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Original poster

To those who are mortgage free...

103 replies

outlanderish · 30/07/2025 18:36

Never thought I'd be writing this but as of today we’re officially mortgage free!!! We've been squirrelling away for 8 years to make it happen and received inheritance from DP's grandparents which helped us massively.

I thought I’d feel absolutely over the moon… but weirdly, I still feel the same? Maybe a bit of relief, but not the huge joy I expected Blush

If you’ve paid your mortgage off (or are close), how did you celebrate? Did it feel like a big moment, or did life just carry on as normal?

Also curious how others managed to pay theirs off, did you manage it by doing lump sums, years of slogging, downsizing ?

OP posts:
Hatty65 · 30/07/2025 19:13

Very much an anti-climax. I thought I'd be ecstatic - a dozen or so years of paying a mortgage, then got divorced and started again. Another 25 years of paying off a mortgage, only to be told that 'you don't get the deeds, it's all just online now at the Land Registry'.

I felt a bit flat. It's nice not to paying that out every month, and it's nice to know the house is paid for, but I thought I'd have something physical (like the deeds) to show for it.

SparklyGlitterballs · 30/07/2025 19:14

Still had a large amount to pay off on ours but then, sadly, DH died from cancer so the insurance paid it off. Naturally I didn't do any celebrating, but it was a relief to have one less thing to worry about.

ForLovingAquaSheep · 30/07/2025 19:15

It was a nice feeling not having to worry about job losses etc, but that very quickly became normal. The cash saved went straight into pension so until we draw in that there's no difference in the day to day.

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BugsyMaroon · 30/07/2025 19:20

Definitely do not tell anyone!!! People get very jealous about this sort of stuff.

FullOfMomsense · 30/07/2025 19:22

We've owned a few homes and each mortgage paid off gets more and more exciting. Celebrate your hard work!

Catarinabella · 30/07/2025 19:24

I burst into uncontrollable tears, outside the building society. Was solo and felt that I had achieved so much after a really shitty divorce. Minimal financial settlement for me, sadly. Happy now.

SternJoyousBeev2 · 30/07/2025 19:36

I resigned from my job!

SharpTiger · 30/07/2025 19:42

Well done OP! I'm 43 with exactly 11yrs left, but hoping to fix the term for 5yrs in 1yr time when my current fixed rate is up so I can be mortgage free in 6yrs.

My plan (which has never wavered), is to take my family on a completely luxurious holiday abroard leaving the first day my mortgage would have been due (the month after being mortgage free). This will be my celebration of raising a family, and having a roof over my head that I own.

Mary46 · 30/07/2025 19:44

Well done op. We same but we have college fees now. We got new windows so got a small loan for that. Maybe when her college done we be rich lol. I find you spend that money as quick. But yes nice no mortgage

GenerousGardener · 30/07/2025 19:45

Paid ours off when DH was diagnosed with cancer. We had Critical Illness Cover, so we received a cheque from the insurance company and took it to the building society. It should have been momentous, but it wasn’t. I had bigger things to worry about.
DH has been cancer free for four years now. This feeling is better than anything else.

itsmeafterall · 30/07/2025 19:45

I'm a few years in now. It's lovely not to have to pay a mortgage and comforting to know that our home is secure. And we can now focus on helping our kids - we are in london and housing is stupidly expensive for them starting out.

But the actual paying it off was an anticlimax.

I then woke up in a stress sweat that a) the land registry documents weren't in out name (they were) and b) that the house wasn't insured and supposing it just fell down (it was insured and is still standing 😂)

We managed it by not moving and staying in a more modest place - when a lot of our friends were upsizing - and overpaying hugely when interest rates plummeted in 2008. We took 11 years off the mortgage just by keeping repayments the same as we'd been doing when interest rates were at 6% . It was a struggle but definitely worth it.

But these days the size of peoples mortgage s and interest rates make me astonished that more people aren't being repossessed. I remember having a15% rate in the late 80s and it took one salary just to pay the mortgage 😮 but that was on a tiny house in a cheap area. lots of people were being repossessed and in negative equity in those days. Grim.

Renoonabudget · 30/07/2025 19:49

Ah OP Congratulations!!!! 🍾 I know exactly how you feel, we paid our house off before we had kids by overpaying and then an unexpected inheritance took it over the edge whilst we were still in our late 30s. I don't know why but I was expecting an official paper with the deeds to come through the post or something. It was a bit anticlimactic as it is a really big achievement.

A few years later with DC we've moved to a bigger house and have a mortgage again but it was nice for a while especially when nursery fees were as much as the mortgage payments! We literally got a mortgage a month after our last nursery payment. Lol.

PrawnofthePatriarchy · 30/07/2025 19:50

Mine was mostly paid off by DH's life insurance. He died of cancer when our sons were still at primary school. I'd sorted the mortgage as he hated paperwork but although he'd had a medical he'd forgotten all about the life insurance..

