Paid off the mortgage today and feeling happy but unsettled

[DeedsNotDiddums]

Just paid off our mortgage today!
Waiting for the statement, so need them to confirm. But I have about a month's salary in my account right now and fuck all else, and DH has even less till his next pay comes in, so I'm feeling underwhelmed, overwhelmed, happy and terrified all at the same time.
Basically starting from scratch again in terms of savings, and we are in our mid to late forties.
I thought I would be over the moon- but it's complicated!
We are two steps away from living off baked beans but in our very own kitchen! 😆🫪😱🥴🤯

No need to feel nervous. Try to build up savings again, but also, you do have equity in your house you could release if something did go wrong. Congratulations OP. Must be a nice feeling.

Unless your mortgage payments were really tiny (which they can be as you near the end of the term), you will get able to build your savings up very quickly now by diverting the mortgage payment directly into savings/pensions.

Amazing well done. Just think about the mortgage rates increasing this year and it will remind you it was a great decision.
mortgage is usually the biggest overhead so with that gone you’ll be able to start saving now.

Mid 40s and no mortgage op - you are in an amazing position ffs - wel be going ours until I’m mid 60s.

Well done, you may be nervous, but there are way worse situations to be in and worst case you could get a small mortgage or more likely loan against the house if you needed it.

Give your head a wobble. I’m the same age and was hopping/expecting to finally escape renting and buy a house this spring. Now rates have jumped and are back where they were in 2023, it looks unlikely I will manage it.

I'm mid 40's and have not long bought myself (last few months) so try not to give up hope! Completely understand the frustration / hopelessness but fingers crossed things will settle down and later this year will be your time

Congratulations! 🔑🏠Your home is an asset as well as a place to live. You have financial security in home ownership and being mortgage free so early in your working life is a huge achievement.

Next month you will have no mortgage payment. This will help restore your savings as you could divert some of your income into a savings account or investment. Your bank may offer a savings review service and the new tax year is the perfect time to go through finances.

Mid forties and no mortgage to pay? I'm sure you'll be fine.

Oh good, another race to the bottom where OP is told to give her head a wobble because she's in a better position than someone else is. Maybe the people moaning about renting shouldn't be moaning because at least they have a house to rent and some people are homeless🙄

It will be OK . I know it is great to be mortgage free but you are worried about your monthly income . At least mortgage payment is one less monthly bill to worry about . Others saying at least you own your house forget that unless you liquidise that asset which may take a long time with house sales the way they are you can't exactly go to the supermarket with your mortgage statement .
Think about ways you can increase your income , maybe rent a room as you no longer need your mortgage company to approve.

Yeah, I wouldn't have done that, I'd have kept at least 3 months salary back for emergencies. It would cost you a hell of a lot less in interest on that amount still on your mortgage than going into your overdraft or on a credit card. It will probably be fine but it probably wasn't the most sensible thing to do.

I'm jealous. BUT don't let you money just sit there, you need to make it work. So it's actually a different headache - of where to invest.

You could make this month fun in a wirrd way,- living as cheaply as possible food wise can remind you of being 20 and starting over..but you are starting over ina different way. Next month you willl have no mortgage debt.

Allow yoursel time to digest it. I imagine I will feel similar- not sure if will be under or overwhelm...suspect it will be neither. But its a.chance to reset and think about priorities going forward

Well-done.

I’ve been there and agree it’s really unsettling when you suddenly don’t have the mortgage to pay.

As a warning - don’t make any major financial decisions for at least a couple of months. The weird temptation to either splash out or to make what could be poor financial decisions will fade after a few/6 months.

Well done! We will be in same position in about 18 months all being well. Really can’t wait! We should have our emergency fund still available though and like others say, can quickly build up savings again as we won’t be paying out anything on a mortgage.

It does seem an odd decision on the face of it to not leave yourself with a teeny tiny mortgage but a bit of a financial buffer in case of emergency, but OP will quickly be able to build up an emergency fund with no mortgage to pay. Plenty of people will be worrying about paying the bills and will have no savings but a huge mortgage or rent payment each month as well.

It's not a race to the bottom. Op is allowed to feel however she feels.

@DeedsNotDiddums well done. I still remember looking at the statement and then ringing them to ask “can I really just pay you out now? Can you send me the forms, please?” (I had a reason to want it done by a certain date, once I saw where we were up to). Otherwise we had about four more months to go. And a week or so later, it was all done.

And I never stop looking around and thinking “this is ours”.

Your asset rich and cash poor

it’s unsettling when you have no savings it’s alright saying I own my house but if the roof blows off tomorrow you’ve no way of paying for it your fucked
it'll pass you’ll build up savings

Well done. Mine is paid off and I always think that if things get tough I could have a lodger and make the house earn something (I wouldn't like it, but could do it for a while).

Financial advisor told me paying off the mortgage wasn't perhaps the wisest way to run my money, but that homes are emotional and if I wanted the security of knowing it was mine he wouldn't try and convince me otherwise.
Savings did start to grow well once it was paid off.

Rude. It's not a race to the bottom and it's ok for OP to feel a bit confused about a new change in her life.

OP, keep your foot on the pedal as far as savings go. Dont be tempted to frivolously spend any 'spare' money you have each month and you'll be building up savings before you know it.