Have you ever considered paying off your house early? Have you ever wondered if it is even possible to pay off your house early?
Years ago, I thought that there would never be any possible way to pay off our house early. After all, buying a house is a big investment. How would we ever have enough money to pay off our house early?
If you’ve read any of my previous posts, you’ll know that just under ten years ago, my husband and I learned about Dave Ramsey and “The Total Money Makeover.” Reading this book was life-changing for our family and has changed the whole direction of our family. Before reading this book, my husband and I were living pay cheque to pay cheque and we never had any extra to do anything fun. If we did do something fun, it meant that we needed to put it on our credit card.
Fast forward to almost 3 years ago, my husband called me in the middle of a workday. This is highly unusual because he is always so busy at work. He said to me, “Honey, what do you think about trying to pay off our house early? I think we could do it in 3 years!” My reaction was basically, “Are you crazy?” “Why would we bother doing that?” It’s not like the mortgage is costing us that much!
After getting off the phone with him, I took out my calculator and did some basic math. Well, that changed my mind and made me realize that, actually, our mortgage was costing us that much. After some discussion, we decided that 3 years would be very tight and we would try for 3.5 years instead.
Three years in
We are currently almost 3 years into paying off our house. It hasn’t been easy at times, especially the months when we haven’t been able to pay much on the house. (Just because it felt like we had so far to go)
How we have worked to pay off our house early
#1: We have a budget that we tweak each month that tells every dollar where it will go.
#2: When we get discouraged, we remind each other why we are doing this. Sometimes we watch Dave Ramsey Debt Free Screams.
#3: We have mostly bought only what we need and not a lot of our wants.
#4: We buy used when we can for children’s clothes or other wants and needs.
#5: We limit eating out.
#6: My husband has worked extra hours.
So why pay off our house early?
After all, everyone who owns a house has a mortgage. It’s kind of a thing.
#1: For Financial Freedom. We love the idea of “owing no man.”
#2: We don’t believe that God has anything good to say about debt. We don’t believe that debt is a salvation issue. There is no commandment (as far as I know) about not having debt, but we thought that if God doesn’t have anything good to say about debt, wouldn’t it be nice to get out?
#3: We are passionate about living our lives debt free. Yes, it costs something. In fact, it isn’t always easy to go without when it feels like everyone else has everything that they want. It’s been especially difficult for me not to be jealous when people go on vacations or missions trips because that’s been a life-long dream of mine. However, nothing good in life comes without some sacrifice.
And there you have it, just a few reasons why we are choosing to pay off our house early.
How about you? Have you ever considered paying off your house early? Do you think you could do it? I’d love if you’d engage with me in the comments below.
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Photo Credit: Cindy@Go Gather Grow