He was lying there, skeletal, worrying about me and the kids... When I reminded him I'd be able to clear the mortgage I don't think many dying men could look so thrilled. He was so kind and he loved us so much.

I didn't feel madly excited when I cleared the mortgage but whenever I think of the security it means I feel comforted.

Baby26 · 30/07/2025 19:52

We paid ours off in lump sums, the maximum we were allowed to each year. We were early 30s and only had our home for 8 years when we paid it off. Didn't do anything to celebrate. Having said that though we may upsize one day, but it's nice to know that whatever our home is worth at the time, will be our huge deposit!

sammylady37 · 30/07/2025 19:53

Congratulations op!

I paid mine off 11 years early, by overpaying every month and then putting in a lumpsum from my savings at the end.

Like you, I expected a huge sense of relief, but at the time it felt like an anticlimax. I did get champagne and flowers for myself, but nonetheless it seemed a bit flat at the time. However, since then, the relief and security have been great. I did give myself a few months of (extra) frivolous spending before I increased my savings, and now it’s great to watch them grow. And it’s lovely to sit in my kitchen looking out at the view, knowing the house belongs to me and only to me.

AllTheWatersTurnedToClouds · 30/07/2025 19:54

DM died and left us some money, so it was a real double edged sword.

Also coincided with moving house, so as we have all sorts of bits to do in the new house we don't even notice the extra funds Grin

Congrats though - it's lovely having no debt at all.

dudsville · 30/07/2025 19:55

Maybe it depends on context. My mum worked hard, long hours at low paid jobs her whole life. She wasn't on the property ladder until she was 50. When her house was paid off it was a really momentous occasion. For me, I'm due to pay mine off next year. I'll be glad, but it won't have the same significance.

taxguru · 30/07/2025 20:01

We just saved and saved to pay it off. Didn't have a party etc once we did it, but just looked forward to having financial freedom, which allowed us both to start our own businesses, work part time, etc., without having to worry about finding a huge chunk of cash every month to pay the bank. It meant we could start the businesses safe in the knowledge that if we had a few "lean" months before work started coming in, we could fund our basic living costs at least, i.e. food and utilities which gave us the confidence the setting up the businesses!

LittlleMy · 30/07/2025 20:01

CharSiu · 30/07/2025 19:11

We paid ours off in our late thirties, my top tip is tell no one.

Probably quite sensible.

TizerorFizz · 30/07/2025 20:04

Was not that special. Bought a holiday house after that. Paid that off too.

NigelPonsonbySmallpiece · 30/07/2025 20:15

Wasn’t that special, I’ve done it twice. Paid my first house off at 24yo but it only cost me 30k. Sold it for over double Next house had a 60k mortgage on and paid that off in mid 40s.

Never did lump sums. my biggest monthly mortgage payment has been £200. But I’ve purposefully lived in a much smaller house than I could have afforded as i didn’t want to have a massive mortgage just for the sake of a big detached house which i don’t need.

BrunchBarBandit · 30/07/2025 20:19

We sold our house in London and bought outright in the north and even had some money left over in the bank. We celebrated by me giving up work for a few years.

It still feels great having this security and no mortgage.

AlwaysGardening · 30/07/2025 20:37

We didn’t have much left on the mortgage and then I had an inheritance from my mum. Paid off the mortgage and car loan and resigned from my teaching job - all in the same week!

reluctantbrit · 30/07/2025 20:55

No celebration. The money we save is already earmarked to support DD at uni so it will be another couple of years before we actually do have more available funds.

It's a milestone, that I agree. I work in banking and previously did mortgage lending and we always sent a congratulation letter to the customer when the mortgage was paid off.

CarpetKnees · 30/07/2025 21:02

It didn't occur to me to 'celebrate' as such, and it didn't obviously make a different to our day to day lives BUT it was / is a lovely feeling.

We paid ours off 25 years after taking out the first one by prioritising overpaying, whenever we could - even if it were a token £20 or so in tighter months. Not to the extent of going without holidays or anything like that, but by doing things like not dropping the amount we paid when the interest rates dropped (we started with a 13% interest rate, and it went up from there). We figured if we'd managed for the previous year then we could continue to manage making the same payments this year too, and off course, all the extra went to paying down the amount we owed (which in turn, made the 'required payment' lower again, so, once again the overpayments were paying off more of the amount we owed.

It gave me a really different mindset at work - it was nice knowing that work needed me, more than I needed to be at work. Without the mortgage payments (and over payments) effectively all my salary was able to go into savings, which meant I could retire early, but it also meant that, should I have wanted to walk out of work at any point, I could have and we'd have been fine financially. It's a nice feeling when work isn't a great place to be.