Quest for (mortgage) freedom

rugbymadfamily

Glad all going well in the new post so far! 

Wow, breaking the £200 barrier would be brilliant! I'm aiming to break the £300 barrier by the end of the year, will be a stretch but think we can do it. As you say, just a big psychological boost to break the next big barrier!

eat_that_frog

I thought I'd post this evening because today marks 1 year since I started my mortgage free journey! And I want to write a little message, to myself really, for me to read in another year's time! 

I've looked back at previous posts and I cannot believe how far I have come in 12 months. In a nutshell:

1. I've overpaid over £20k
2. My mortgage has gone down from the £230k bracket into the £210k bracket, and I'm on the cusp of getting into the £200k bracket by the end of this month
3. I've taken 2 years off of my mortgage term in 1 year of overpayments.
4. My daily interest at the start of my journey was roughly £13 a day; it's now around £12
5. I've decluttered around 600 items from my home, sold some of them, and although I'm nowhere near finished yet I'm already enjoying the sense of calm it has brought to my surroundings.

Next, I want to remind myself of what my motivations for getting the debt paid back early:

1. We're in a global pandemic and although my partner and I have stable jobs (touch wood) at the moment, no-one knows what the future will hold.
2. I want to give my child a sense of financial security. We will never be wealthy but we can be stable and at peace. I did not have this as a child. I have learned a lot from my parents' mistakes. 
3. I want to build my financial nest egg for living a fulfilling life post-retirement, and I won't be able to do that so well with a large mortgage hanging over my head.

And what have I learned over the last 12 months?

1. Prior to the pandemic I was spending money on things I just did not need to spend money on: pricey haircuts, takeaway coffees, ad-hoc spending whilst out and about. This was really wasteful, both financially and environmentally. The past Covid months have shown me I haven't missed these things and can find better ways of using that money.
2. In the past I have been guilty of suffering from 'stuffitis'. Decluttering my house is helping me to recognise this, see what my areas of weakness were in the past, and focus on breaking that cycle.
3. Money and how to manage money is actually interesting and a very exciting 'hobby'. It's not a bad or shameful thing to be ambitious about money. This has been a big revelation to me.

So my message to myself is: look at what you've achieved in the last 12 months! And think about what you can achieve in the next 12 months if you keep it up at this rate. So just don't stop. 

South_coast

Well done you! Wonderful to look back and see how far you've come 😀

eat_that_frog

Thanks @South_coast!

SandyShores

Brilliant @eat_that_frog!!

Love your reasons - stability, giving our kids a good start and planning for retirement.  And your decluttering is amazing.
 

rugbymadfamily

Well done you! Great to take a look back at progress, what a year! Absolutely brilliant work, keep it up and keep those reasons in mind and you will go far 😊 

Cornish_mum

Well done what a fantastic set of achievements! CM

eat_that_frog

Thanks all! I'm counting the days now until I roll down into the £200k bracket, I am so close. Enjoy the sunshine everyone 

sampa99978

Hi - just wanted to say hello and that your journey has been inspirational to me! I had a nose through your diary as you had a similar level of mortgage left to pay, but I don't know that I'll ever match the rate at which you're clearing it! Though I blame having three kids in childcare - note, having a second child to 'round off the family' runs the risk of twins, the ultimate foe to moneysaving 

eat_that_frog

Thanks @sampa99978 that's really kind of you to say! Childcare costs are dreadful I think - we're about to head down that path in September, I work part-time so it's not a massive amount of cover that I need but it really does add up, and that's just for 1