Mortgage Payoff Club!!

[Bob W]

IMHO,  paying off a mortgage is the equivalent or paying your rent 30 years in advance.  Why in the world would I ever do that.   If it is some psychological need simply put your money into a REIT account and label it "paid off home."  Set up withdrawals to be automatic so you will never be writing a check or thinking about it.   

Paying off a mortgage = wussassity,   having the money to pay it off and investing it = baddassity. 

Here's a link that explains why paying off a mortgage or even owning a home is a bad idea.  http://www.dailyfinance.com/2014/07/19/the-worst-investment-you-can-make-buying-a-home/?cps=gravity

There is a nice calculator there that will help you evaluate renting vs buying.

Really, you could avoid restaurants,  never heat your home,  drive with the ac off and never drink a Starbucks and you wouldn't even be close to saving the money that paying off a mortgage early will cost you. 

It is a multimillion dollar decision.  One that most people will make with emotions rather than a calculator.

Some other food for thought -

Your home is too big --- shoot for 400 sq ft per person
Your home is too expensive  --- shoot for a home valued at no more than 2 times your annual income.
You live in an area that is too expensive --- rural Midwestern communities have housing at 1/3rd what the coasts do.
Your home owns you --- you don't own it.

If your serious about paying off your home  you should also pay off the maintenance, taxes and insurance 30 years in advance.   Most people would say that is crazy.   But then why pay your rent 30 years in advance?   

There seems to be a big contingent here on the forums in favor of paying off homes and owning homes in general.  For me owning a bigass or even smallass home is the equivalent of driving a Hummer clown car down the road.   It is the biggest consumerism item in the world.   I cry a little every time MMM is bragging about his uber expensive chunk of consumerism.   I feel sorry for him that he is too lazy to walk or bike to the park and insists on owning a home with a park in the back yard.  I shed tears for his engineering degree,  knowing that he is can't or won't do the simple math on mortgages vs. investing. 

Sorry to rain on your parade.

I'm not going to get in an argument with you over where one should put one's money. This topic has been thoroughly discussed in-depth elsewhere in the forum, and generally speaking people are divided.

You, of course, are able to put your cash wherever the heck you would like. As are we. Everyone's situation is unique, and we each have different priorities, goals, and abilities. Please do not presume to know ours or assume that we are not aware of what we are doing.

I'm being a complete jerk here, so please forgive me.

Of course everyone can spend money anywhere they like.   I always think to myself the point of this blog and the community is to help us make thoughtful informed decisions regarding the use of money.   I'm probably off base on that thinking.

It is just perplexing and frustrating to me that MMM will go on and on about the virtues of hacking cable,  not eating out and driving crappy cars and then give up 20K per year on the mortgage/investment split.   

Put me in the "have the money to pay it off,  never pay it off, but far more likely to rent camp" 

and good luck with your goal!

[Alfred J Quack]

I'm being a complete jerk here, so please forgive me.

Of course everyone can spend money anywhere they like.   I always think to myself the point of this blog and the community is to help us make thoughtful informed decisions regarding the use of money.   I'm probably off base on that thinking.

It is just perplexing and frustrating to me that MMM will go on and on about the virtues of hacking cable,  not eating out and driving crappy cars and then give up 20K per year on the mortgage/investment split.   

Put me in the "have the money to pay it off,  never pay it off, but far more likely to rent camp" 

and good luck with your goal!

You are entitled to your opinion as is everyone else. Personally, I think this specific topic is not the place to put this one though, we've got a mortgage (for better or worse) and have made the choice to pay it off ASAP and this topic is a big motivator for it. The fact that you are calling it a wussasity is counterproductive and I would ask you to refrain from such comments in this specific topic.

On that note, I just dropped my amount payed off to 55%. Maxed out for the year (any more and I will have to pay fines) so I won't be posting much here for a while :P

[medinaj2160]

We are in as well :)

Me 28 and my wife 29 purchased our first and last home June 2012.

