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Original poster

Paid off our mortgage

94 replies

Mumoftwoyoungkids · 30/12/2014 20:31

If you are struggling for money then please don't read this thread - I don't want to upset people!

We paid off our mortgage last week. We are mid - late 30s. (To be exact I am mid and dh is late Grin ). Paid it off by over paying every month as much as we could.

Nobody knows. So I thought I'd tell on here.

It feels a bit weird. My brother is planning on buying a new house ATM so we were all discussing mortgages and mortgage rates over Xmas. It kept hitting me that we no longer have a mortgage rate. Felt a bit of a fraud.

Feel like we should have a party or something. Except we can't tell anyone!

Anyone else in the same boat?

OP posts:
ReluctantCamper · 30/12/2014 20:35

Would have been in the same boat this year, but we chose to move to a bigger house instead. I am a bit jealous though, it's great news for you, congratulations and well done!

rallytog1 · 30/12/2014 20:35

Not in the same boat but very impressed (and a tad jealous). Well done Thanks

springlamb · 30/12/2014 20:40

Very sensible.
Now keep your sensible head on and don't suddenly decide that you need to move on up to having two guest suites, three visitors loos, and a partridge in a pear tree!
Keep it real, enjoy the security, enjoy being able to say Yes to the dcs' school trips etc in the years ahead.
There's a lot to be said for sleeping well.

sooperdooper · 30/12/2014 20:42

Well done you!

tippytappywriter · 30/12/2014 20:45

Wow. Congratulations. That must feel sooooo amazing.

LizzieMint · 30/12/2014 20:45

Yes, we paid ours off a few years back. Bizarre isn't it, we didn't tell anyone either but felt like we wanted a party!! We still have only told our parents and one friend, it's odd how awkward it feels to talk about it!
We're buying again though so will be going back to a small mortgage which we can hopefully pay off in a couple of years.

SwingingBalls · 30/12/2014 20:45

Well done. It must be such a fab feeling. I'm so jealous Smile

Are you going to have a little splurge now?

Is there a reason you can't tell anyone?

CountingThePennies · 30/12/2014 20:46

How come you cant tell anyone?

I intend over paying on my mortgage when i get one

apotatoprintinapeartree · 30/12/2014 20:50

Ah, how lovely OP, it does feel weird doesn't it.

Now, have a few years mortgage free, save the money and then get another house and another mortgage.
Rent it out and have an investment for the future.

TheyThinkImCool · 30/12/2014 21:07

Well done Smile Wine I am not in the same boat as you but very fortunate to be a cash buyer. Feels great to live somewhere that's your own with no risk off loosing it if you fall upon bad times.

Bowlersarm · 30/12/2014 21:13

Well done. I wish we'd had the foresight to overpay our mortgage in our 20's/30's.

Newrule · 30/12/2014 21:20

Were you overpaying over a long period and were you overpaying large sums? We still owe nearly £200,000 on ours so will be a long time before we are like you. Very pleased for you. It is a great achievement. Please share advice on how to get there.

dingit · 30/12/2014 21:25

We are nearly there. We then need to decide where to invest £800 that we won't be paying to the bank. What will you be doing with yours if that's not a rude question?

slippermaiden · 30/12/2014 21:27

We made our last payment at the beginning of December. It feels great, we had a couple of very tight years and now feel I don't have to count the pennies each month - yipee!

speedbird17 · 30/12/2014 21:31

Jealous, impressed as chuffed for you all at the same time! Well done OP!

Jynxed · 30/12/2014 21:36

more info please - how much did you overpay and for how long? Just to get an idea of how doable this would be?

Turquoisetamborine · 30/12/2014 21:37

Well done. Any tips?

TinklyLittleLaugh · 30/12/2014 21:37

We have paid off ours a few times, then each time moved up to a larger house. I get what you say about not telling anyone though; I only ever discussed it with one friend who I knew was also aiming to pay off hers.

