The Mortgage Free Roll Of Honour

HudsonBay

The date you decided to become a MFW
October 2018

Mortgage Debt at its highest
£250,000

Mortgage-Free Date
20 February 2024  

Your one pearl of wisdom.
We used to "cash sweep" any left over spending money each month and overpay the mortgage with it.  It made a real difference and was a great incentive not to waste spare money.

The guides and others that helped you
Too many to list.  Every time I had a wobble I would read through some of the diaries - yes it takes time but stick with it....it's so worth it

And if you had a mortgage freedom diary on MFW, a link to it.
I didn't, but wish I had started one

Listerofsmeg10

The template needs an extra title - How do you feel? I don't know about anyone else but over the years I often visit this thread to gain encouragement and live vicariously through other people reaching the goal that we all strive for. I want to know that the end result is worth the pain and sacrifice. I want to know how people feel when the millstone is gone! Surprisingly few people really post about that!

Well, it's my turn. I just paid off the mortgage!

The date you decided to become a MFW
Always overpaid to lesser and greater degrees, but in earnest throwing everything at it from Jan 2020. 4 years was our target and we made it pretty much bang on.

Mortgage Debt at its highest
£220,000

Mortgage-Free Date
9th April 2024

Your one pearl of wisdom.
Honestly the best thing was getting a First Direct mortgage. Completely unlimited overpayments as long as you don't actually pay it off during the fix, and the account is just like any other current FD account. It shows in the app and you can transfer money whenever and the balance instantly updates. Super encouraging. I hated having to wait for statements on our previous mortgage, or use one of the credit apps as a back door to see the outstanding balance.

The other best thing was tracking every single penny we spent, and getting addicted to Excel. You can't save money if you don't know where you're wasting it in the first place, and graphs are motivating.

How do you feel?
I feel great! And a bit lost maybe? We worked towards this moment for four years, and now it's finally here that anchor point is gone and the horizon is empty. We need to find another target in life. A nice problem to have for sure and I'm sure I will soon find my feet, but at this exact moment I'm all at sea.

But most of all I feel peace. No anxiety.

Stress wise it's been a gradual reduction over the last year or so rather than a sudden release today. We started aggressively overpaying because the economy, and our jobs, were looking uncertain (Brexit, Covid etc). The fear reduced as we passed various milestones - Low enough that we could borrow from family if the worse happened, then low enough that we could survive on one salary, then low enough that a redundancy payment would cover the remaining mortgage etc. In fact the last 6 months have been annoying rather than euphoric as I just wanted it gone. Interestingly I noticed that as the stress reduced, so did my ability to give a damn at work. This is good and bad. I enjoy my job and I don't want to jeopardize it. I think I am just burnt out TBH and do feel different now the mortgage is gone. I think this will improve.

Having seen the large interest increases that people are suffering now makes me so grateful that we did what we did. Our 1.54% fix ended yesterday. For those still on the journey coming off fixes, think how much worse it would have been if you hadn't overpaid. I've heard many suggestions that I was a fool to overpay because I could invest that money instead. This is true, in all likelihood I could have made more money, but it isn't guaranteed, and I wouldn't have the peace I do now. I would be watching markets and trying to predict future mortgage rates. I'm all for optimising finance, but I chose to optimise security first and I'm very happy with that choice. I don't need to worry about our home. We will always have it now.

The best bit was cancelling the standing order in my banking app and realising how much spare money we now have. That was better than the call to close the mortgage. All our spare money went to the mortgage as well as the standard payment. Every raise, every bonus, every penny went in to prevent lifestyle creep. By the end we were paying 2-3x our standard payment each month. It now seems a crazy amount of money to have available. I thought I'd go on a mad spending spree, and I did in fact spend the last few weeks planning some fantasy purchases. In the end though I haven't bothered yet. Being sensible with money is a hard habit to change!