Value of our home according to Zillow 180K. We only paid 126K since it was a foreclosure and have a 30 year mortgage at 3.75%.
 
As of today we own $64,385.

Payoff goal: March 2015

My reason for paying the house fast is peace of mind because you never know what the future will hold.

New balance: $59,980

I miss judged my tax withholdings so I am not going to be able to pay as much on my mortgage next month :/

New balance: $55,556

little by little

New Balance: $51,171

New balance: $47270

New balance: $43,868

Me and my wife changed our 401k contributions to max them out; there for principal payments for the rest of the year will be way smaller.

New balance: $42750.

Sold one of my cars and decided to send some money to the house.

New balance: $32750.

The goal is to pay the mortgage completely before I turn 30 in January... It is going to be difficult.

New balance: $28,050

Omg so close, I probably own less money on my house than my coworkers paid for their cars lol.

Update time :)

New balance: $23,100

[shusherstache]

So, even with the job change my paycheck is higher than expected thanks to free insurance (!) and other swanky benefits like free public transit.  The paycheck is still $500 lower every other week, but not the $800+ that we were expecting.  Yay! Between that and some unexpected checks we are still progressing, though slower originally than planned.  After DH is reimbursed from his travel later this month we will have another couple thou to throw at it.

Currently at: 38,600ish

WIth the payment for August we should be down to 27,900 soon.

My mortgage company is so incompetent at dealing with principal payments that I am even more encouraged to pay this thing off.  The way they want to fix it is to gain access to debit my bank account - and with the fact that they have handled my payments correctly TWICE in the entire year they have had the account, there's no way in hell I trust them with more acess than I give them via paper check.

I'm now to the point where I walk the checks down to the bank branch close to work and they STILL mess it up every month, which results in me having to call them.

[Happyback]

I JUST PAID OFF MY MORTGAGE!  DONE!  NEVER AGAIN!! WHOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

I'ma gonna sleep sooooooo good tonight!
(*doin' a happy dance!*)

[Rural]

I JUST PAID OFF MY MORTGAGE!  DONE!  NEVER AGAIN!! WHOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

I'ma gonna sleep sooooooo good tonight!
(*doin' a happy dance!*)

Congratulations! Don't burn the real document, but it's officially okay to make a copy just for torching purposes...

[Neustache]

I JUST PAID OFF MY MORTGAGE!  DONE!  NEVER AGAIN!! WHOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

I'ma gonna sleep sooooooo good tonight!
(*doin' a happy dance!*)

Yay!  Congrats!

[FIreDrill]

I JUST PAID OFF MY MORTGAGE!  DONE!  NEVER AGAIN!! WHOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

I'ma gonna sleep sooooooo good tonight!
(*doin' a happy dance!*)

Awesome! Congrats :)

[Cressida]

I JUST PAID OFF MY MORTGAGE!  DONE!  NEVER AGAIN!! WHOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

I'ma gonna sleep sooooooo good tonight!
(*doin' a happy dance!*)

Congratulations, that is truly fantastic.

[Davids]

I JUST PAID OFF MY MORTGAGE!  DONE!  NEVER AGAIN!! WHOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

I'ma gonna sleep sooooooo good tonight!
(*doin' a happy dance!*)

I expect to be doing the happy dance in 4 years!

[Davids]

My current mortgage balance is $141,500. Looking to have it at $138,500 next month.

Update: My new balance is $138,300. Purposely threw in an extra $200 to beat my goal. My goal for next month is $135,000 balance.

My new balance is $134,900. Decided to throw in an extra $100 to beat my goal. Unfortunately I am not sure what next month will bring as this month will have some extra expenses (Auto insurance renewal and paying baby delivery bills). Also my wife will be going part time when her maternity leave ends at the end of this month so the next 6-9 months will have a slight wrinkle in putting in as much extra as we can toward the principal but we will still be putting as much extra as we can.

