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Original poster

What's it like to be mortgage free?

67 replies

redjumper · 11/03/2017 21:27

Its looking like we might be able to pay off our mortgage in the next few years by the time we're 40 if we put our minds to it.
I'm just looking for inspiration really from anyone out there who has paid off their mortgage. How does it feel? What do you do with all that money you previously used for your mortgage? How does life change for the better?
Thanks xx

OP posts:
InMySpareTime · 11/03/2017 21:44

We're due to pay ours off in the next few months.
Plans for the money:
Holiday abroad every year (after years of UK holidays)
Saving for DCs University expenses
A bit more pocket/play money for all of us
Replace carpets, repoint house, save for next car so when current one breaks we can buy one with cash.

PossumInAPearTree · 11/03/2017 21:52

I paid my first mortgage off at 23yo and was mortgage free for a year before I decided to buy a bigger house.

Will be mortgage free again next year but mortgage is only £200 a month so not expecting it to make a vast difference.

camelfinger · 11/03/2017 21:57

its nice just being able to generally afford things without saving or budgeting. And feels very secure. But I'm pretty careful with money, we don't splash it about, I guess it either sits in my bank account or gets frippered away on coffee and Waitrose.

outabout · 11/03/2017 21:58

It takes a considerable weight off your mind knowing you only HAVE to work for food and assorted taxes and that you can 'kick back' a bit (if you want to). Other bills will come and go of course but you are in YOUR domain.

littleoldladywho · 11/03/2017 22:00

Lol possum. Are you extremely well orf, or do you live in a shed in the highlands?

PossumInAPearTree · 11/03/2017 22:14

I'm old. First house cost me 30k. Then I got some compensation from a serious accident and paid it off. Then sold it for 72k. Which kept my next mortgage down. Only live in a 3 bed semi up northish.

nannynick · 12/03/2017 07:23

Your attitude changes. You get warned that your job may become redundant, you don't care so much. The car needs lots of repairs, you don't care so much. Without debt your attitude changes.

Whileweareonthesubject · 12/03/2017 08:12

Slightly different for us as we paid ours off when dh retired from his last job. We used hisl ump sum and our savings to do so. Because he retired, the difference in outgoings is about the same as the difference between his salary and his work pension, so we don't have any extra money. However, the knowledge that the house is ours, that nobody else has any financial claim on it, is rather nice. And when we are old enough to get our state pension and my work pension, we will be able to say we are comfortable, though not rich.

Babyroobs · 12/03/2017 08:17

We paid ours off a few months ago but funnily enough don't seem to have the disposable income we thought we'd have.The security is stil a nice feeling though.

Notreallyhappy · 12/03/2017 08:18

It's feels a good strange... Ours was sorted in February. Looking at the bank statement and having more than enough not just enough is relaxing. The money is being saved so oh can retire early. But we're gone 50.

Crispsheets · 12/03/2017 08:19

I've bought a house outright after divorce. Moving north after living in London, hence being a cash buyer. It was so lovely to buy a 4 bed house in one of the best parts of a city, for the price of a one bed flat here.
I am retiring at 58 as I can now enjoy doing what I want. Lots of holidays planned.
I can give my university aged children extra help

369thegoosedrankwine · 12/03/2017 08:29

We paid ours off last year. It has given me a confidence in knowing that no matter what happens I'll have a home.

I also don't feel mortgaged to my job, if that makes sense? I have seen people in my field (law) not stand up for what was right or get treated badly and not do anything because they are so afraid to lose their jobs as they have such high mortgages.

I also have a lot of disposable income so I buy things when we need them and we have at least one holiday a year.

We're not rich though, but in my eyes very comfortable.

Okite · 12/03/2017 08:29

It didn't make much difference to us, we're very cautious with money anyway (no fancy cars or holidays) so just put what we would have paid on the mortgage straight into savings. We bought another house after 4 or 5 years so are mortgaged again but we wouldn't have been able to make such a jump if we hadn't overpaid and saved so much (new house roughly double the value of the old house).

