Today, I woke up....in a paid off house.

[dreamin_disney]

Yesterday, we paid our mortgage off. Today, we woke up for the first time in a house that we paid off.

We had bagels for breakfast and it was pretty uneventful. We haven’t told anyone, and don’t plan to, but all day if I caught my DH’s eye, we just had a little smile. We were with lots of relatives today.

I know from a previous post that tons of you have paid off your mortgages already. I don’t know how I thought I’d feel..... I guess excited. Happy. Relieved.

Did you feel any different?

Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know I would feel like a huge burden would be lifted. I would love the extra money to enjoy life.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

for us it felt very freeing to know that our home is truly OUR home. the following month seeing the difference between what we had been paying for our 'house payment' vs. the much smaller amount we now set aside each month to self pay our property taxes, homeowners and umbrella policy insurance was/continues to be amazing (don't forget to let your insurance company know you've paid it off-and consider speaking to them about your existing coverage, owning a home outright can put a target on your backs in the event of lawsuits b/c you've got a nice big unencumbered asset).

we initially thought it would take us much longer than it did b/c we couldn't afford to put much more towards the principle but then I started playing around with online mortgage calculators and saw the number of months just a hundred or so a month reduced the life of the loan so we started with whatever extra money we could afford (maybe $100 or so), then it became like a game-seeing where we could find money to throw at the principle. if we underspent what we had budgeted for a vacation or Christmas it got thrown at principle, if there was money left over at the end of the month after everything was paid for (including what we continued to put into savings)-it got thrown at it, if we got even a $25 a month raise in income it got thrown at it. it helped that our mortgage was set up at the same credit union as our bank accounts so we could go online at any time and make a payment transfer from any of our accounts.

every little bit helps so don't feel like you have to wait until you can double your payments.

I was playing with a mortgage calculator the other day and $100 does make a difference. I'm paying DDs college housing and meal plan, once she's done with college 1/2 will go to house payment and other 1/2 to retirement

I would probably want to have a big party or bbq with family to celebrate. I would keep the house payoff a secret and just say we want to have a big party to hangout with family. My reason for keeping it a secret would be so that people don't start wanting to borrow money, ask up to pay for certain celebrations like wedding dj or baptism etc. I know MIL and hubbys side might be the ones to ask especially for big party events helping out pay for something. No thanks! We have parties and we pay for it ourselves but some people have no shame. We have 16 years left and DD have 3 years left of college so in 3 years I'll start the extra payments

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

For those of you who have time, play with one of the many FREE mortgage calculators online. See what extra payments might do.

Even if you set up a $25 extra payment towards principal, and after a few months if you find you don’t miss the $25, increase it to $35. Etc.

 

[AnnaS]

Not sure if I remember right and it was a while since we paid ours off. I think or maybe for us anyway, if we paid an equivalent of one months mortgage payment each year, it deducted a year in the end.......or close to it. The end is principal and barely any interest.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

For those of you who have time, play with one of the many FREE mortgage calculators online. See what extra payments might do.

Even if you set up a $25 extra payment towards principle, and after a few months if you find you don’t miss the $25, increase it to $35. Etc.

Congratulations!!! It's a great feeling, isn't it?

I used to have a countdown balance above my desk at work and every spare dime went toward the payoff, so I'd have to readjust it every month, but it was SOOOOO fulfilling to watch the balance go down.

 

[Sleepy425]

Congrats!!!
14 more years left for us. But I'm really pushing my husband hard to have it paid off in 11. I want to hit 45 mortgage free!

 

[mrsheppo]

Congratulations! We have 3 years left until our house will be paid off. We purchased it in 2009 and we have become very disciplined in making double payments each month. Our daughter’s prepaid tuition will be paid off at that time too so my husband can then retire

 

[nycdisneygal]

congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
what a great feeling it must be

 

[Micca]

Today, I woke up....in a paid off house.

I know the feeling...but I had to get out of there before her husband got home.

 

[ronandannette]

Today, I woke up....in a paid off house.

I know the feeling...but I had to get out of there before her husband got home.

Funny joke, but I’m pretty confident you’re not really that kind of guy.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Today, I woke up....in a paid off house.

I know the feeling...but I had to get out of there before her husband got home.

 

[tvguy]

Just dawned on me. We bought our house 35 years ago. Paid it off in 17 years. DW and I have lived in a paid off house longer than we have lived in a house with a mortgage.

My parents first house was paid off by the time I was born, and they downsized after I was born and were able to pay cash for the second house. DW and I rented for a year, so 42 of my 60 years I have lived in a house that was paid off.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

For those of you who have time, play with one of the many FREE mortgage calculators online. See what extra payments might do.

Even if you set up a $25 extra payment towards principal, and after a few months if you find you don’t miss the $25, increase it to $35. Etc.

This thread totally inspired me! This morning I had DH look up all our mortgage details. We have 16 years left but can get it paid off in 13 if I pay an extra $200 a month. I think I’m going to do it! I just paid off the last on my credit cards, so I have a little extra cash. It will be paid off just in time for my retirement!

 

[georgina]

Congrats! It is a great feeling. I haven't read through all 5 pages, so I don't know if anyone else has mentioned this, but since our house has been paid off for 25 years, we have 1) added on a family room plus extra basement room with bathroom and 2) complete major kitchen remodel involving removing a wall, and many other smaller remodels, including a new front entry way, bathrooms, etc. Having that extra money allows lots of new projects!

 

[Dancind]

Congratulations! You will find many wonderful things to do with that extra money. We paid ours off about 5 years ago and it allowed more savings for things like paying cash for my Prius, a trip to Europe, and we even bought another house! I hate being in debt again, but we want to move in a few years to Portland OR, which is a much livelier housing market than ours. So we bought, got another mortgage, and found renters. The plan is to pay off the second house mortgage when we sell house no. 1, and hopefully still have money for a new kitchen and flooring in house no. 2. Lots of balls in the air!

 

[kinntj]

Congratulations! 2020 is our year. We don't plan on telling a soul or celebrating. For now we are happy to have the last payment on our daughter's braces paid off (second set for our family).