date you decided to become a MFW

The second we got the mortgage paperwork and I read that for every £1 borrowed you will repay £1.42 over the life of the mortgage - well forget that!!

Mortgage Debt at its highest

£118 k (we had a £42k deposit), and Husband had no credit rating they could find, due to a mixture of being born outside of the UK, then growing up in the  Republic of Ireland  so a non standard NI number that sets off whistles and bells in financial institutions.

Mortgage-Free Date

5th of October 2022 - 6 years and 6 months into an originally 26 year term, then 2 years later, remortgaged to a 20 year term, then 2 years later, dropped it to 15 years, then 3 years into a 5 year fix, an inheritance paid off the remainder.

Your one pearl of wisdom.

Work out your monthly and then daily interest they are charging you. Try and knock it down every month. Keep a tick off list  'in pence' on the memo app on your phone and update once a month. Set small interest goals - 2p /5p off a month, remember it is saving you every month

The MSE Mortgage Guides and others that helped you

All the amazing NST Challenges - Ninja Saving Turtles have saved me a fortune over the years, and kept me on track. It is a community on this site.  The famous Tilly who invented the Tilly-Tidying method of saving.

Pawlala and Julicorn on the 2016 - 2022 Mortgage-Free-Wannabee pages and their amazing spreadsheet motivation.

Martin Lewis and the weekly newsletter

The Invisible Friends, the cheerleaders on the diaries, and not forgetting the people we have lost along the way, like Purps, who you mourn as if you had actually met in real life, but we shared the secrets of our lives on our diaries, and we celebrated and commiserated in turn at  every step along the way. 

 A mortgage freedom diary on MFW, a link to it. - rambling nonsense, mostly, but it kept me sane - and I still need a new roof!

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5509124/22-foxhole-east/p1

dark^knight

MSE_James said:

We've awarded a load of badges to recent posters in this thread

I am still waiting for my mortgage free badge...has been more than 2 years now

South_coast

I've been over a year too!

jacko220

Walked up the High Street, February 1981, saw a house that I like went into the Building Society and arranged a mortgage deposit energy bill for 2022-23. Went through a number of changes some forced by marriage and then divorce, became mortgage free April 2012, having given away one house, 31 years not bad, one pearl of wisdom stay single or at least marry someone who is financially self sufficient, would have been better of single. 

Neonitrix

The date you decided to become MFW
Honestly as blow ins to the country and being the ages we are we have fought hard for jobs, visa's, weddings, and in general to secure our future in the UK so this was all decided well before we ever decided to move to the country but the plan has been in concrete since the day we applied for the mortgage. 

B. Mortgage debt at his highest
£115,000 18th July 2018

C. Mortgage free date
24th Feb 2023
 
D. Pearl of wisdom 
Overpay any amount it adds up over time and saves you a huge amount in interest, but in the same breath don't feel like you have to overpay - My best decision was to re-mortgage to a building society as they are way less strict on how much you can overpay without fees and exit fees are minimal and in the end they waved ours and wished us good fortune.

E. The MSE guide that helped

Not the diaries but the general push by people who wanted to be debt free pushed us on

F. Mortgage free diary….

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5914113/its-fully-paid-i-cant-believe-we-did-it-4-years-7-months-and-1-week-from-move-in-day-mortgage-free/p1

4 years 7 months and 1 week.