One drunken night she spilled to some of our other mates, and one friend, who had only just got on the ladder was obviously cheesed off and a bit arsey to her. Mortgage free mate then spluttered, "But Tink paid off hers years ago". I have quite a big house. My mate just gave me the filthiest look and has been really off with me since.

TheWindowDonkey · 30/12/2014 21:40

Wow, that must feel amazing! We have no mortgage either, just a hefty rent bill. :) Honestly really chuffed for you, well done!!

LilMissSunshine9 · 30/12/2014 21:44

Congrats OP. I bought my house two years ago and on a mission to clear my mortgage, mostly because at the age of 32 I already feel like I do not want to work full time my whole life. If I still stay single than I shall be on track to clear it by the time I am 45 wich is roughly 5-6 yrs earlier than if I didn't overpay. I can only imagine what a huge relief it must be and how euphoric you must feel and how many things you can do or take greater risks knowing that you will never lose the roof over your head!

FlappertyFlippers · 30/12/2014 21:48

Yay, it's so lovely being mortgage free. I inherited some money and owned my own home outright by 31.

Sometimes I do ponder getting a different house with a separate dining room and extra bathroom but actually the thought of having a mortgage again really puts me off, plus I love where I live and wouldn't want to move again.

I saved up one year's worth of mortgage payments and called that savings account my 'oh shit fund', now I very sensibly put half of what I was paying into my mortgage into a savings account for the dc (but could still access it in an emergency) and the other half is fun money used for making my day to day life fun and easy, so I now don't stress about the total of my supermarket shop, we eat out a lot, turn up the heating when it's cold, etc

5446 · 30/12/2014 21:52

Congratulations, must be fantastic.

We are in a similar situation. I am 25, DP is 30 and through us working abroad for a number of years in tax-free or low tax countries, we have enough between us to buy a 250k house outright.

It isn't something that we are able to admit when our friends will be ggling to get a deposit together for years.

TheBatteriesHaveRunOut · 30/12/2014 22:00

Good for you Smile

If I'd made better choices I think I'd have paid mine off by now. Still hope to pay it off a bit early though.

Fairylea · 30/12/2014 22:01

Congratulations.

I was mortgage free until 6 years ago when due to a divorce and a series of disasters I ended up having to downsize and remortgage! I'm 34. Still have a very small mortgage compared to others my age though so I guess that must be an achievement. (£300 a month on a semi detached rural house).

Can't wait to be mortgage free again. It is a wonderful freedom to have.

Original poster
Mumoftwoyoungkids · 30/12/2014 23:03

Thanks all. You've all been really kind. Smile

Re: not telling people - we probably will tell close family eventually but it's one of those things where once we tell one family member then our second cousin's three times removed will know every detail. And it's difficult as our siblings are in very different financial situatios and although they are aware that we are not badly off we don't want to wave it in everyone's face. Same with friends. Most are comfortably off I think but some aren't and some may appear to be but aren't really.

Re:- how we did it. 'Fraid it isn't very exciting!

We always overpaid a little bit even when we didn't really have any spare money. (Rounding up to the next £1, £10, £100 kind of thing - depending on how much we could.) As our salaries went up in our 20s we tried to pay at least some of the extra into the mortgage each month. then when interest rates fell in about 2009 our official payment went down massively but we kept the direct debit the same.

It helps that we both earn decent salaries (although not spectacular.) We also live in the North so house prices are much more reasonable. Finally we married very young and then waited to have kids so had nearly 10 years of "DINKY".

Told you it was dull!

Someone asked what we are going to do with the extra money. We haven't completely decided. I think that we will probably pay a bit more into our pensions (I'm currently just over the threshold for higher rate tax so the first £400 a month I pay in will be nicely subsidised by Mr Chancellor's sherry fund Grin). We already have a "rainy day fund" but I think we'll pay some extra into our ISAs. We are vaguely considering private schooling at secondary (kids toy 4 and 1 so a bit of a while yet!) and I'd quite like to have a reasonable proportion of the fees in savings before we start. (I'm a worrier!)

And maybe replace the yucky but perfectly functional fitted wardrobe in our bedroom with something really lovely. Grin

OP posts:
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