A good chunk of money is already redirected toward my pension. As much as our previous mortgage payment in fact! I've read previous posts on this thread to the same effect, and I've always thought that sounds disappointing and boring. What's the point of paying your mortgage if you then just pay your pension instead? Well the first difference is that it's your money. You're not throwing money into a big debt hole, you're building a big pile of cash that is yours to spend at some point in the future. The bigger that pile is, the faster it grows. Secondly, if you're lucky enough to be a higher rate tax payer then the tax savings are nuts. For every £100 take home I sacrifice, I get £166 in my pension. My mortgage payment has gone from disappearing into a hole, to instantly being worth 1.6x more, and growing more every month! Hard to resist, and super motivating. At the end of the day, retirement is basically mortgage free on steroids. The ultimate freedom!

Retirement is only a future goal though. We still have lots of spare money to enjoy life now, and we plan to. Some holidays and fixing up our crumbling house for starters. Maybe a home gym. Then we will see what the future holds. We have options now.

For all those MFWs reading and still on the journey, be encouraged. It really is worth it! Good luck to you all.

crunchy_time

Listerofsmeg10 said:

The template needs an extra title - How do you feel? I don't know about anyone else but over the years I often visit this thread to gain encouragement and live vicariously through other people reaching the goal that we all strive for. I want to know that the end result is worth the pain and sacrifice. I want to know how people feel when the millstone is gone! Surprisingly few people really post about that!

Well, it's my turn. I just paid off the mortgage!

The date you decided to become a MFW
Always overpaid to lesser and greater degrees, but in earnest throwing everything at it from Jan 2020. 4 years was our target and we made it pretty much bang on.

Mortgage Debt at its highest
£220,000

Mortgage-Free Date
9th April 2024

Your one pearl of wisdom.
Honestly the best thing was getting a First Direct mortgage. Completely unlimited overpayments as long as you don't actually pay it off during the fix, and the account is just like any other current FD account. It shows in the app and you can transfer money whenever and the balance instantly updates. Super encouraging. I hated having to wait for statements on our previous mortgage, or use one of the credit apps as a back door to see the outstanding balance.

The other best thing was tracking every single penny we spent, and getting addicted to Excel. You can't save money if you don't know where you're wasting it in the first place, and graphs are motivating.

How do you feel?
I feel great! And a bit lost maybe? We worked towards this moment for four years, and now it's finally here that anchor point is gone and the horizon is empty. We need to find another target in life. A nice problem to have for sure and I'm sure I will soon find my feet, but at this exact moment I'm all at sea.

But most of all I feel peace. No anxiety.

Stress wise it's been a gradual reduction over the last year or so rather than a sudden release today. We started aggressively overpaying because the economy, and our jobs, were looking uncertain (Brexit, Covid etc). The fear reduced as we passed various milestones - Low enough that we could borrow from family if the worse happened, then low enough that we could survive on one salary, then low enough that a redundancy payment would cover the remaining mortgage etc. In fact the last 6 months have been annoying rather than euphoric as I just wanted it gone. Interestingly I noticed that as the stress reduced, so did my ability to give a damn at work. This is good and bad. I enjoy my job and I don't want to jeopardize it. I think I am just burnt out TBH and do feel different now the mortgage is gone. I think this will improve.

Having seen the large interest increases that people are suffering now makes me so grateful that we did what we did. Our 1.54% fix ended yesterday. For those still on the journey coming off fixes, think how much worse it would have been if you hadn't overpaid. I've heard many suggestions that I was a fool to overpay because I could invest that money instead. This is true, in all likelihood I could have made more money, but it isn't guaranteed, and I wouldn't have the peace I do now. I would be watching markets and trying to predict future mortgage rates. I'm all for optimising finance, but I chose to optimise security first and I'm very happy with that choice. I don't need to worry about our home. We will always have it now.

The best bit was cancelling the standing order in my banking app and realising how much spare money we now have. That was better than the call to close the mortgage. All our spare money went to the mortgage as well as the standard payment. Every raise, every bonus, every penny went in to prevent lifestyle creep. By the end we were paying 2-3x our standard payment each month. It now seems a crazy amount of money to have available. I thought I'd go on a mad spending spree, and I did in fact spend the last few weeks planning some fantasy purchases. In the end though I haven't bothered yet. Being sensible with money is a hard habit to change!