My new balance is $132,400. In addition to extra expenses of auto insurance renewal and the baby delivery bills we had to replace our hot water heater since it was leaking but I am still happy with what I put for extra even though it is not as much as I have lately been doing. With my wife working part time now with maternity leave ending we will see how much extra each month we can do. We should definitely though be under $130,000 for next month update!

[tanhanivar]

My annual pay rise turned out double what I calculated it to be (there were some other simultaneous changes which threw me). If I throw it all at the mortgage, that buys me an extra five months! With a very small effort, I may even get this down to 7 1/2 years after all.

I realised the other day that I have 6 1/2 years until I'm up for long service leave at the current job, so that is my new stretch goal: Paid off before I take long service leave.

[ecmcn]

RE the pay off vs invest argument, I think there's a middle way that can provide both piece of mind and maximum returns. Instead of, say, paying an extra $X/mo to pay off the mortgage in 15 years rather than 30, invest that money and earmark it for paying off the mortgage in 15 years. At any time you can compare your principal due to the value of that account and get the warm fuzzies knowing you're closer to the end of your mortgage. But you also get the financial advantages described elsewhere in this thread, and it allows for much more flexibility. You may find you can pay it off in 12 years, or perhaps you'll decide you're better off keeping the mortgage, etc.

I know it's a subtle change in outlook and isn't really that different from the "invest" side of the argument, but it works for me. Personally I would *love* the feeling of having my mortgage paid off, but my logical side can't escape the numbers, and this approach injects a little of the emotional element into the cold, hard finances.

[gobius]

Here's a link that explains why paying off a mortgage or even owning a home is a bad idea.  http://www.dailyfinance.com/2014/07/19/the-worst-investment-you-can-make-buying-a-home/?cps=gravity

There is a nice calculator there that will help you evaluate renting vs buying.

That is a cool calculator.

I live in the Midwest (a few hours from you).  Granted, you said the Midwest is cheaper, but the article is making assumptions such as buying a $350K house vs renting a similar place for 3/4 the mortgage payment.  Where I live, you can get a 15-year mortgage with a smaller payment (including insurance/taxes) than what someone pays in rent.  His assumptions would perhaps be good if you live in an area with a housing boom where the values of the homes have skyrocketed but people have options of renting from landlords who have owned their homes for awhile.  In the places where I have lived, that isn't the case (all are Midwest areas).  If his assumptions were true about the monthly payment, then all the landlords on this forum wouldn't be able to retire as early as they want.

When I put my assumptions into the calculator, it said I would break-even at $590/mo rent costs (living there 5 years).  I assumed 9% investment growth rate as well.  To rent the house where I live in, I would probably pay at least $700/mo (without including utilities).  According to the calculator, I would have to live in it for at least 3 years to beat that.  Sure, I used to rent an apartment that was less than $590/mo, but to fit my wife and me into it would yield less than the 400 SF/person you recommended.  About half that, actually.  That would be more mustachian I suppose, but since I'm at 80%+ savings rate I'm not that worried about it.  We also live in a house that is worth less than our combined annual salaries and allows us to bike almost everywhere.

[guzzler]

I am 33 years old. 

I have been in this debate with myself for past 6 years:  I have decided to pay off.  For piece of mind and simplicity.

I bought 2 homes:
1) 2008, Primary: 550K >> down to 385K >> refinanced to 15 years term.  2855 monthly payment, out of which almost 2K towards principal.
2) 2007, Investment: 120K >> paid off in 2 years.  Now the house is worth 250K

I cannot express in words how good it feels to OWN the house fully and to say that if I quit my job today I can live in that #2 house and live off my dividend income. 

Also renting vs buying calculators dont address this important fact:  Fixed payment for 30 years and no payment there after!!

No matter what you do, will need a house to live in, whether you are 20 or 90 years old.  If I can get a fixed monthly payment for next 30 years by having a mortgage it just makes sense.   Coz rent is gonna go up dramatically 30 years later say in 2044!!

See second table:
https://www.census.gov/hhes/www/housing/census/historic/grossrents.html

Take a look at 30 year diff in the past: 1970 and 2000:  Rents have gone up 6 times. 

