We're officially mortgage free as of today. Just have to wait for the courthouse to send us the deed! We're FREEEEEEEEEE!!!!
We bought this house five years ago on April 15. I'd hoped to have it paid off by the time DS2 headed off to first grade. He's still in kindergarten. We're ahead of schedule.
In other news, the state tax refund came, so yay! Some of the money I took out to pay the mortgage can go right back in!
Officially mortgage FREEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!
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If you put my (hopefully if everything works out) house in, let's say Monkey Mama's part of the world, $140k probably would not even cover half of it. We also weren't really looking at best schools, etc. since kids most likely aren't going to happen, and if they did, they'd be going to a local Adventist school, so best public school still wouldn't matter. (Except I guess for resale value.)
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And, I realize now, 2011 was a scary time to buy, but it was also an opportunity. We never would have been able to afford this house if we'd waited. We were lucky enough to get in when no one else was buying because of the housing collapse and the recession. Now, houses go in a minute above list.
Of course, the extra space for the garden has been great!
April 3rd, 2016 at 09:26 pm 1459718817
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You did very well. By way of comparison, my mortgage in Dec. 1995 was about $114,000 (?) and I was able to pay it off in 17 years.
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First, when we went house shopping, we didn't spend what the bank wanted to give us, we spent less-- only what we thought we could pay off within 6 or 7 years. Once we had an offer accepted, I sat down and figured out how long it would take to pay off using different scenarios.
We always sent something extra along with the payment. We aimed for $100 to $200 a month, but sometimes, it was only $25.
I took on extra freelance projects, including a nightmare summer project that was way more work than it was worth, but paid $2000 at the end of the summer. I knew that check was coming, and it went right to the mortgage. I also sent extra freelance checks for $90 here, $75 there, for all those years.
We also sent at least part of any windfall to the mortgage. Every tax refund check (state and federal, from $500 to $3000 a pop), and part or all of the bonus DH may or may not get every year. All those little bits add up.
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Our facebook group “selfless” is spending this month spreading awareness on prostate cancer & research with a custom t-shirt design. Purchase proceeds will go to cancer.org, as listed on the shirt and shirt design.
www.teespring.com/prostate-cancer-research
Thanks