A good chunk of money is already redirected toward my pension. As much as our previous mortgage payment in fact! I've read previous posts on this thread to the same effect, and I've always thought that sounds disappointing and boring. What's the point of paying your mortgage if you then just pay your pension instead? Well the first difference is that it's your money. You're not throwing money into a big debt hole, you're building a big pile of cash that is yours to spend at some point in the future. The bigger that pile is, the faster it grows. Secondly, if you're lucky enough to be a higher rate tax payer then the tax savings are nuts. For every £100 take home I sacrifice, I get £166 in my pension. My mortgage payment has gone from disappearing into a hole, to instantly being worth 1.6x more, and growing more every month! Hard to resist, and super motivating. At the end of the day, retirement is basically mortgage free on steroids. The ultimate freedom!

Retirement is only a future goal though. We still have lots of spare money to enjoy life now, and we plan to. Some holidays and fixing up our crumbling house for starters. Maybe a home gym. Then we will see what the future holds. We have options now.

For all those MFWs reading and still on the journey, be encouraged. It really is worth it! Good luck to you all.

Thank you for this it is really inspiring 

South_coast

Listerofsmeg10 said:

Having seen the large interest increases that people are suffering now makes me so grateful that we did what we did. Our 1.54% fix ended yesterday. For those still on the journey coming off fixes, think how much worse it would have been if you hadn't overpaid. I've heard many suggestions that I was a fool to overpay because I could invest that money instead. This is true, in all likelihood I could have made more money, but it isn't guaranteed, and I wouldn't have the peace I do now. I would be watching markets and trying to predict future mortgage rates. I'm all for optimising finance, but I chose to optimise security first and I'm very happy with that choice. I don't need to worry about our home. We will always have it now.

This, 100% 😀😀😀

Dalradian

Mortgage at its highest
£146,000 

Joined MSE
2015

Mortgage Free Date
24th April 2024

How did you do it?
I got a tracker mortgage which allowed me to overpay unlimited amounts. I earn bonuses at work so would regularly overpay my mortgage. As interest rates began to rise, I focused on overpaying the mortgage to keep my monthly payments low. 
Finally, last year I decided to move from a city to a smaller town. My mortgage was under £50k by then and by moving I took advantage of the difference in price between areas to pay the mortgage off, buy the new house outright and have enough money to go part time at work.  All before I turn 55.   
The rise in interest rates gave me the kick I needed to re-evaluate my path. Trying to sell when rates were going up was difficult, as there weren't many buyers in the market, and I had to relist my house when a buyer fell through. Will miss the old place, but too much of my capital was tied up in it, hopefully the family who have moved in will love it just as much as I did.

My thread
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5210243/paying-off-mortgage-before-55-when-single#latest

Cicatriz_2

I've just become mortgate free! A year earlier than I aimed, but this is because my employer decided that pay rises aren't great but shares are and the company's share price rocketed during Covid.

A - I can't say too specifically, but it was around early 2018.

B - 112,500 (at purchase) + whatever one month interest was, I guess.

C - 31st May 2024

D - No real wisdom, but I think making a statement of affairs is the best thing to do whatever your position: getting mortgage free or dealing with debt and everything in between.

E - I can't think of a specific post, but early I did enjoy reading some of the posts on this page and the debt page to see other people's approaches and accomplishments.

F - Not a lot in here though, https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5758856/7-year-mf-plan#latest

BookmobileBadGirl

Finally get to make my announcement, all on shared ownership:

mortgage taken out
December 2016 (one month after my 30th birthday) 

mortgage at its highest
£75,900

Mortgage Free date
2nd August 2024 (7 years 8 months)

my thread
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5800717/booking-myself-in-for-an-independent-future/p1

General
always knew I was going to overpay as they would only give me a 35 year mortgage which worked out much less than my previous rental costs

changed jobs a few times since taking out the mortgage increasing my income allowing me to increase my overpayments 

mortgage with Barclays that essentially allows unlimited overpayments if under 3x monthly mortgage payment 

now a lovely few months before buying the rest of the flat

thriftychick

We are Mortgage-Free Wannabees who are no longer Wannabees!

a. The date you decided to become a MFW

When we bought our first house, in 1993 but never had the spare money.  After recovering from redundancy and repaying £6k of benefits (Mr Thrifty got a job half way through the tax year so, any benefits we received, we had to repay), we repaid at the rate of £50 per month and this money eventually freed up so, we decided to start overpayments.  It made a surprising difference.  We gradually increased the amount as and when life allowed.  In March 2021 we owed £100k and started really focussing on making overpayments, making repayment of the mortgage our main goal.

b. Mortgage Debt at its highest

£200,000 in 2005

c. Mortgage-Free Date

20th August 2024

d. Your one pearl of wisdom.

