To ask, is it really as relaxing as I think it must be not to worry about rent / mortgage and own a home outright while still working?

[Swellerellamoo]

Just that really. I'm renting and saving for a deposit to buy and it feels so stressful....I'm constantly worried that if I lose my job / get ill / landlord sells I don't know what would happen to me and my DC (lone parent, no maintenance). I have friends who own their houses outright and so work less... They are lovely enough to never make a big deal that they feel comfortable and unstressed , but they must, right? I fantasize about owning my home outright and thinking wow I would feel so lucky. Is that how it feels?

We own our house outright. Doesn't mean we have no stress, we just stress about other things.

I agree with you. I would love to be mortgage free.

Definitely not how it feels unfortunately!

We were lucky enough to buy our own home at 24 & 22 years old, and while we appreciate we were very very fortunate to have saved enough to achieve this so young, it is also just as stressful, if not more sometimes because you have all the worries of renting and then some.

While renting if something breaks your landlord replaces it, while it's all on you when you own your own home.

Don't get me wrong it's a wonderful feeling, especially as your not throwing money away paying someone else's mortgage, but can still be super stressfull!

Good luck with your saving, it is an amazing feeling getting the keys to YOUR OWN home! X

We have a mortgage, but I remember how stressed I felt when we were earning £7000 a year less than we do now. So yanbu, I recon those who own outright have one less (massive)load on their minds!

We are 8 years (all being well!) from paying our mortgage off and I think it must feel lovely to have that security...and to not have that payment going out every month!

@WinterWillow How old were you when you paid yours off?

We own our home out right. We both still work. Dh works long hours and is studying for a degree. Me part time. Once dh get a different job I hope to move careers. We both still need income to run our home, cars and to bring up ds. We work be because we like contributing to society and we work for our satisfaction. We still have stresses even without a mortgage.

We are 8 years too off paying ours and I will be 40 when it's paid off. It's £800/pm. Of course life will be easier with £800 less going out every month.

We have never had rent or a mortgage and we are very very fortunate to be in such a position; the biggest joy is that it's meant that life has been able to move on at a pace we chose rather than having to wait to get our "ducks in a row" iykwim.

DH was, however, majorly traumatised by losing his parents in his teens (which led to an inheritance, therefore led to us being mortgage free) so that had also shapes things.

Also worth noting, there are still choices involved - we could have moved up the property ladder or bought a more expensive house to start with, using the inheritance as a deposit rather than a remaining mortgage free. We live in a cheap area in an ok-ish house as an active choice in order to be able to enjoy the lower stress lifestyle that being mortgage free offers.

I found renting very stressful, for the reasons you say too, OP. I thought once I'd got a mortgage I'd relax...but I didn't. I just stress about other things - as PPs have said, when it's your house you're responsible for fixing it. And there feels more to lose with a mortgage.

I accept, however, that this isn't going to change. No matter where I am in life there's going to be stresses and I can't change that so I try very hard (not always terribly successfully!) to change how I feel about it.

We are in the fortunate position of owning our home outright. I still work full time as I am fairly young. DH works part time.

It is nice not stressing about paying a mortgage/rent but I guess we just worry about different things instead.

Good luck with your saving!

The op does talk about owning a home outright rather than mortgaged

Yes but also when you own the maintenance is your problem
My mum owns her house outright and there was such a major plumbing issue that cause such extensive damage the other month she can’t afford a holiday this year and had to cancel a few plans and sell tickets to events she had etc. It was a nightmare.

We have ours paid off and yes it is a relief to know that we only essentially need to come up with electricity, insurances, fuel for the car ,food and a few other things if we lost our jobs.

But maintenance is still a problem when you're paying a mortgage too! When you don't have that, you must be able to save fairly effectively for the usual things that go wrong - sounds like your mum was very unlucky

I will own my home when it’s built, and owned a bought one before (in limbo at the moment).

And while as a single FT working parent, with nearly zero ex input/support, a lot of trauma in my past, I am frazzled and stressed and worry about bills /food. It would be an absolute lie to say my financial stresses are the same as others who don’t own their home. (Note financially not other stuff).

Because I know that however shit it gets, my kids and I will god willing, never be homeless and no one can take my home away unless I secure a loan on it, which I never would. It’s sacrosanct.

So yes, while other areas of life are stressful and hard, that is a saving grace.

We are mortgage free (inherritance) and it is lovely. There are still fixed monthly costs gas/water/electricity/insuance/council tax/internet and money for repairs (a fence panel blowing down is relatively cheap, but the boiler breaking and needing replacing was £££)

However it does free up a lot of spare cash which then gets eaten by kids sports activities and for me it is psychologically very comforting to know that the house is all mine whatever happens--

Dunno as we have a mortgage but I don't stress about it. I stress about the DC, the washing machine breaking, or the fact my neighbour's car has been parked right outside my house since Feb and he won't move it.

Our mortgage is paid off and I'm not going to lie, it's bloody brilliant. It was hard work getting here, no inheritances just wages and investments, but it was so worth it.

Yes it's amazing, l would tell anyone to pay their mortgage off asap . It's soul enhancing

It'll feel good but you'll still worry. The worry hole must be filled.

Paid mine off 2-3 years ago, I was surprised at not only how much more secure it made me feel, but the confidence it gave me to change other things (job wise). As for expensive repairs, I now have savings and pay a fair bit into my pension.

I can understand that renting while trying to save for a deposit is stressful, I feel for you.

Having a mortgage if it's manageable isn't stressful, it's just a bill to pay.

For us and most people (with a mortgage) it's your biggest monthly outgoing so it'll be awesome when it's payed off.

Like I said though, a manageable mortgage shouldn't be stressful, it absolutely should be, twenty five years of stress isn't going to do anyone any good.

It is good, especially as I have a health condition which may leave me unable to work. That said, like every other parent, I still stress over my kids so there is always something to worry about.

I paid off my mortgage a few years back. As others have said, you still have bills to pay and maintenance costs but I don’t worry much about them. It allows me to have a low-paying job that I enjoy rather than doing my previous better-paying job that I didn’t enjoy. So I’d say yes, it is relaxing.