Epiphany!

[AliInKY]

For months I've been talking about significantly increasing the amount of money we put toward our mortgage principle each month.  Last week I finally did.  Yay, right? 

I was just sitting here thinking about paycheck flow before the beginning of the month.  At the same time I was thinking, "Man, what if I've put us in a crunch on everything else by kicking this principle payment up so high?"  And it suddenly hit me...there's NOTHING else that is a higher priority for us financially than paying off this house note.  It's our only debt.  We're investing heavily in 401Ks, IRAs and additional investment accounts.  Everything else is fun and games - and that's why I've resisted pulling the trigger, even though we still have plenty for "fun".

How weird.  I've been talking the talk for a while now, and I even started walking the walk in the last week.  But tonight it suddenly, completely and irreversibly clicked for me.  I get it now.  Good grief. 

   

[h2ogal]

Yup, many who post here don't even worry about paying off the house, but it was a big deal for us.   We LOVE being mortgage free.  I say go for it!

Living here is still not free and out monthly expenses to keep this house running are still way too high.  Our property and school taxes in NY state are wicked - over 500 per month.
   

[wileyish]

Sounds like a solid plan! There is lots of talk about mortgage vs. investing around here, but you seem to have all of your ducks lined up so the mortgage payoff plan makes sense to me. You might make a bit more cash investing (or not). I’d advocate going for being mortgage-free in your situation. Go Dog Go!

[JuSp02]

Way to go!!

[Exflyboy]

Indeed.. I paid off the house before investing anything except the company match in the 401k plan.

Reason being was that the prospect of losing my relatively high paid job in this one horse town was very high.. Layoff notices were being handed out every week. Thankfully I managed to avoid them. RE taxes are low here (about $1700 a year) and no water or sewerage (well and septic).

The day I owned the roof over my head I knew that no matter what happened I almost certainly had somewhere to live.

I felt I could breathe once the last payment was made.

[Cougar]

yes, many people dont see the house as such a liability to freedom, but it is.

if most people had no car or house payments(and kids), they could easily live on less than $1000 a month. i hear of people looking to move to mexico to cut living expenses, but there are plenty of places in the usa just as cheap to live if your house is paid off.