If i decide not to buy because of some calculator and my rent today is 1000$, it will become 6000$ when i become 60.  At that i time I cannot afford that rent.

[jrhampt]

New balance: $143k

Bonuses next week!  Then we'll know how big this month's payment can be.  This time last year, we were at $203k, so we've made 60k progress over the past 12 months, and that was before we decided to really get serious about paying it off ASAP.

New balance: $123k

Sold some company stock after it vested, so this month will be another big payment.  Should be able to get it under $100k.  That will be the last of the unusually large payments this year, though.  Hoping to get into the mid-forties by the end of the year.

Agh.  Missed getting it under $100k by $85.  Forgot to account for property tax/escrow increase.  Have to wait until next month to lose that extra digit.

New balance: $100k.

New balance: $94k!  Nice to be under $100k finally.

$84k!

$79k, forgot to update last month.

[tomsang]

Also renting vs buying calculators dont address this important fact:  Fixed payment for 30 years and no payment there after!!

No matter what you do, will need a house to live in, whether you are 20 or 90 years old.  If I can get a fixed monthly payment for next 30 years by having a mortgage it just makes sense.   Coz rent is gonna go up dramatically 30 years later say in 2044!!

See second table:
https://www.census.gov/hhes/www/housing/census/historic/grossrents.html

Take a look at 30 year diff in the past: 1970 and 2000:  Rents have gone up 6 times. 

If i decide not to buy because of some calculator and my rent today is 1000$, it will become 6000$ when i become 60.  At that i time I cannot afford that rent.

Just a FYI.
The calculators do take this into account. If you have a paid off $600,000 house vs an investment account with $600k. At 4% you could pull out $2k a month in today's dollars for life for rent.  The stock market averages 7%+, so when you back off inflation that is where you get the 4%.

You listed rents from 1970 to 2000. If you also listed the stock market from that point in time you will see that you would be far ahead to invest vs having a paid off house.

Logically you can see that if your investments pay out greater than your mortgage rate then you would be better off keeping your mortgage and investing the difference.

Everyone should do what is best for them, I just wanted to clarify a few areas that you may have been mistaken.

[guzzler]

In theory it makes sense financially..  But in practice it doesnt work out.

I am left with constant stress and active involvement to make sure i get good returns for 60 years of my life:  25 to 85 age.

Also technically you would not be earning from your age 60-90 but rather withraw from your investments.  At that point your capital starts decling which may not provide you 6000$ for rent or at that point buying a home might not be an option either.

[YeahNo]

In theory it makes sense financially..  But in practice it doesnt work out.

I am left with constant stress and active involvement to make sure i get good returns for 60 years of my life:  25 to 85 age.

This is EXACTLY how I feel.

[tomsang]

Also technically you would not be earning from your age 60-90 but rather withraw from your investments.  At that point your capital starts decling which may not provide you 6000$ for rent or at that point buying a home might not be an option either.

I am not discounting emotions, but it might make sense to read up on investments and the 4%SWR. In most scenarios your Stache will grow. In the few worst case scenarios you will eat into principal, but that is the exception not the rule. In most scenarios your Stache will be greater than what you started with in real dollars. Play around with cfiresim. You might be shocked by the projected size of your stache based on historical returns.

[Cassie]

In another forum I participate in many older people including myself were commenting that many young MM's think it is wiser to invest because the returns have been so good for awhile but they have not lived thru the many long downturns. Many of us think that those that pay off the mortgage are the smartest!!

[tomsang]

In another forum I participate in many older people including myself were commenting that many young MM's think it is wiser to invest because the returns have been so good for awhile but they have not lived thru the many long downturns. Many of us think that those that pay off the mortgage are the smartest!!

Investment returns have been so good since 1929 or as long as we have financial models. There is no period of time where the market has performed less than 5% over a 25 to 30 year period. I was thinking about your comment and may flip your remark; that young people may have grown up in the worst economic times since 1929 and feel that the market is risky. The mortgage rates are at all time lows as the government is giving away free money to spark the economy. Even with this complete meltdown that we have witnessed in 2008, we have seen returns in excess of 8% over the past 10 years, 20 year and 30 years. Again if we don't earn greater than 6% over 30 years the 4% SWR does not work. 

