34, Mortgage and Debt Free: Here’s how !!

bubbles77

This was a great article, and very inspiring to read. Check it out for yourself.
http://www.moneyville.ca/article/1225286--i-m-34-and-debt-free-here-s-how-i-did-it#.UAY0dYT5SvQ.facebook

TashaCat

Inspiring! Thanks for posting

Loving this article. I've read a number of case studies like this one of people who have done just this. It's really rare that someone can be that disciplined and do this. I mean, I totally admire him, but I'm wondering how many of us would give up vacations, shoes, lipsticks and commit to buying ONLY the essentials for your entire adult lives to do this.

mamaluv

this is not as easy as it looks

My hubby and I have consistently paid extra on our mortgage and have managed to live otherwise debt free for the last 5 years (as in, no car payments, no credit lines, credit cards fully paid every month), but despite that we both have good paying jobs, we don't have the investment nest egg this guy has - not even close! I fully recognize that he has probably made more sacrifices than my family has (but then, I also have 3 school-aged children, and sports/extra curriculars/field trips/school supplies/clothes etc etc etc) drain a lot of money away. Everyone thinks the diaper days are the most expensive, but that's simply not true.

I would take this report with a grain of salt. He isn't very detailed about what his standard of living is. While he mentions taking a vacation at one point, he doesn't mention their other fun activities - do they go out for dinner? movies? donate to charity? only shop thrift for clothing? coupon for groceries? It's "easy" to save like he does if you are extremely disciplined but the reality is most of us want to enjoy life a little and tend to have our areas where we allow ourselves to splurge a little.

For example, while we rarely fly away on vacation, we roadtrip a lot and our gas budget/hotel stays/restaurant bills do add up.

Still, it's a good idea to strive toward. Paying down your mortgage is a really smart idea... EXCEPT if you have an excellent rate and it makes sense to "invest" that money elsewhere. If for example you have a 3% mortgage but also a 6% credit line or a credit card that is not fully paid off every month (which tend to run around 20% interest) or a car payment at any rate higher than your mortgage, it obviously makes more sense to pay off your most expensive loans first. If you have a quality investment that pays better than your mortgage rate (stocks, etc), it makes more sense to invest extra money into your fund.

A great tip I have heard again and again is to write down all of your debt according to the interest rate, from highest to lowest. Assign minimum payments to everything, and then with any leftover funds, pay aggressively onto your most expensive debt even if it may be the smallest $ amount owing. Once that is paid off, move all of your leftovers into the next most expensive debt. Most of the time, this means that your mortgage is last to be paid off.

Just my two cents :)

Ali de Bold

Wow

That is really impressive. It takes a ton of discipline, especially since most of us increase our spending as our salaries rise.

TashaCat

it would be totally hard!

Great 2 cents, mamaluv. I'll take it... every 2 cents counts towards the end goal. ;)

I think you are right: there is a lot not listed. IT'S TOTALLY HARD. I'm willing to bet that (unless his income is stellar) the one vacation may be the only one they've taken and that there are some significant personal sacrifices being made. One case study I read included growing 50% of their own veggies in their yard each summer. One more known woman (Dianne Nahirny) turned on the hot water for only a couple hours each day in the house to save the expense. Some calculations indicate that you should own no more than 400sq/ft per person in the dwelling. Sensible for some. Austerity measures for others.

I know someone who pretty much retired at 37. Some contract work on the side as needed/or if they feel like it. They don't like to travel - even outside the city. A very basic, simple life.

Totally admire it, but its too austere for me.