IamRonnieBiggs · 12/03/2017 08:30

The mortgage payment goes directly into savings now - so technically not better off month to month - but we have nice holidays and don't take out loans for big purchases.
And we know the money is there

TheElephantofSurprise · 12/03/2017 08:31

It feels ace.
Unfortunately, my mortgage was paid off just at the time when I stopped work, so I've had no opportunity to save. But not having a mortgage is a great thing.

clarinsgirl · 12/03/2017 08:37

We paid our off 12 years ago. The biggest difference this made was that I quit my very stressful job 8 years ago and set up my own business. Don't think I'd have had the confidence to take that risk without the security of knowing our house was paid for.

user1484082284 · 12/03/2017 08:51

Paid ours off about six years ago. I like not having the monthly pressure of finding the £700 each time. I got ill a few years ago and couldn't work much for nearly a year, and not having to find that money was a massive comfort. I also like not feeling at the mercy of interest rates, mainly because I remember the stress of my parents' mortgage going up and up when I was young. I really do feel more secure. We now try and save all the money that would have gone into the mortgage, some for permanent savings and some for other big purchases.

mayhew · 12/03/2017 08:54

It gives you the sense that you can make choices. You can work less and have a more enjoyable life. You can work as usual and save for other reasons.
It let us support our daughter through university and graduate without debt. We have almost finished paying for a small flat for her to live in. Which will be her start on the ladder.
It allowed me to resign from my job at 54 when conditions became dreadful (NHS) and work part time on the bank.

ComeTheFuck0nBridget · 12/03/2017 09:03

It feels amazing. The security you have, plus thinking about how little we actually NEED to earn, the year after we paid it off we saved what would have been all the mortgage payments and treated ourselves to a very lovely, dream holiday.

We are saving again now to buy a bigger house as this is only a two bed terrace but will hopefully not have a massive mortgage and we'll do everything we can to get it paid off again.

Overrunwithlego · 12/03/2017 09:03

We paid ours off in our early 30s having cashed in shares from a starter business where dh was one of the early employees.

I'd echo babyroobs though - it seemed we were just frittering away the extra money and it bothered me that we weren't really capitalising on our good furtune and making the most of the opportunity it gave us. So we decided to remortgage our own home (albeit at a lower LTV) and buy a second home (technically on a "100%" mortgage) to rent out. The rental pays the mortgage although it is not completely cost neutral - it costs us maybe £1500 a year in taxation on the rental income and repairs etc. But that is less than what our monthly mortgage payment used to be. So now we own two houses without it really costing us anything. I'd recommend looking into this an option but we did it prior to the changes on second properties with regards stamp duty and no longer being able to claim mortgage interest as an expense, so it's not quite so attractive right now.

In the meantime my dh started his own business - something which would have been far harder to do we our previous mortgage given the financial risks involved.

MorrisZapp · 12/03/2017 09:09

We're three years off it too. Can't wait! I daydream all the time about how we'll spend the extra cash. We have one dc and he'll be 9 when we're mortgage free.

clerquin · 12/03/2017 09:27

We've added a family ski trip to our travel budget each year which totally blows a hole through my usual bargain holiday/good value hunting mentality. I would have never considered spending so much money on one week's holiday prior to paying our mortgage off simply because it equated to 2 'normal' holidays.
I don't wince as much or avoid taking our main holiday in July/August (still resent the price hike but grit my teeth and pay it now). In the past, we always took our main short haul holiday in the summer half term. Now, we're venturing long haul for a fortnight in peak Jul/Aug.
I would still consider holidays a luxury though and it would be the first thing I would cut back on if I wanted to rein it in.

Lizzylou · 12/03/2017 12:26

It has enabled me to retrain into a profession I always wanted to join and dh to be able to work part time after a serious health scare a few years ago. We were very lucky to get a windfall due to DH's old company being bought out.

skippy67 · 12/03/2017 13:20

2 years to go for us, and I can't wait! It'll be like getting a £500 a month payrise. We'll save more and have more to spend and best of all our home will be all ours.

InMySpareTime · 12/03/2017 16:46

Just £500? We'll be £1100 a month better off once we've paid ours off (business buyout, same as some PPs)
That's a serious hike in our quality of life Smile

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