MMM's shockingly simple math calc uses 5% after inflation. So if you are paying off a 4% mortgage you are pushing your retirement back from the calcs as MMM was using 7%+ for his investment returns. Also note that he kept his mortgage for several years after retiring until he said that he has so much money that he doesn't need the hassle to gain more.

Based on all of the historical returns since we started tracking them you would have beat a 4% mortgage over 20 or more years. So it isn't that the young whippersnappers don't have the wisdom, the facts when you look at them are clear that paying off a 3.5% mortgage is pushing back your retirement date, creating a situation where your net worth is tied up in an illiquid asset, where you are still responsible for your monthly mortgage payment until your mortgage is 100% paid off. A bank doesn't care if you prepaid your mortgage by $50k. They still want your payment.

[Neustache]

Starting Mortgage:  123K
Current Balance: 122K

Just made my first extra payment of $1300...new mortgage balance is $119,800.00

Ahem....back on topic.

Made my August extra payment...new balance is........ $117,719.00   Woot!  Sent $1900 to the mortgage, plus Augusts regular payment.  Goal is to hit 80% LTV by my birthday in January. We shall see. 

[Cassie]

You will be done before you know it!!

[RNwastash]

I FINALLY got my act together and made my first prepayment of the principal.  I feel great!! Balance: $139,318.  Great job everyone.  I feel inspired reading your posts. :)

[financialforager]

I am trying to pay mine off in about 6 years. I am hoping to refinance to a 10 year and a lower rate soon. I am making extra payments of $800 a month towards the principal. I owe about $180,000. It will be such a great feeling to have no mortgage payment.

[FunkyStickman]

Homeowner's insurance went up on me, still have $66K left owed on principal. I'm seriously debating on dumping my savings and tax returns into it and paying it off in 4 years instead of 7.

[medinaj2160]

We are in as well :)

Me 28 and my wife 29 purchased our first and last home June 2012.

Value of our home according to Zillow 180K. We only paid 126K since it was a foreclosure and have a 30 year mortgage at 3.75%.
 
As of today we own $64,385.

Payoff goal: March 2015

My reason for paying the house fast is peace of mind because you never know what the future will hold.

New balance: $59,980

I miss judged my tax withholdings so I am not going to be able to pay as much on my mortgage next month :/

New balance: $55,556

little by little

New Balance: $51,171

New balance: $47270

New balance: $43,868

Me and my wife changed our 401k contributions to max them out; there for principal payments for the rest of the year will be way smaller.

New balance: $42750.

Sold one of my cars and decided to send some money to the house.

New balance: $32750.

The goal is to pay the mortgage completely before I turn 30 in January... It is going to be difficult.

New balance: $28,050

Omg so close, I probably own less money on my house than my coworkers paid for their cars lol.

Update time :)

New balance: $23,100

New balance: $15,560

:) so close... I can't wait.

[Davids]

My new balance is $132,400. In addition to extra expenses of auto insurance renewal and the baby delivery bills we had to replace our hot water heater since it was leaking but I am still happy with what I put for extra even though it is not as much as I have lately been doing. With my wife working part time now with maternity leave ending we will see how much extra each month we can do. We should definitely though be under $130,000 for next month update!

My new balance is $129,000. Excellent month to say the least. My goal is to be under $120K by year end.

[LLCoolDave]

My mortgage balance just went under $20k. My last payment was $3800. I bought the house 5 years ago with a mortgage of $157k. I should be finished in January or February, my income fluctuates. I'm on the home stretch. Pun intended. Congrats to the posters who hit the milestone.

[falcondisruptor]

Add us to the pay down debt club!  Today I saw our balance under $100,000 for the first time, it feels great!  We're hoping to have it paid off in four years.

