Mortgage Payoff Club!!

[Trifele]

I love the thermometer @grantmeaname! 

In my last 100-day lead up to FIRE I had a coloring page (a lovely beach scene) with 100 sections.  I colored one section in every day after work, starting with the sand and seashells and working my way up to the sun.   

[grantmeaname]

wow, I love that!

[ProxyRetired]

Going half in for the year. We had planned to snowball our mortgage since we paid off a couple things, but given the looming recession, and a likely war over the debt limit in Congress, we're going to split in half what we we're going to put in, and save the rest in cash. We'll only lose a couple hundred in interest long term, but it'll beef up our war chest incase things get wonky this summer and fall.

[LeftA]

@grantmeaname , that’s a fun way to track progress!

We started not too far away from you at $475K, about 10 years ago. We’re now at just over $22K owed.

[Money Badger]

Going half in for the year. We had planned to snowball our mortgage since we paid off a couple things, but given the looming recession, and a likely war over the debt limit in Congress, we're going to split in half what we we're going to put in, and save the rest in cash. We'll only lose a couple hundred in interest long term, but it'll beef up our war chest incase things get wonky this summer and fall.

Once you guys have saved a full 6 months of cash for all living expenses, there's no "half way" to killing a mortgage debt every year as long as your health is good so you can make a living.   The inertia factor is just too hard to resist as life nags you for that "half" sitting on the sidelines.   Killing that debt is a 24 hour a day, find any legal way, every day passion to kill the mortgage and get that sweet release letter from the mortgage service.   It's amazing what you can find to accelerate this... Renegotiate cable/cellular/home/auto insurance/security services and ANYTHING that depreciates.  Heck, search under your sofa cushions and the ones at your friends house to find shekhels that drop that principal balance!   The point is it has to be a passion to be free of debt or you simply likely won't be.   Short term sacrifice results in free cash flow, then long-term wealth acceleration as you apply that free cash flow to build a far larger nest egg with a confidence that simply isn't there with a large mortgage overhead.    Don't just be an animal about this... Be a friggin' Money Badger about it!  ;-)

[TomTX]

Do you ever lie awake at night thinking "I wish I owed JP Morgan money still and had tens more shares of VTSAX?"

I'm perfectly happy having an additional $150k invested instead of paying down a ~3%, 30 year mortgage early. I certainly don't worry about it, much less lie awake at night.

[grantmeaname]

Congrats?

[Money Badger]

ROFL!

[talltexan]

Going half in for the year. We had planned to snowball our mortgage since we paid off a couple things, but given the looming recession, and a likely war over the debt limit in Congress, we're going to split in half what we we're going to put in, and save the rest in cash. We'll only lose a couple hundred in interest long term, but it'll beef up our war chest incase things get wonky this summer and fall.

 Heck, search under your sofa cushions and the ones at your friends house to find shekhels that drop that principal balance!   

I know you were saying this in the spirit of exaggeration, but taking money out of your friends' furniture may have legal consequences that offset the benefits of a paid-off mortgage.

[nereo]

Going half in for the year. We had planned to snowball our mortgage since we paid off a couple things, but given the looming recession, and a likely war over the debt limit in Congress, we're going to split in half what we we're going to put in, and save the rest in cash. We'll only lose a couple hundred in interest long term, but it'll beef up our war chest incase things get wonky this summer and fall.

 Heck, search under your sofa cushions and the ones at your friends house to find shekhels that drop that principal balance!   

I know you were saying this in the spirit of exaggeration, but taking money out of your friends' furniture may have legal consequences that offset the benefits of a paid-off mortgage.

the amount of overlap with antisemitic tropes here makes me uncomfortable.

[Money Badger]

My mother's last name was Karesh.  I wish you peace.

Back to the point of the comment to Proxy, whatever the currency, thinking in terms of years to pay off a mortgage or setting aside sidepots of funds is not a successful mindset to becoming debt free.   As any windfall comes through (incuding the sofa cushions ;-), applying that cash to the debt earlier in the amortization period to avoid paying interest on those early years is key.  Eliminating debt has to be intentional every day.  Doing so will be called "weird" to others who think "some debt is good" who will challenge you.   But it transforms your life to accumulate personal assets that pay you returns every month instead of being  psychologically influenced by debt over one's head and financially "owned" by one's lender.