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Original poster

If you have paid off your mortgage....

54 replies

Soen · 08/01/2020 21:09

Just wondering how different your life is if you have paid off your mortgage.

I have many years to go til I have paid mine off, but I have been overpaying for a while. My job is tiring and stressful and I have 2 children. I sometimes dream of the day my mortgage is paid off so I don't have to slog my guts out every day. I'm fucking knackered and only early 30s.

Is life really any different once it has been paid off? Did anyone fulfil any lifelong ambitions once they had more freedom? Did anyone take on another mortgage, btl etc? I'm an eternal day dreamer who plays out different scenarios in my head constantly.

OP posts:
AuntieMarys · 08/01/2020 21:12

Paid it off 5 years ago at 55.
I'm now retired and we do a lot of travelling, eating out and just enjoy life. I like feeling secure and owning the house makes me feel that.

ShirleyPhallus · 08/01/2020 21:13

I haven’t paid mine off, but on the flip side I have a decent amount of cash and have chosen not to pay off more of my mortgage

I want to enjoy life a bit and not work solely towards paying it off. I have enough money that if I lost my job / had poor health etc I could live for quite some time. I’d rather have a bit of financial security that way than entirely pay off the mortgage and not have any cash

DramaAlpaca · 08/01/2020 21:15

Mine will be paid off this year, but we are unlikely to notice much difference as the plan is to whack the amount we currently pay towards the mortgage into pensions.

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Original poster
Soen · 08/01/2020 21:17

That sounds like a dream AuntieMarys - I can't see any downsides to being mortgage free.

That's a brilliant position to be in Shirley, i definitely spend too much time looking at the future that I miss the present.

OP posts:
AldiBaldi555 · 08/01/2020 21:18

To be honest my other expenses are huge eg council tax £300 ish a month and nursery fees £1200 a month plus utilities, running a car etc. So I’d still need to work in a relatively well paid job regardless of mortgage

Original poster
Soen · 08/01/2020 21:18

Alpaca - that sounds sensible. I would probably go on a mass spending spree the first 6 months of being mortgage free Grin

OP posts:
Original poster
Soen · 08/01/2020 21:20

Aldi - you wont always have those nursery fees. They do sound eye-watering though Shock.

OP posts:
InTheShadowOfTheMushroomCloud · 08/01/2020 21:21

My mortgage is only £300 a month ( bought our house cheap 20 odd years ago) and got 5 years left

Considering saving the 300 ..

Boristhecats · 08/01/2020 21:22

My dream of lying off our mortgage may come true this year as we own half a house and it is being sold. No idea for how much. But it would be a huge chuck to make a large dent.

SapphosRock · 08/01/2020 21:23

Paid ours off last year but then did an expensive round of IVF and will have an expensive newborn to look after followed by nursery fees so won't feel the difference for a few years.

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 08/01/2020 21:24

We have a low mortgage (under 450), but we have a low income so still 22 years to go. I'd like to over pay but with two small dc we have the added costs they bring.

I'm happy to keep paying as is and increase pension payments for now.

MrsJBaptiste · 08/01/2020 21:25

We paid ours off last year and have been saving the money (£1000) with a view to it being for University accommodation, etc. in a few years.

However if we want to do a DIY job that will need more money than we can use from our usual monthly savings then we'll dip into the 'mortgage' money. It will not be used for anything else though as I don't want it to end up paying for nights out, holidays, clothes, etc.

Original poster
Soen · 08/01/2020 21:25

That's brilliant Sapphos Smile

Looking at how many years I have left is depressing when the days seem so long at the moment.

OP posts:
Original poster
Soen · 08/01/2020 21:27

To those of you who have paid it off already. What did it feel like to pay it off? Did you celebrate or was it just like any other day?

OP posts:
furrytoebean · 08/01/2020 21:32

Our should be paid off in the next few years, we have been overpaying like a demon and cut a 25 year term down to 7.
I originally thought that once it was paid off we could relax a bit and have more freedom but actually looking at sums we probably need to put that money into a pension if we want to retire at a reasonable time and with a reasonable amount.

viktoria · 08/01/2020 21:33

We paid ours off last year. Great feeling. Even tough I didn't tell anybody IRL as it felt insensitive - I work with a lot of younger people who are either only starting to pay a mortgage or are still renting.
Our eldest started university in September so we really spend whatever we are saving on mortgage payments for his fees and accommodation.
If it's of any interest - we had a 25 year mortgage but because of overpayments we paid it off in just over 18 years. Overpaying - even by just £20 pm - can really make a difference.

