The Mortgage Free Roll Of Honour

Cotswoldfoodie

themadvix said:

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!

Congratulations! Lovely quotes well and very inspiring. Cant wait to be in the same position come October.

newgirly

Fantastic, well done 😊

MrsCD

Well done!

KajiKita

Congratulations @themadvix 😊🎉🎊🥳

How are you feeling?

KK

GadgetGuru

a. The date you decided to become a MFW
No specific date in mind. I’ve always been one to hate debt. The mortgage was a debt, so my priority was to clear all debt asap. 

b. Mortgage Debt at its highest
From what I remember, around £160,000

c. Mortgage-Free Date
Approx Jun 2014

d. Your one perl of wisdom.
Purchased my first home in around 2003, (3 bedroom, 2 bathroom) for around £220,000, using savings, at the age of 23 with a mortgage of approx £160,000
I’ve never been a huge risk taker, so always went with 2 or 3 year fixed rate deals. 
Every 2 or 3 years, when the mortgage fixed rate came to en end, I would pump in money from savings (leaving myself an emergency buffer) as well as take out 2 credit cards with 0% on purchases deals. This would all go into the mortgage in order to pay off a lump sum. Rinse and repeat at the end of each fixed rate cycle. 
Approx 2014, at the age of 34, I made my final payment and completed the mortgage. 

I remember it well. I was standing in the kitchen on a Friday afternoon, making a payment to NatWest over the phone, with the lady on the other end apologising for her slow system (blah blah blah) and I made the final payment from my NatWest Debit Card. 
Upon clearance, she was much more excited than I was! Congratulating me. Asking me what I had planned for the weekend. What I would do with the extra money every month, etc. To me, it was just a debt I had paid off. I honestly felt no emotion - just felt like paying a bill. 

After the call, life went on as normal - no different. Lol
Seems silly I know, but for me it wasn’t a big deal. It was just some extra money being in my account at the end of the month. 

Fast forward to now, I was able to continue saving and in 2016 move to a 5 bed, 3 bathroom, in London with no mortgage. Selling the previous and adding from savings. And that’s where I am now, fortunately living quite comfortably with savings in my account that I am still considering what to invest in with the state of the current economy!

Ive always been a saver. That’s how I was taught and raised by my parents. Yes Ive splashed out on a new car 3 years ago etc which cost as much as a deposit on another house, but having other houses on rent has never interested me either. I just want a stress free life! And when i do finally ‘pop off’, I want to go knowing my wife and kids have as little to worry about as possible, and the mortgage was the main cost/concern.

On the flip side, because of this I had always sacrificed some things. Holidays with my wife and 3 children for instance. Yes we go on holiday now, just came back 3 weeks ago in fact, but my kids are teenagers now. I missed the chance to take them places when they were younger, and I miss the fact that I failed to create those memories because I was so fixated on clearing this debt. So yes, we are living easy now, and I guess the kids will one day realise my sacrifice, the lack of holidays and memories, the lack of time because of always working to set things up for them in the future - I was contracting back then, fortunately now I work full time in a local position where I can be home when they are coming back from school!

Life is short. Yes a mortgage is important, and yes we all want to be mortgage free, but at the same time live your life. Don’t sacrifice the memories. Help others as well as yourself. Don’t become so fixated on a mortgage that you forget others around, as well as your own happiness. We all hate going to work, so make sure you enjoy some of the money you make from working! I know thats difficult in the current circumstances, but we are all slaves to the system. Health and happiness are key. 

e. The MSE Mortgage guides and others that helped you
Wasnt even a member back then!

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

Sweetie83

Congratulations guys, loving these quotes and pearls of wisdom. Really helpful 😁

MrsCD

@IftiBashir well done on being so focussed and clearing your debt, but don't beat yourself up about lost chances. What's important is how you go on...make your memories now. Yes they'll be different to how they would have been when the children were younger, but any time spent with them now is precious. Enjoy your life!

[Deleted User]

How do I get a 100 posts sticky?

mustachio

IftiBashir said:

d. Your one pearl of wisdom.
as well as take out 2 credit cards with 0% on purchases deals. This would all go into the mortgage in order to pay off a lump sum. Rinse and repeat at the end of each fixed rate cycle. 
Approx 2014, at the age of 34, I made my final payment and completed the mortgage. 

Thanks for your post about becoming Mortgage free which I enjoyed reading. 

Please can you explain about using zero balance credit cards to pay off mortgage-how does that work? I didn't think you could use a credit card to pay mortgage. 

Cotswoldfoodie

mustachio said:

IftiBashir said:

d. Your one pearl of wisdom.
as well as take out 2 credit cards with 0% on purchases deals. This would all go into the mortgage in order to pay off a lump sum. Rinse and repeat at the end of each fixed rate cycle. 
Approx 2014, at the age of 34, I made my final payment and completed the mortgage. 

Thanks for your post about becoming Mortgage free which I enjoyed reading. 

Please can you explain about using zero balance credit cards to pay off mortgage-how does that work? I didn't think you could use a credit card to pay mortgage. 

Look up stoozing, I'd assume that is the technique being used.