Wednesday, August 7, 2013

My obsessions

These past few weeks, I have become obsessed with one topic, real estate. I told you about my idea a few weeks ago.
This dream, this desire to diversify our financies is like an itch I cannot scratch. I think about it all the time. I am doing more and more research on properties, and I keep getting more and more excited. 
There is one obstacle standing in our way, its kind of a big one.....MONEY.
Specifically, our mortgage. We are Dave Ramsey followers to the max. We drank the Koolaid. We are on board, on the Dave train, and are following the baby steps. 
We are at the point where our only remaining debt is our home. We are trying to pay this sucker off early. We want out from underneight this load. 
We are making bimonthly payments, and an additional payment at the end of the month once we reconcile our account.

Our mortgage is still in the mid six digits. XXX,XXX. Thats a lot of digits. But still, I WANT THIS SUCKER GONE!

I even went so far as to buy a cheap frame, and hang it in P's closet so that every time we open the doors, we see it hanging in the closet every day. Written with a dry erase marker that I swiped from the office, written in my messy handwriting, I track our mortgage balance. I have been updating the frame 3x a month. Each time our mortgage goes through and with every additional payment I update it.


I have been playing with a lot of scenarios on some online calculators. I have been looking at refinancing to a 15 year, 20 year, with lower interest rates. I have been playing with additional payment calculators seeing how much time and interest we will save. I have probably run 100 different scenarios, just manipulating the numbers in as many different ways as possible. 

The other factor that is pushing me is listening to the Dave Ramsey show. At least once a day a couple that is our age, making the typical money gets to brag about having their home paid off. They are so happy and excited, and Dave is so excited, and I want to be one of those couples. I asked P if we could go to Nashville to Financial Peace Plaza to scream we are debt free when we pay off our house. He said yes, but reminded me that it will be a few years. 

Every time I hear someone pay off their house, I get tears in my eyes. I get so excited for them, and they push me even harder to squeeze a bit harder, to coupon a little bit more, to eat in another night, to really go for it. 

The thought of owing nothing, to being completely free gives me chills. In this economic environment, where our politicians, our elected leaders are monkeying around with our money, with our future scares me. And, it makes me angry. Both sides are out of control. They are messing with our lives. I want to do as much as I can to make sure we are secure, and take as much control and influence of our lives out of the hands of the government. 

I'm psyched, I'm obsessed, and I'm ready to get this done. 

How are you doing on your debt pay down? Anyone out there have the mortgage paid off?


4 comments:

lesley: the dream tree said...

lucky you! that is so exciting to be that debt free. i can't even imagine. we are about the exact opposite and have no additional $ to put towards extra bills. so frustrating, so i am super envious of you. that's so cool you are that close to your debt-free dream.

Denise said...

way to go!!

we are making significant progress on our home mortgage. I think the biggest thing though is not trying to keep up with the jones too. A lot of my kids friends have 600-750,000 dollar homes. Gone are my jealous days...we stay put and pay down!!

Brooke said...

I've kinda left the train. i'd love for it to happen. I know it *could* happen in 5 years or less if jay were on board. in his mind real estate will always = debt. sadly "compromise" means a little of debt which means, in the end, he gets his way. :(

Amanda S said...

It takes a lot to say, we are going to do this and we are going to make the necessary sacrifices to do so. But just remember that the process to becoming mortgage free is a journey, especially when you have such a big balance left. Remember to also enjoy the home you live in and the everyday things you do.

Living in a place that doesn't require us to a pay a mortgage is really nice, and it has allowed us to free some of our money to do things we love. It's a great point to reach, but it's a journey that should be appreciated.