Friends and Family 25 July 2007 at 1:01PM in Mortgage-free wannabe 12 replies 1.2K views

LookAfterThePennies_4

Hi,
Was just wondering if any of you have told your friends / family of your quest to become mortgage-free, and if so, what was their reaction?
We haven't mentioned it to anyone yet, but may need to find an excuse for not accepting invitiations to expensive events / shopping trips!

angelavdavis

My family know about it, they think I am barmy but are nonetheless supportive!

I am so keen to pay it off, so that OH and I only have his mortgage to pay off (although he will separately be overpaying it too).

Then I can do a job I really want to do rather than one I have to do!

auntie_brenda

I've stopped mentioning it at work - they all think I'm the crazy woman anyway ......why bring in your lunch and have a cup of (free) tea with it when you could go to the pub then spend £4 on sandwiches.... em.... so I can pay my mortgage off.......why..... etc. etc etc.

firesidemaid

auntie_brenda wrote: »

I've stopped mentioning it at work - they all think I'm the crazy woman anyway ......why bring in your lunch and have a cup of (free) tea with it when you could go to the pub then spend £4 on sandwiches.... em.... so I can pay my mortgage off.......why..... etc. etc etc.

i know everyone is entitled to do what they want with their money, but when you get on this mission there is no way back - so that kind of spending seems unnecessary.

i love water -it's free! i went into town the other day and a colleague asked 'did you buy anything'? - no, i paid money i had left into my account to overpay on my mortgage!

Kaz2904

Most think I'm mad, some, who are my age think it's great and are doing it themselves. There are a few who get really offensive about it and say that I am depriving my family (Of what exactly? More crap that we don't want/need?) but I look at them and think- you've just taken out a £100k mortgage over 25 years to pay for a £30k extension (and you only had 2 years to go on your first)- who's the wally.
This particular person keeps saying that it's because her kids cost her so much money (ie, I'll never afford it then) but by the time mine are their age my mortgage will be paid off (god willing) and I'll be 7 years younger than she is now.
The funniest thing is that she earns way more than we do and has been working way longer too!

LookAfterThePennies_4

I don't think I'll be telling anyone then if thats the kind of reaction I could get! I think I'll just tell people that we're saving up, I won't say what for.;)

phizzimum

I don't tell people as they seem to get quite defensive as if we're judging what they do with their money...but OH goes on about being MF whenever mortgages are mentioned...and I just groan!

people's frequent response is "you could pay your mortgage off and then get run over by a bus the next day"

eh? the last thoughts going through my mind are unlikely to be " oh bother, and I've only just paid off the mortgage!"

if I had a pound for every time someone made that comment...well, you all know what i'd do with the money!

Bargain_Rzl

phizzimum wrote: »

people's frequent response is "you could pay your mortgage off and then get run over by a bus the next day"

eh? the last thoughts going through my mind are unlikely to be " oh bother, and I've only just paid off the mortgage!"

:rotfl: :rotfl:

I think people are fairly understanding of my MFW-ness as my flat is shared ownership and I want to pay off my existing mortgage a.s.a.p. so that I can decide whether to buy the rest - either way, I want to be left with JUST rent or JUST a mortgage.

And in the shorter term, following the recent series of interest rate rises people seem to be fairly understanding of the fact that I am 8 months into a nice low (4.89%) 2 year fixed rate, and want to get the debt down as low as possible by the time I have to remortgage. For obvious reasons.

To be honest I'm not being particularly religious about it at the moment - there's a lot more I could do, but I am firmly of the belief that life is for living. I still think the MFW dream is really important though and it amazes me that there are so few people who think this way

cupid_s

I told my mom and dad.
Their reaction was 'wow that's impressive, here's ten thousand pounds to help you'
Most other people think we're lucky to be in the position of considering paying off our mortgage in the near future - even though we earn thousands less than them and have more basic outgoings. That really annoys me, as it has nothing to do with luck

moosemeister

I told my family and they think I'll never manage it - haven't bothered telling friends as I can't be doing with the snyde comments!!
Can't wait to prove them all wrong.

Redbedhead

We haven't told anyone. I generally prefer not to discuss finances with friends or family.