The Mortgage Free Roll Of Honour

South_coast

Congratulations, that's an amazing achievement 😀😀😀

apple_muncher

a. The date you decided to become a MFW

For me, this isn't a specific date, more of a slide into it. I started a diary in 2013 when I joined in with ninjasavingkat's challenges. Dh had been made redundant and I was working 2 days per week.

b. Mortgage Debt at its highest

When I married dh, he had an offset mortgage on his flat and was also paying x amount to his ex (which we later paid directly to the children as they got older), so we worked on increasing the savings to offset the interest.

This is a quote from my first post:

Mortgage £77, 051.99
Offset savings £13,768.73
Interest therefore charged on £63,283.26
Interest pcm about £78 (shame on me, not knowing the %!)

We had reduced our mortgage to around 26k, then my mum left my dad and needed somewhere to live, so I offered to pay. Due to paperwork being done previously for a mortgage increase, we were able to take on buying a place for mum without having to reapply or increase our max - the joy of an offset mortgage.

So we maxed out at 130,000.

As dh's kids got independent, we shifted that money to the mortgage. And as my days fluctuated (mostly up), we also paid any and every penny I earned over the original 2 days' amount to the mortgage, so for a while, we were overpaying by 1200 per month. Happy days!

Dh was made redundant twice more and we decided to set him up as SE, to follow his dream. He has only had to pay pennies in tax since then, as he earns so little!

c. Mortgage-Free Date

9/3/23 - Dh sauntered into the bedroom and as he put his phone on to charge, with his back to me, muttered that he had paid off the mortgage

I had been suggesting we pay it off for a couple of years, as it was so low but for some reason dh was resistant. We weren't paying interest so he was happy for it to trundle along. It was due to be paid by Aug 2023, so he is only a little early!

d. Your one pearl of wisdom.

Reduce your wants, reduce your needs, reduce your greeds. We live simply and still have a good life. Dh's kids are all now married and have kids of their own. And live in Canada or Australia, so aren't cheap to go and visit! Seeing them is now our focus, having been stymied by covid.

e. The MSE Mortgage guides and others that helped you

Reading other people's diaries really helped but the main ones have been the challenges set up by ninjasavingkat and the the ninjasavingturtles [NST] (who formed when kat went travelling) to carry on the challenges.

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

If you want to read a load of waffle and bletherings, here it is:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4825042/apple-munchers-number-crunching/p1

(I still don't know how to link to things, only how to copy + paste the web address!!!)

Can I have my pretty badge now, please!

Smudgeismydog

a) Date decided to be mortgage free; I think as soon as I took on a large mortgage in 2006

b) mortgage debt at its highest; £175,000 in June 2006, this figure went down, then was back up to £150,000 in 2012

c) mortgage-free date was yesterday 29th March 2023 🍾

d) one pearl of wisdom is to make affordable regular overpayments, remembering to pat yourself on the back and celebrate your progress

e) although I haven’t had my own diary, I’ve lurked for long time. There are some really inspirational people on here and I’ve picked up so many tips

congrats everyone, it’s liberating to achieve mortgage free status

brokeapproaching30

a) date deciding to be mortgage free - March 2015 when bought first place

b) mortgage debt at highest = £101k

c) mortgage free 2nd May 2023

d) regular overpayments /max can afford without incurring fines

e) no diary kept, but lurking

feeling really pleased with myself. Bank worker transferring the final lump sum I had saved told me "congratulations!" handing me confirmation it had gone through. And yes, I will gladly take it !

offtheradar

a) Date deciding to be mortgage free - Whitsun week 2012

b) Mortgage debt at highest = £91,500

c) Mortgage free 5th May 2023

d) Regular overpayments and increase them if you can commit to them. Do a trial run for an amount you think you can afford, and pop it into savings and when ready go for it.

e) Read the posts to remind yourself why you're doing this.

Receiving a text message from the bank confirming the mortgage had been cleared.

Sweetie83

Wow great achievements everyone 😊

inigma

So this feels surreal...

a. The date you decided to become a MFW
I purchased my flat in September 2011, when signing the mortgage deal I was already looking at overpayments.

b. Mortgage Debt at its highest
£144,500 (not as big by today's standards, but for a single income application it was huge)

c. Mortgage-Free Date
Just now 10 mins ago.

d. Your one perl of wisdom.

Overpay, budget and be realistic!

I took a lodger in for the first 3 years and used their rent to overpay my mortgage.
Also with each overpayment I reduced the term. A lot of people thought I was strange for taking in a lodger and not living on my own, but his rent put a huge dent in the mortgage.

I started the journey single, now 11 years and 9 months later I am married and have a child, my wife was on board when we married in 2016 with paying down all debt and we would sit down once a month to go through the budget and do a forecast and plan with what to do with our money.  Having a budget is one of the best things we ever did.

