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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:
fritterin · 30/07/2025 21:06

@outlanderish we had a cheap bottle of prosecco.Then, before we got used to the extra cash, we increased our pension AVC's to the same amount we used to pay into our mortgage ... it's good to see the money going further because it is from pre-tax income.

We paid it off like you did ... a combination of squirreling and inheritance (sadly from my mum - but I know she would have approved, which helps).

Tatty247 · 30/07/2025 21:14

For me it's been amazing, all that money spent on the mortgage is now spent on holidays.

Arraminta · 30/07/2025 21:16

When we paid off our mortgage I was expecting a clarion of trumpets & marching band, for some reason? Instead, we went through a drive-thru Starbucks and toasted each other with Espressos!

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

General money
NameChangedOfc · 30/07/2025 21:22

81Claire81 · 30/07/2025 18:53

I paid it off. Was an exhilarating moment.
Then I woke up.

What a coincidence! This has happened several times to me too 😏

Congratulations, OP! Do celebrate it!

cinquanta · 30/07/2025 21:28

It was a bit of an anticlimax. Nothing really changed. The mortgage money now goes into my pension so I can retire early.

Doitrightnow · 30/07/2025 21:29

We didn't do much to celebrate, but being mortgage free was incredibly important to us when DH was made redundant a few years later.

We met later in life so combined two houses to buy one. I had previously thrown all I could in to overpaying my own mortgage, and rented out my spare room to generate extra income.

Titasaducksarse · 30/07/2025 21:30

I bought the house outright and never had a mortgage so never had the years of payments. I had had a mortgage before then but after I sold that house I moved in with partner until I bought this one outright.
The best thing for me was being able to just leave an awful job and not have to get a job until I got myself better.

orangetriangle · 30/07/2025 21:31

paid ours off from an inheritance though only had about 7 years to go it was a big relief and means we have more options as to when we retire

TroysMammy · 30/07/2025 21:33

I paid mine off after 25 years of mortgage payments. It was only a £200 a month payment so I just stopped my direct debit to the building society and set up a standing order of the same amount to a savings account.

Chequers718 · 30/07/2025 21:41

We had a huge win at Cheltenham races worth about 50% of the value of our house and paid off the outstanding mortgage using that.

HerewardtheSleepy · 30/07/2025 21:45

We used my redundancy payment. Felt nothing at all and certainly didn't celebrate.

RosesAndHellebores · 30/07/2025 21:45

We paid it off in our early 40s. We had been paying down slugs of it for five years previously and our repayments were relatively low. It was bittersweet because the last £50k was paid off because my father died. Then the school fees took over.

fromthegecko · 30/07/2025 22:15

Congratulations 🙂. If you haven't already, I recommend setting up a (free) watch on your land registry entry. Properties with no charges entered against them can be targeted by property scammers.

Femalefootyfan · 30/07/2025 22:21

We paid ours off at 48/49 and I actually don’t remember what we did to celebrate, so I suspect not much 😂

We saved the extra money we had each month and had some fab holidays with our DC before they all grew up and left home.

BasiliskStare · 30/07/2025 22:25

fromthegecko · 30/07/2025 22:15

Congratulations 🙂. If you haven't already, I recommend setting up a (free) watch on your land registry entry. Properties with no charges entered against them can be targeted by property scammers.

Can you explain how this works? Ie what is the scam and what to do. My parents are elderly but no mortgage so I would like to be aware of any potential scams. Very appreciative if you have time to reply.

Elderflower14 · 30/07/2025 22:30

Chequers718 · 30/07/2025 21:41

We had a huge win at Cheltenham races worth about 50% of the value of our house and paid off the outstanding mortgage using that.

Absolutely LOVE this!! 💕 💕

Ihateslugs · 30/07/2025 22:30

When I got divorced I took out a 15 year mortgage to buy the family house from my ex. I got an offset mortgage and current account so any money left in my current account offset some of the interest. By using it as a savings account as well, no interest on my savings, but it meant that my monthly mortgage contributions were massively over paying the mortgage and I became mortgage free after 8 years. No celebrations, I just saved the same amount each month into various ISEs and bonds to build up a decent saving pot which meant I was able to retire 7 years before my state pension kicked in. That was when I celebrated with a fantastic holiday to China.

cinquanta · 30/07/2025 22:30

BasiliskStare · 30/07/2025 22:25

Can you explain how this works? Ie what is the scam and what to do. My parents are elderly but no mortgage so I would like to be aware of any potential scams. Very appreciative if you have time to reply.

Show quote history

You don’t have to be the owner of the property. You could set up an alert so you are informed if any searches are done on your parent’s house.

https://www.gov.uk/protect-land-property-from-fraud

Protect your land and property from fraud

How to protect your home, land or other property from fraud

https://www.gov.uk/protect-land-property-from-fraud

fromthegecko · 30/07/2025 22:34

BasiliskStare · 30/07/2025 22:25

Can you explain how this works? Ie what is the scam and what to do. My parents are elderly but no mortgage so I would like to be aware of any potential scams. Very appreciative if you have time to reply.

Show quote history

Typically, scammers use fake ID to take out a mortgage in the name of the registered proprietor. Then take the money and run.

The mortgagor puts a charge on the register, at which point - if a watch is set up - the watcher (you can watch any registration, not just your own) is notified and can do something about it.

There's a paid for version which stops the charge being entered at all, without additional steps.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/property-alert

It's not unknown for properties to be fraudulently 'sold', although usually not if the proprietor is resident!

Property Alert

Sign up to HM Land Registry's free Property Alert service to help protect your property from fraud.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/property-alert

Nourishinghandcream · 30/07/2025 22:41

No celebration, just put what we had been paying on the mortgage into pensions instead. Done & dusted at 42.
As it was, towards the end the mortgage it was an insignificant amount (less than the council tax) but with additional monthly over payments.

MellowPinkDeer · 30/07/2025 22:50

Id be feeling elated the next payday when the £3k was still there tbh.

CoastalCalm · 30/07/2025 22:52

I’m going to retire in celebration - 8 payments to go now

solando · 30/07/2025 22:53

Ours was quite small anyway but it was nice to own the house

robinibor · 30/07/2025 22:55

Yes an odd feeling. We paid ours off and then bought a flat to help our DC and have a small mortgage again!

Echobelly · 30/07/2025 23:00

I paid it off with an inheritance a few years ago. I've mostly used the extra money to go out to the theatre and opera more often, things I couldn't afford to do very often with the mortgage. And to put more into my pension.

I only recently realised though that we'll back to square one for a while when the kids are at uni - oldest is set on uni in London, where we live. We won't make him stay at home, but that means a LOT on halls in Y1 and then on rent... basically the same as mortgage was or more. then as soon as DC1 is done it'll be youngest's turn. Oh well!