Author Topic: March is Mutilate the Mortgage Month  (Read 14011 times)

Melissa

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March is Mutilate the Mortgage Month
« on: February 23, 2012, 02:49:56 PM »
My challenge for th Month of March is to see how much money we can trim from other areas of the budget and apply all savings to paying down the mortgage.  Anyone else interested?

arebelspy

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Re: March is Mutilate the Mortgage Month
« Reply #1 on: February 23, 2012, 02:59:06 PM »
My challenge for th Month of March is to see how much money we can trim from other areas of the budget and apply all savings to paying down the mortgage.  Anyone else interested?

I'm the opposite of many of you, I love mortgages.  Just picked up my 5th one yesterday (that is, 5th concurrent one, not just 5th ever).  So it won't apply to me.  And some rent, or have paid off homes.  So it won't apply to them.  And some have other debt they need to pay off before their mortgage.  So it would be mathematically inferior for them to participate.

But I DO really like the idea of trimming the budget beyond what it already is, as a challenge.

So how about we make it "Mustache March", and one can trim the budget and apply it to whatever particular Mustache growing activity they prefer (paying down the mortgage or other debt, investing, etc.).

Would that work for you, or is your heart set on the awesome alliteration in the thread title?  :D
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
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Melissa

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Re: March is Mutilate the Mortgage Month
« Reply #2 on: February 23, 2012, 03:05:45 PM »
Mustache March sounds good to me. 

I do still like the alliteration though :-)

arebelspy

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Re: March is Mutilate the Mortgage Month
« Reply #3 on: February 23, 2012, 03:09:11 PM »
Mustache March sounds good to me. 

I do still like the alliteration though :-)

Cool.  (And I do, too.)

If others show interest, maybe you can ping MMM and he can write up a blog entry to post next week on March 1st, calling on Mustachian readers to take the Mustache March challenge.

Though, to be honest, we should probably all be living optimally all the time.  But given that this isn't likely possible, and everyone could cut somewhere, the challenge could be fun.  And we can, of course, share what we're doing to cut the fat, giving others ideas as well.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

woodworker2010

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Re: March is Mutilate the Mortgage Month
« Reply #4 on: February 23, 2012, 04:51:34 PM »
This reply just inspired me to move my goal of paying off student debt from end of April, to end of March...may have to pick up some work on my woodworking side gig, but that can be done!

Mike Key

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Re: March is Mutilate the Mortgage Month
« Reply #5 on: February 23, 2012, 06:24:29 PM »
Mustache March sounds good to me. 

I do still like the alliteration though :-)

Cool.  (And I do, too.)

If others show interest, maybe you can ping MMM and he can write up a blog entry to post next week on March 1st, calling on Mustachian readers to take the Mustache March challenge.

Though, to be honest, we should probably all be living optimally all the time.  But given that this isn't likely possible, and everyone could cut somewhere, the challenge could be fun.  And we can, of course, share what we're doing to cut the fat, giving others ideas as well.

I don't have a mortgage but the Mustache March could just be a throw down challenge for everyone to go hard or go home, set one big goal for the month and tackle it.

fritta

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Re: March is Mutilate the Mortgage Month
« Reply #6 on: February 23, 2012, 07:10:14 PM »
Count me in!
I was just thinking about this yesterday. I was looking at my kid's school calendars and noticed that March is a long month with no school holidays. So I thought it would be the perfect time to step a few things up. I am going to increase the work outs by about 20-30%, and hope to have noticeable changes by the end if the month. I am also going to trim the budget as much as I can. I am not to the mortgage attack yet because I still have a car loan (I know-big mistake).  I am trying to get it paid off asap. Lastly, (and most sad) I am going to abstain from wine for the month for health and financial benefits. I was inspired my MMM's blog about this subject.

StaceStache

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Re: March is Mutilate the Mortgage Month
« Reply #7 on: February 24, 2012, 09:13:24 AM »
I love the idea of Mutliate the Mortgage Month! I have actually done this already for March - I'm a spreadsheet nerd and have all my income/expenses listed in an Excel spreadsheet. With my tax refund coming in a few days plus keeping a really tight budget for the month, I plan on my extra payment being 6.5 times my monthly mortgage payment for March!! woohoo!!! Mutilate that mortgage! (I hate owing money to anyone :-))

Two9A

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Re: March is Mutilate the Mortgage Month
« Reply #8 on: February 25, 2012, 04:24:56 PM »
Agreed, this is a great idea. I stupidly took out a loan in order to cover the deposit for my last mortgage, so that's been in my sights for a while. If the planets align, I should have enough cash on hand to settle the balance by the end of March, so that'll be my highest-interest-rate debt mutilated.

Bring it on, I say.

MMM

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Re: March is Mutilate the Mortgage Month
« Reply #9 on: February 25, 2012, 09:41:05 PM »
I too like this idea! Let's do a Maximum Mustache March (Maybe Mutilate the Mortgage?) Month with a post on the 1st to celebrate it.

I think my personal goal will be to see how grocery spending can be optimized. I've gotten a little disgusted with myself recently, bringing home package after package of various kinds of organic meat and fish without even thinking about it. Our grocery bill got up to 5 grand last year, and I think it would be instructive to see how much we could blend super-healthy eating and much lower costs for the month. It would require a daily food journal for the family, but that wouldn't be too much work.

Some of the readers spend well under $100/person/month while eating extremely good food. I want to be one of them next month! If it goes well, we will have new ammunition for helping people out with future reader case studies.