[tanhanivar]

As of this month, my debt is $318,000: $100,000 less than the house cost. My net position is $100,000 less than what I borrowed.

I feel like it's the first major milestone, and am hoping to be under $300k in debt ($275k net) by the end of April next year, and paid off (at this rate) by mid-2022.

I'd really like to knock at least another two years off that, and pay it off before I'm 40 and take long service leave.

[Roland of Gilead]

Paid off our loan.  Was $200,000 3 years ago, made extra payments and zeroed it out on Friday.

[frizzywhiskers]

Paid off our loan.  Was $200,000 3 years ago, made extra payments and zeroed it out on Friday.

Whoot!  Awesome job!  Big congratulations on that payoff!

[falcondisruptor]

Paid off our loan.  Was $200,000 3 years ago, made extra payments and zeroed it out on Friday.

Wooohooo!  Congratulations, that is huge!

[Happy Little Chipmunk]

Go Roland of Gilead!

We have been dabbling with this challenge; we've been paying extra but not focusing too much because we also want to be stashing cash in investments and our loan is pretty low at 3.25%. We have $107K left on a $126K loan. But we recently bought a "new to us" car. And in a most non-mushtachian move we financed part of it so we have an auto loan for the first time in 14 years.

I'm finding that adding consumer debt (even really low interest debt) makes me cranky, so we won't pay extra on the mortgage until I get the car paid off.

I hope to soon be back on track!

[Herbert Derp]

I gave the point plenty of thought and decided to pay cash for my condo. The way I see it, my FI was delayed for about a year, but now I am locked into a stable living situation with very low expenses. If I was renting, I would be paying at least $1,000/month + utilities for my location. With roommates, I could go a few hundred cheaper a month, but I would be hard pressed to beat what I'd be paying in dues + mortgage if I bought.

So basically, the cheapest options in my case were buy a condo and have my own apartment or rent and have roommates. There wasn't a significant financial difference between the two so I bought. Paying in cash was mostly a gut instinct decision: my thoughts on the matter are that I chose to make a safe investment at ~4.5% return rather than gamble with the stock market and hope I get over 4.5% (even though on average, this is very likely).

In any case, by the time I reach my 30s, my home equity will represent a relatively small percent of my net worth so I like to think of it as a nice little diversification in my investments.

[medinaj2160]

We are in as well :)

Me 28 and my wife 29 purchased our first and last home June 2012.

Value of our home according to Zillow 180K. We only paid 126K since it was a foreclosure and have a 30 year mortgage at 3.75%.
 
As of today we own $64,385.

Payoff goal: March 2015

My reason for paying the house fast is peace of mind because you never know what the future will hold.

New balance: $59,980

I miss judged my tax withholdings so I am not going to be able to pay as much on my mortgage next month :/

New balance: $55,556

little by little

New Balance: $51,171

New balance: $47270

New balance: $43,868

Me and my wife changed our 401k contributions to max them out; there for principal payments for the rest of the year will be way smaller.

New balance: $42750.

Sold one of my cars and decided to send some money to the house.

New balance: $32750.

The goal is to pay the mortgage completely before I turn 30 in January... It is going to be difficult.

New balance: $28,050

Omg so close, I probably own less money on my house than my coworkers paid for their cars lol.

Update time :)

New balance: $23,100

New balance: $15,560

:) so close... I can't wait.

New balance: $10,550

[secondcor521]

^ Looks like you're going to beat your March 2015 goal :-)

[steveo]

I have just under 100k owing at this point. I'd like to pay it off by the end of next year.

[Pants]

I need to join this thread :) I only got a mortgage a bit over a year ago for over $200,000 - probably huge by the US standards, but minuscule by Australian! Since finding MMM and doing a bit of thinking about mortgage pay off vs investing, I have decided to throw everything into the mortgage. Currently at 5.18% interest rate plus I feel like the peace of mind it will offer me is worth several percentage points on top of that. And the rates are expected to go up next year after a long pause at current levels...

