i also aim to be mortgage free..

want2bmortgage3

i have a mortgage of about 108k, which works out about 640 a month and i have about 3 1/2 years left at 4.89% fixed rate.

my property is worth about 165k. my main aim is to pay the morgage off asap. i havent yet found a job i enjoy (who does?), and feel the mortgage is a weight on my shoulders, i just want to be free..

my property is 2 bed so i'm thinking of renting out a room (but need to re decorate first). other options are downsize to a 1 bed to reduce the morgage, or find a room somewhere myself with all bills inc and let my flat out (equivalent to renting the 2nd bedroom out).

i'd like to hear from others doing the same and i'm also interested in those people who have done it and are now mortgage free. what a relief that must be? freedom finally? a life without being ruled by money.. what could that have in store??

thriftyget

If you can bear renting that 2nd bedroom out, it must be a better option than going through the trauma and cost of moving. Stick as much as you can in the mortgage and watch the repayment term come tumbling down.....

MissKJ

I wouldn't recommend downsizing to a one bedroom, it leaves you less options.

wymondham

agree with the other posts, keep the place if you can and get a lodger in.... saves moving costs and keep your future options open. Good luck!!

want2bmortgage3

thanks for the advice i suppose keeping my 2 bedroom maisonette is the best thing at the moment.

i have only recently moved in as i rented the place out for the last year. i don't mind my job but i never feel happy working for other people and have thought about trying my hand at property development, now i have moved in i have a chance to try that.

i know it probably makes sense to pay any spare money into my mortgage but i think i'm going to do the place up and spend £1-2k, doing as much as i can myself (except things like plastering, electrics and plumbing).

i guess if i keep the place long term then thats not going to help with the mortgage but if i decided to rent out or move on to another property (time will tell) then the home improvements will add value.

it's nice to have something to get stuck into at last...

want2bmortgage3

just an update. i only moved into my flat this month so i still havent got all the bills through so it is hard to make monthly estimates as to what my outgoings will be. as soon as i get this information i am going to work out my monthly spend and see how much i can overpay a month, and use the calculator to see what age i can pay my mortgage by.

it will be interesting too, seeing how i can reduce individual bills, such as saving energy etc. with a mortgage paid off i see freedom, liberation.....

want2bmortgage3

i wonder what anybody else things of the way i see things.. we are placed in this society where to own a basic, necessary thing, a house, we have to have a massive debt. this debt is so big that we are tied to a job for 25 years or more!

is the answer to find a job you like and not worry about it? is it possible to find a job you like? personally, i havent yet found one! i would not say i am lazy but naturally i dont feel like doing the same thing every day. i like to have a sense of freedom, and time to explore the world around me.

i feel the only solution is to do all i can to pay the mortgage asap and then i can start living the life i want without money ruling most of my decisions.

Lexxi

I think there are people in this world that know from the start what they want to do career wise who are rather fortunate but for most people it's a case of trying out various jobs out and finding one you enjoy enough to stick at or work at to progress and finding a good balance, if you find a job you truly love then all the better. I find jobs I like for a while then lose interest, my current job I can pick which nights I work, it's varied, very social and good money but I am getting bored. It's part of my nature. As my house is rented out I am safe I guess in that whilst I have a mortgage I'm not tied to it the same, I'm trying to get it paid off as soon as I can for the financial freedom. I do see where you're coming from and even when you do pay off your motgage then you will still need to be financially stable for other bills, maintenence etc. Best option is to weigh up what you really want to be doing, if you want to do it now sell up and use the money, otherwise work hard pay off the mortgage and use the dreams of what you'll be doing when the mortage is gone to keep you going at whichever job you find yourself in. I'm going to spend an entire summer at a time abroad knowing I have a house to come back to and not have to worry about the bills the same!

want2bmortgage3

thanx lexxi, sounds good. so you rent out your house, work in the winter to save for going abroad in the summer? thats a cool idea. do you work abroad to keep going or make sure you take enough to survive? i'm not sure personally i'm drawn to travelling abroad but i admire people who do go travelling and seeing different things.

Move_To_Portugal

Hi
I would definitley keep the two bedrooms and rent out a room.

Good luck

mtp

wymondham

There are two ways of looking at this - get the highest paid job you can (even if you don't like it) and overpay like mad, or get the job you want (not necessarily the best paid) and overpay as you can. The first gives more 'pain' but for less time, whereas the second makes the mortgage last out longer but may be more bearable as you like the job...

I fortunately had a third way - a job I liked and paid well, but I think this is quite rare in this day and age!!
It's not easy whatever you decide :rolleyes: