Monday, August 23, 2010

One huge step closer to debt free

YIPPEE WE DID IT :)

Today we took a giant step closer to becoming debt free. We have officially kicked the $150k mortgage balance to the kerb and by the end of the month should hopefully be just under $149k.

Two years and 51 weeks ago I moved into the first house I have ever brought by myself. A huge mortgage for a single parent of $190k and interest rates of fixed 9.1% and floating 10.49% and to tell the truth I was terrified I had overextended us.

Logically I knew I hadn't because the banks had offered me almost $50k more than I choose to spend but to me it was huge - the biggest mortgage I had ever had and only me to pay it. And it's that little ME word that was where I hung my worries. But it was also the one word that was to my advantage. By only being me it meant we were totally on board and there was nobody to sabotage my plan.

Originally my plan was not 10 years to debt free. I would have been happy with anything less than the standard 25 year plan but the bigger picture involved debt free by the time my oldest boy finished high school. That's around 13 years from when I brought.

Then along came Simple Savings and a woman who goes by the name $and sense Kate. Kate has taught me more about paying off my mortgage than anybody I know. Many others on the site have taught me about frugal and sustainable lifestyles as a choice and lastly there is my own personal support team on the Recession Challenge Thread. To these ladies I say Thank You very very much. Without you all I may not have stuck with it this far.


This
site alone has been at the base of my challenge along with my determination to not be like everybody else. I do not want to be facing retirement with a mortgage still hanging around my neck. I want to have 10-15 years mortgage free so I can save to my hearts content and also I can chose how much I work and until what age. I want that to be my choice and being debt free can do that for me.

So now it's on to the next challenge. At this stage I am going to set 4 month goals. That's until work is sold and I know what is happening with my job. So from now until the end of the year I am aiming for reducing the mortgage to $145k as well as funding the rest of my back yard renovations. Easy peasy maybe?

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