Finally if you get a surprise bill or money is not as liquid as it was it's ok, if you have a mortgage free mindset then you are headed in the right direction, don't beat yourself up you are doing great.

Writing on this board has been 11 years and 9 months in the making and right now I feel so happy.


e. The MSE Mortgage guides and others that helped you

20vt-rs

Finally the time has come for me to enter my comments into the mortgage free roll of honour!!! It has been a long time coming, but not as long as it would have been not having made over-payments, inspired by this board and other stories on here. 

Here are some details:

a. The date you decided to become a MFW - May 2012
b. Mortgage Debt at its highest - £147k
c. Mortgage-Free Date - 2nd June 2023
d. Your one perl of wisdom. - If you can, overpay a regular amount at the start of the month when you get paid, and then make as many smaller OP's as often as possible.
e. The MSE Mortgage guides and others that helped you - All content / stories on this board has helped, including the mortgages board to learn about fixes, trackers and when to change. Choosing the right mortgage product to allow over-payments and flexibility has really helped with progress.
f. And if you had a mortgage freedom diary on MFW, a link to it. - 1-year in to mortgage free - Small steps make progress — MoneySavingExpert Forum

KajiKita

Congratulations @inigma and @20vt-rs - must be an amazing feeling 😊

KK

themadvix

a. The date you decided to become a MFW
Before we had a mortgage, which began on 8 March 2012 - I'd been lurking for some time on the MFW board!

b. Mortgage Debt at its highest
£132,500

c. Mortgage-Free Date
Today! 16 June 2023 (technically we still have some mortgage debt on a 0% CC, but no more secured debt!
d. Your one pearl of wisdom.
Prioritise, prioritise, prioritise! We have a fairly average household income, but we've not missed out on amazing holidays whilst paying this off... but we do have very old, tatty bedside tables! Make every penny work and spend on what's important to you, not on keeping up with the Jones's. Also, all the little bits really do add up!

e. The MSE Mortgage guides and others that helped you
Cheery, Suffolk Lass, Karma, Southcoast, QueenJess, Edinburgher and latterly EssexHebridean and Foxgloves too. And, going back a bit, Tilly's diary too - which I have read more than once. I also have this quote in my inbox (I copied it and sent it to Mr MV) from WestieLass (I think) on Tilly's diary. I find it inspiring every time I read it.

Hi Tilly,

Oh, where to begin! I think it was mostly down to sheer determination really!

Yes, i am now 48 and DH is 45. In our mid 30s we noticed that we were both pretty miserable in our work, would come home exhausted, and would then spend evenings moaning at one another about colleagues etc! We are both University graduates, and had ended up in management roles that paid decent enough money, but which quite frankly bored us to tears and drained the life out of us!
So we went away on holiday to the sunshine, and spent 2 weeks on the beach talking, and plotting our escape. Obviously, we had to stick with the dull jobs initially, but with a plan in place and an end in sight, we felt better able tohandle the workplace. When we first began this, we had recently moved house and the 25 years on the mortgage certificate was just so depressing to see. Thankfully, we had always been pretty good with our money, so had no other debts, and knew that for us, mortgage free was the dream!
So we started to throw everything we could at the mortgage....we made overpayments as often as was possible, we lived very frugally and just tried to save every penny. We don't smoke or drink, but the one luxury for us is travel....so we continued to travel as much as possible, but in a much cheaper way...back to the student days of backpacking and camping (and we loved it). Worked as much overtime as possible for a few years, hubby did diy for people, renovated cars and sold them on, painted houses, babysitting, ebay selling....you name it, we did it. And we managed to pay off the mortgage on our own home in 6 years    If you'd told me that at the start, I would never have believed it possible, but it was and we did it. We had also bought the 2 buy to let properties while we were still earning decent money and able to get mortgages! Every penny in rent received on them went to the mortgages, and then when our own home was paid off, we switched the focus to the btl's and worked every bit as hard at clearing them off too (and we did).
It was 10 years of very hard work, but ultimately quite enjoyable, because we knew the end result would be well worth it. There were no windfalls along the way, it was all down to sheer hard work and determination (oh how it annoys me now when friends say how "lucky" we are to be mortgage free!!! )
So on the morning of my 45th birthday, my hubby brought me breakfast in bed with a "happy retirement" card.....Yay   
Of course we're not in a position to be totally retired, but we can now work as and when we want. So we both spend the summer as sailing instructors (which we love), and then naff off to the sun in the winter. We'll never be rich, but we honestly don't care...our needs are fairly minimal....so long as we can throw on our shorts in the morning we are happy  (My hubby gave all his suits to charity and announced he would never wear one again!!)

So basically that's it.....sorry if it's a bit long winded lol (wakey,wakey )

Westie

f. And if you had a mortgage freedom diary on MFW, a link to it.
Can't imagine anyone wants to read my daily waffle, but it can be found here and here.

Good luck everyone!