Physics

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Re: March is Mutilate the Mortgage Month
« Reply #10 on: February 25, 2012, 09:50:55 PM »
May many Mister Money Mustache members make maximum mustache march marvelous.

My alliteration muscles are sore.

Melissa

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Re: March is Mutilate the Mortgage Month
« Reply #11 on: February 26, 2012, 12:26:27 PM »
MMM, I think Maximum Mustache March is perfect.  Plus I would love to hear all the ideas on how people are planning on saving

shedinator

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Re: March is Mutilate the Mortgage Month
« Reply #12 on: February 26, 2012, 02:20:16 PM »
For some of the more religious members of the community, Maximum Mustache March could just be another name for "Lent." :D The oldest Lent tradition involves eating only one meal each day, fasting from meat (excluding sea creatures without backbones- ie, shellfish and octopus) and dairy (including eggs), and only having olive oil and alcohol on the weekends. It's a very minimalistic approach to diet. My family, and several others I know, have decided to extend that minimalistic approach to the rest of our lives- no going out for meals, no buying new things (including new to us), only spending on necessities/regular bills, drastically reducing TV and other entertainment consumption, etc. Granted, a certain percentage of what we save will end up going in the offering plate on Easter, but the "bare bones" lifestyle will have the side effect of a sharp uptick in savings.

Mike Key

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Re: March is Mutilate the Mortgage Month
« Reply #13 on: February 27, 2012, 07:41:57 AM »
Maximum Mustache March Goals

  • Get up every day at 5:30 am Mon-Sat. 7am on Sundays. (This has been a struggle, working from home creates the opportunity to sleep in till noon.)
  • Reduce our grocey bill from $350.00 to $250.00 and learn to cook more meals
  • Give up wasteful spending that equals bad health - NO SODAS, NO CHIPS, NO JUNK
  • NO EATING OUT
  • Be able to ride 10 miles with ease in less than 55 minutes.
  • Bring in $5000 worth of projects

Guitarist

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Re: March is Mutilate the Mortgage Month
« Reply #14 on: February 27, 2012, 02:43:37 PM »
I too like this idea! Let's do a Maximum Mustache March (Maybe Mutilate the Mortgage?) Month with a post on the 1st to celebrate it.

I think my personal goal will be to see how grocery spending can be optimized. I've gotten a little disgusted with myself recently, bringing home package after package of various kinds of organic meat and fish without even thinking about it. Our grocery bill got up to 5 grand last year, and I think it would be instructive to see how much we could blend super-healthy eating and much lower costs for the month. It would require a daily food journal for the family, but that wouldn't be too much work.

Some of the readers spend well under $100/person/month while eating extremely good food. I want to be one of them next month! If it goes well, we will have new ammunition for helping people out with future reader case studies.

This will lead nicely into the one year anniversary of your site...

Melissa

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Re: March is Mutilate the Mortgage Month
« Reply #15 on: February 27, 2012, 05:42:46 PM »
Mike, I like how you posted for eceryone to see. Matbe others can share what exactly they are going to do and we can all keep each other accountable.
Lets start another thread titled Maximum Mustache March where everyonr can post goals and progress throughout the month

sol

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Re: March is Mutilate the Mortgage Month
« Reply #16 on: March 01, 2012, 11:27:04 PM »
This thread has motivated us to finally consider refinancing our mortgage.

Current remaining balance is 238k after two years of living here, 30yr mortgage at 4.875%  Current rates for a 15 year mortgage, even without 20% in anymore due to falling home value, are still like 3.3%.  Since we're already paying half the monthly amount biweekly, our total annual mortgage bill would only go up about $3400/yr if we refinanced to a 15 year and paid the minimum instead.

This additional $283 per month would come out of our taxable savings budget, since our 401k/roth options are maxed, and would generate a total net savings of $153,000 over the course of the loan.

Forget switching your cell provider for a measly $500/year in savings.  Refi to a 15 year mortgage and save yourself a few hundred grand. 

I'm calling some banks tomorrow.  It will mean $3400/year less in liquid savings available for things like buying another property, but when thinking about long term wealth building, I think it's a fair trade.

edit:  As soon as I wrote this last night and then went to bed, I realized that a more accurate accounting would be comparing the total interest cost on the 15 yr mortgage vs the interest cost of the 30yr current mortgage with the proposed extra $283/month added to the payments.  Does anybody know of a good web calculator that produced amortization schedules based on overpayment amounts?
« Last Edit: March 02, 2012, 08:11:40 AM by sol »

arebelspy

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Re: March is Mutilate the Mortgage Month
« Reply #17 on: March 02, 2012, 09:56:27 AM »
edit:  As soon as I wrote this last night and then went to bed, I realized that a more accurate accounting would be comparing the total interest cost on the 15 yr mortgage vs the interest cost of the 30yr current mortgage with the proposed extra $283/month added to the payments.  Does anybody know of a good web calculator that produced amortization schedules based on overpayment amounts?

Not web based off the top of my head, but I've run across a few speadsheets that do this.  Google early mortgage payments spreadsheet, or something with similar terms, and I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

Trebek

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Re: March is Mutilate the Mortgage Month
« Reply #18 on: May 20, 2012, 11:36:17 PM »
It looks like someone else out there liked your idea Melissa...

www.mutilatethemortgage.com

velocistar237

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Re: March is Mutilate the Mortgage Month
« Reply #19 on: May 21, 2012, 06:40:46 AM »
Does anybody know of a good web calculator that produced amortization schedules based on overpayment amounts?

http://www.mtgprofessor.com/calculators/Calculator2a.html

That site also has a ton of other calculators.