Even small overpayments make a big difference. 

Use sticker charts etc. as a visual motivation.  

Focus on paying up to 10% annually once you get going with it. 

Use a broker to get the best deals when your fixed rate ends. 

Tilly tidy – this really adds up over the year.

Move to a Tracker mortgage at the end and make unlimited overpayments.

(Sorry, that was more than one)

e. The MSE Mortgage guides and others that helped you

Martin’s mortgage guides and overpayment calculators.  

Support from @savingholmes @south_coast @jessy103 @beanielou

Diaries:

@Frith My mortgage clobbering post

@glass_half_full The Piano Diary

@agathasquirrel The Case of the Overwhelming Mortgage

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

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6433582/lets-go-fly-a-kite/p1

Edgeoftheburn

a. The date you decided to become a MFW
In my twenties I remember an old work colleague shared that he and his wife were overpaying their mortgage, at first I was confused, then thought they were mad and finally thought I wouldn't have extra funds to be able to do that. Around 15 years later my husband and I accidentally fell into a housebuilding project. The mortgage was much larger than we felt comfortable with and we wanted it gone as soon as possible, so from May 2015.

b. Mortgage Debt at its highest
£320,000

c. Mortgage-Free Date
5 SEP 2024

d. Your one perl of wisdom.
Be consistent and avoid lifestyle creep. Every pay rise and any spare cash went to the mortgage, in the beginning overpayments were small, they then became equivalent to an extra months payment a year, then through time double the monthly payment each month. As this started to snowball the daily interest dropped month on month which was so satisfying and an instant way to see the impact of overpaying. Really importantly we set our priorities to ensure we had fun along the way. Holidays are much more important to us than fancy clothes and nights out so we budgeted accordingly, huge advocate of YNAB. The upside of this is that our outgoings are modest but comfortable which means we can now focus on saving for early retirement.

e. The MSE Mortgage guides and others that helped you
I have gathered huge amounts on inspiration from reading diaries and threads on MFW and Oldstyle Money saving. Not a hugely active member but everyone here has kept me going with their chat and reflections. It truly takes a village.


f. And if you had a mortgage freedom diary on MFW, a link to it.
  https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6267907/burning-the-mortgage-and-kindling-fire#latest

ranger210

a. The date you decided to become a MFW
January 2017 - I had been with Santander and paying interest only (I know I know!) for quite a few years while my children were growing up and to be honest didn't really have much of a handle on where my monthly wages went. I managed to get a promotion at work and realised that I could start to get this mortgage paid off. First Direct were offering a 10 year Mortgage at 2.49%! and you were able to pay off as much as you want as an overpayment. I paid off £12,000 from the Santander mortgage with money I stoozed from a virgin credit card and was accepted by First Direct for a £102,500 mortgage

b. Mortgage Debt at its highest
£114,500 (£12,000 stoozed and £102,500 mortgage)

c. Mortgage-Free Date
4th Nov 2024

d. Your one perl of wisdom.
Spreadsheet, Spreadsheet Spreadsheet! -  I created one that showed every single outgoing, every single debt and all the incoming money I had every month, This proved to be a great motivator for me seeing the balances drop over time and encouraged me to not only save as much as possible but it also stopped me making a lot of unnecessary purchases that in the past I probably would have made. I cannot lie it came a bit of an obsession and I used to look forward to seeing my monthly payslip the week before payday so I could update my new totals!

Stoozing - I managed to stooze over most of the last 7 years particularly over the first year paying the Virgin card back and the last 2 - 3 years now we have better saving rates.

 

e. The MSE Mortgage guides and others that helped you
I have been a daily lurker on this board for all this time and it really is motivational to see how you are all doing and get loads of ideas, I love following everyone's diaries to see what hints and tips I could use.
Thanks to everyone here who contributes 
 


f. And if you had a mortgage freedom diary on MFW, a link to it.
 Sorry no diary