Current balance $195,660 and I am hoping to pay it off in about 6 years (though that's being conservative).

[Bytowner]

After long debates with my partner in life, we settled on doubling our current weekly mortgage payments. We agreed that we prefer having the peace of mind of owning our house outright. Payment is now 17% interest, 83% capital instead of 35% interests, 65% capital.

Done in 7.5, or 6 if we drop an additional 17k$ per year. But I figure this will only happens if both our RRSP and TFSA are fully invested in.

When I bought the house a year ago, I figured I would have to pay mortgage payments for the next 25 years. No way I decided, I want to be done by 35.

Similar boat to you. We have a 30 year mortgage that I hope to pay off in under 8 years (I'm 30 now). I'm waffling back and forth between paying it off and chucking everything into our TFSAs and RRSPs. I know what the math says, and I doubt mortgage rates will be that much higher in 5 years when we need to refinance, but I'm having a really hard time putting money into this market with the S&P500 looking like it does. A big(ger) correction in October would make the decision a lot easier!

[FunkyStickman]

We still owe $64K, but back on track for paying it off in less than 7 years.

It makes me sick that we've actually only paid $24K on principal over the last 7 years.

Cannot wait to get this albatross off my neck.

[medinaj2160]

We are in as well :)

Me 28 and my wife 29 purchased our first and last home June 2012.

Value of our home according to Zillow 180K. We only paid 126K since it was a foreclosure and have a 30 year mortgage at 3.75%.
 
As of today we own $64,385.

Payoff goal: March 2015

My reason for paying the house fast is peace of mind because you never know what the future will hold.

New balance: $59,980

I miss judged my tax withholdings so I am not going to be able to pay as much on my mortgage next month :/

New balance: $55,556

little by little

New Balance: $51,171

New balance: $47270

New balance: $43,868

Me and my wife changed our 401k contributions to max them out; there for principal payments for the rest of the year will be way smaller.

New balance: $42750.

Sold one of my cars and decided to send some money to the house.

New balance: $32750.

The goal is to pay the mortgage completely before I turn 30 in January... It is going to be difficult.

New balance: $28,050

Omg so close, I probably own less money on my house than my coworkers paid for their cars lol.

Update time :)

New balance: $23,100

New balance: $15,560

:) so close... I can't wait.

New balance: $10,550

New balance: $9,035

Finally in the 4 digits :) ... I think that I should be able to pay the house completely in January before turning 30 if everything goes well.

Will see what happens....

[eyePod]

OK, I'll bite. I'm not sure how quickly we'd like to pay of our mortgage, but here's our stats.

Mortgage started at 223,200 in June 2014. We are paying PMI to the tune of $80 a month. We plan on keeping this in our monthly mortgage payment since we're used to it.

It's now November, and to date, we are at $217,524.10. So that's $5,675.90 off of principal in the first 5 months. I wish we could keep that pace.

We've been able to do this in sort of a two-pronged approach.

1 is our dependent care from work, I get 5k that's removed throughout the year and when it comes back, it automatically goes to principal - wife and I agreed about this.

Other miscellaneous non-allocated money at the end of the month is also going to principal.

Things that we've saved up for since we got in our home include: new carpet upstairs, new carpet in the basement (only one rooms worth), and new furniture for my daughter.

For general house repairs and the like, including major appliances, we're trying to only use money from my eBay side business. Currently, we've put away ~1500, and that will keep going up. This is for replacement of the hot water heater, furnace, and hvac system since they're all pretty old. We do have a home warranty through June, but we feel pretty good about all of this.

Sorry for the novel, but I really love the idea of not having to make these types of payments in the future. Probably would like to hit FI around/before 40 (11 years from now), and we would love to pay off the house before then too. Currently have cut off (with the $80 continuing) ~25k on the total amount paid and 43 months. This is 15 years further out from my 40th, so we have some work to do.

[JD_]

I'm in on this.  Joined MMM forum because of it.  Great discussion, guys.

It's nice to share the motivation and hear from other's on the same mission.