SapphosRock · 08/01/2020 21:34

Do you feel like your current home is your forever home OP?

We did celebrate when we paid the mortgage off (well with a takeaway and bottle of Prosecco) but we live in a modest 2 bed flat with no garden and about to have DC2 so will need to get mortgaged up again at some point.

blue25 · 08/01/2020 21:35

We haven’t paid ours off yet, but almost there! Our other monthly bills are quite low, so we will really notice the difference.

It will mean we can both work part time and enjoy life more. We have lots of travel, hiking and days out in London & the seaside planned! I’m also looking forward to some lazy days at home after working full time for so long.

Smokeyrobinson · 08/01/2020 21:35

We paid ours off last year. The feeling of relief and security was (and is) immense. We have since used the mortgage monthly payments to create our dream kitchen and renovate throughout.

Original poster
Soen · 08/01/2020 21:42

Flippin heck Furrytoebean, that is incredible! Shock 7 years! Bet you feel the savings now.

Sapphos, I don't picture this as my forever home..... I mean it's ok I suppose. It is my first home on the property ladder and is in need of some work (new kitchen mainly). Kids are in school and nursery now so it's a convenient location without me having to uproot them, and I really like ths school they attend.

I kind of picture myself (I'm single) doing this one up, then if I can, either sell it and move somewhere bigger; or paying off the mortgage asap and renting this out and buying a home in the seaside town not far from here. Kids will be young adults by the time I've paid this one off. I try to think too fat ahead and it's a curse.

OP posts:
MsMellivora · 08/01/2020 21:44

We paid ours off in our thirties so have had twenty years mortgage free. We had a mega year with our investments. It has made a huge difference as you can imagine as we were so young.

furrytoebean · 08/01/2020 21:45

We live in an exceptionally cheap part of the country and were extremely lucky to buy in a dip in the market so our mortgage was no where near national average.
Our house isn't perfect, it's two bed and doesn't have a dining room but it's in a good location, I LOVE the garden and it would probably cost an extra £100k to move to the next rung which we've decided just isn't worth it. We might extend into the loft if we can ever be arsed.

MrsT1405 · 08/01/2020 21:47

Unless its huge , I don't see how it would make any difference. We took on quite a big one last year so we could buy a new apartment while trying to sell our old one. We're both approaching 70 and on pensions, admittedly good ones. That means our 2 mortgages are around 1200 a month. Weve cut down our holidays, but we're doing ok. The point I'm making is, it's not the mortgage, it your lifestyle that matters. A lot of mortgage are quite low by the time you pay them off. My first one was on a house for 9250. That a Visa bill these days!

furrytoebean · 08/01/2020 21:47

@MsMellivora did you just put the money you were paying into a mortgage into investments?
That's what we were thinking of doing. Would you recommend it?

Gibble1 · 08/01/2020 21:47

We paid ours off 7 years ago. We had an Indian takeaway to celebrate that evening. For us day to day hasn’t really changed as I haven’t had a pay rise in years so I have actually got a lower wage now than I had then- now work days full time as opposed to 30 hours on nights.
We have had 2 big holidays since then and have got 2 dogs who eat tons. We had a new kitchen 2 years ago and then my car spectacularly died and had to be replaced instantly. So also got a car loan. Kitchen loan will be paid this October and car loan is another 3 years.
DCs much older now and we cleared ourselves out with driving lessons and buying a car for dd last year and have to save for DS to have driving lessons at the end of this year. Don’t think we’ll be getting him a car as he doesn’t work and plans to do A levels whereas DD left A levels and got an apprenticeship which is not serviced by public transport. She is on a low wage and has a job as well as her apprenticeship so we were very happy to help towards her transport.
Once DC’s are both left education and working, we will have more disposable income- even if they both still live at home.
This new year I have started to try and future proof the house- IE, I am trying to clear it out and empty it so that it is liveable in for 4 adults. New furniture has been sourced from Facebook though.
I remain frugal minded but we have less worry nowadays as our home is our own.

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