Completely debt free

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MadAsAHatter

MadAsAHatter

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As of Monday afternoon I paid off my house and have no debt to my name. After the large flood in 2016 wrecked my first house (that I was still paying on) the wife and I decided to move out of that area and get a new home where it didn't flood. Originally got a 20 year loan with no plans to pay it off early since we were still getting things back in order. After a couple years we decided to put a little extra towards the note and try to pay it off a few years early. That goal turned into paying it off in 15 years, then to before we turned 50; about 13 years. After a couple years of working towards that goal it became feasible to pay it off in 10 years total.

Budgeting, being consistent and putting anything extra beyond what we were already doing finally paid off. I made one final lump payment Monday afternoon to kill the mortgage. By my calculations total time to pay it off was 8 years, 6 months and 10 days; a good 11.5 years early.

It hasn’t fully hit me yet. I suspect it will come the 1st when I don’t have to make that mortgage payment and wondering what to do with the extra money that isn’t allocated to anything yet.

Look out gear budget, you’re about to get a steroid injection LOL!!!

Seriously though, I’ll likely do the responsible thing and put it towards extra savings and/or investments.
 
Good job man. We've been debt free for about 7 years.
 
Congrats. It's a good feeling. I haven't paid rent since 2013 but sunk most of the dough I had into home improvements. Then I moved in '16 and been building as money allowed so I still don't have any money. No debt other than a car payment. I can't imagine paying rent or a mortgage now. Prices on everything have gone nuts.
 
MadAsAHatter said:
As of Monday afternoon I paid off my house and have no debt to my name. After the large flood in 2016 wrecked my first house (that I was still paying on) the wife and I decided to move out of that area and get a new home where it didn't flood. Originally got a 20 year loan with no plans to pay it off early since we were still getting things back in order. After a couple years we decided to put a little extra towards the note and try to pay it off a few years early. That goal turned into paying it off in 15 years, then to before we turned 50; about 13 years. After a couple years of working towards that goal it became feasible to pay it off in 10 years total.

Budgeting, being consistent and putting anything extra beyond what we were already doing finally paid off. I made one final lump payment Monday afternoon to kill the mortgage. By my calculations total time to pay it off was 8 years, 6 months and 10 days; a good 11.5 years early.

It hasn’t fully hit me yet. I suspect it will come the 1st when I don’t have to make that mortgage payment and wondering what to do with the extra money that isn’t allocated to anything yet.

Look out gear budget, you’re about to get a steroid injection LOL!!!

Seriously though, I’ll likely do the responsible thing and put it towards extra savings and/or investments.
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Congrats. I paid my primary house off about 6 months ago. My only debt is a very small credit card balance.
 
MadAsAHatter said:
As of Monday afternoon I paid off my house and have no debt to my name. After the large flood in 2016 wrecked my first house (that I was still paying on) the wife and I decided to move out of that area and get a new home where it didn't flood. Originally got a 20 year loan with no plans to pay it off early since we were still getting things back in order. After a couple years we decided to put a little extra towards the note and try to pay it off a few years early. That goal turned into paying it off in 15 years, then to before we turned 50; about 13 years. After a couple years of working towards that goal it became feasible to pay it off in 10 years total.

Budgeting, being consistent and putting anything extra beyond what we were already doing finally paid off. I made one final lump payment Monday afternoon to kill the mortgage. By my calculations total time to pay it off was 8 years, 6 months and 10 days; a good 11.5 years early.

It hasn’t fully hit me yet. I suspect it will come the 1st when I don’t have to make that mortgage payment and wondering what to do with the extra money that isn’t allocated to anything yet.

Look out gear budget, you’re about to get a steroid injection LOL!!!

Seriously though, I’ll likely do the responsible thing and put it towards extra savings and/or investments.
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Congrats, you are better off buying gear than putting money in the bank.
 
We just have the mortgage and 1 car payment. No other debt.
Congrats to you!
 
Awesome to hear.

Just curious, did paying it off early slow or stop making maximum contributions to a 401k or other retirement plans?
 
psychodave said:
Awesome to hear.

Just curious, did paying it off early slow or stop making maximum contributions to a 401k or other retirement plans?
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I was already unknowingly doing the Dave Ramsey baby step plan when I stumbled across it 8-9 years ago. At that time I had no debt but the house, and already had an emergency fund greater than 6 months worth of expenses. So I jumped straight to step 4 with retirement. I was putting away the old recommendation of 10% for retirement. So that was adjusted to 15%. Wife and I don't/can't have kids so saving for a college fund could be skipped and move straight to paying off the house early. Now I guess I'm on the last step of build wealth.

As far as retirement, I didn't stop or slow down any contributions. That always came first. I've been putting in a little more than the recommended 15% towards retirements accounts, which maxes out my work's retirement & and Roth IRA contributions for the year. Anything over that went towards the house.

My work doesn't have a 401K. The retirement plan isn't called a pension but is set up almost exactly like one. It's 8% to participate and at retirement you get a percentage of your final salary based on years of service plus 75% of insurance premiums paid. For the years I plan to put in I'll get at least 75% of my salary. The Roth makes up for the other 7% of recommended percent contributions. That should cover the 25% salary missing from the pension, my portion of the insurance premium, and inflation; at least according to projections.

Now that my house is paid off I'm going to sit with my advisor and see about putting something into an additional retirement account to have an extra buffer and some other non-retirement accounts.
 
This is my retirement plan, and I'm not kidding. Save everyone else the aggravation of nursing homes and all that shit. Burn me and toss my ashes as they see fit.

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Geo said:
Congrats, you are better off buying gear than putting money in the bank.
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I agree. Each month i receive a paper copy of my accounts at the bank. My savings account rarely drops below $20,000 and my monthly interest? About 23 cents.
 
Stumplegriltskin said:
This is my retirement plan, and I'm not kidding. Save everyone else the aggravation of nursing homes and all that shit. Burn me and toss my ashes as they see fit.

View attachment 414046
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Hey man. I've seen you post similar things before and so I suspect that you are serious.
Just wanted to say, don't do anything rash.
Life can be tough and I know you've been through some shit. But living another day is always better than the alternative. If you ever want to talk for real, send me a DM and I will give you my phone number.
 
Geo said:
Wrong cartridge, that will go through you and a whole bunch behind you. A .45 auto would be better.
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In one ear and out the other would be a sure thing.
I told my daughter a few days ago that I'd rather hit a semi head-on on the Harley than spend one day in a nursing home. She has worked for some nursing homes, and agreed.
 
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