My background:

- August 2012 (Age 28): purchased home for $321,400
- Original Mortgage balance: $250,400 (3.75%, 30 year fixed)
- Monthly mortgage payment: $1,160

- Current balance: $200,663

GOAL: Payoff by Fall 2019 (Age 35)

PLAN: Additional $2,200 to principal each month

My wife and I each contribute to 401k to the extent we max out our employer match.  We each have ROTH IRA which we contribute very little to so far, just opened them in December 2013. 

Emergency fund ~ 3 months livings expenses.  We would set aside more for an emergency fund but I work a Saturday job in addition to my full time.  If I were to lose my FT job, I am fortunate that I could pick up close to (if not) 40 hours /week at the Saturday job (never burn bridges!).

Like many others here, I highly value the peace of mind of being mortgage free and the zero risk involved in throwing extra money at a mortgage.

Keep up the good work!

-JD

Update: down to $195.5k!

A few changes I've made in the past month or two in order to increase my badassity/effort to payoff the mortgage:

1. FINALLY signed up for a cash back credit card, and use it for every expense/purchase possible.  I 'm kicking myself for not doing this sooner!  Every little bit helps!

2. Learned about the commuter benefits available through my employer.  I get $100/month tax free to use towards public transportation.  This saves gas $ as well as serious wear and tear on my car (50 mile round trip commute).

Just when I think I'm doing everything I can to payoff the mortgage ASAP, I find new ways to work even harder at it. 

Love the forum, thanks to all.  I don't post much but I read often and appreciate the helpful insight and tips from the board.

-JD

Update: down to $176.2k come this Friday.  Aiming for a payoff date of Sept 2018.  Keep going strong, fellow M's.

[YeahNo]

Glad to find you guys. I'm of the same exact mindset...the freedom of being completely debt free completely outweighs "the math" of not paying off and investing the money. Gaining an extra point or two changes my life very minimally, paying off my mortgage transforms my life.

Thanks frugalJD for the template ;)

My background:

September 2011 (Age 29): purchased home for $325,000
Original Mortgage balance: $260,000 (4.25%, 30 year fixed)
Original Monthly mortgage payment: $1,726.87
Original Extra Principal Paydown: $500/month
Original Payment frequency: Monthly

Current balance: $211,197.92
Current Payment frequency: Bi-Weekly
Current Monthly Mortgage Payment: $1,868.30
Current Extra Principal Paydown: $1,631.70/month + 2 months a year where an extra $1,750 each month goes in

GOAL: I am a business owner so there are periods where my income is stable and periods where it fluctuates. If we have a good 6 month run I could take a distribution that would pay off 1/2 the remaining balance in one shot. At the same time, if the money isn't there I will continue getting my monthly paychecks and making the "current" numbers from above work. I'd really like to have this beast paid of within 2 years, age 35.

PLAN: Keep routine "current" plans, use extra business income to pay down big chunks of principal.

Side note: We own 50% of a rental townhouse. We saved up to finally pay off the remaining ~$40k on that mortgage. We did get a little taste of the "no mortgage" freedom with that. It gave us a $600 swing in cash flow each month.

My wife and I each max out 401(k).  We are above income thresholds for IRAs. Max out HSA for family of $6500.

Emergency fund - None. We will use funds in checking account and/or credit cards for immediate needs(<72 hours). After that would sell some stock and transfer funds to checking account.

Very curious to know what it feels like to have literally 0 debt.

[Threshkin]

Glad to find you guys. I'm of the same exact mindset...the freedom of being completely debt free completely outweighs "the math" of not paying off and investing the money. Gaining an extra point or two changes my life very minimally, paying off my mortgage transforms my life.

...clip...

Very curious to know what it feels like to have literally 0 debt.

It feels GREAT!  Congratulations on your excellent progress!

[jrhampt]

Mortgage mutilated.  Struck the final death blow last week - totally debt free.

[Primm]

Mortgage mutilated.  Struck the final death blow last week - totally debt free.

Awesome work!