The end is in sight! Paying off our mortgage…

Hi, friends! It’s been a while…

I got an email the other day notifying me that my domain name and WordPress subscription will be renewing on October 31st, and I will be charged somewhere around fifty bucks to keep my blog alive. Yay!

Even though I haven’t posted in like six months, I couldn’t justify allowing that charge to pass without at least attempting to resurrect my hobby. So, I’m taking another stab at this blogging thing, if only to make the $50 charge worth it. This may turn out to be the most expensive post in history, or it may be a catalyst for more money-saving tips to come (no promises!).

Anyhoo, back to the real topic of this post…

We are laser focused on paying off our mortgage at the moment.

It is currently 91% paid (!) and the momentum is building.

We “bought” our house just over 3 years ago now. I say “bought” because at the time, we hadn’t yet sold the house we were living in and were able to take out a mortgage on our current house with no money down.

Rewind a little further to 5 years ago when we began dreaming of a debt free life. One in which we didn’t have to worry about owing money to anyone ever again. We cut up our credit cards (actually, we made Christmas ornaments out of them), paid down our consumer debt and my student loans with gazelle intensity (#daveramseystyle), and never looked back.

At the time, paying off our mortgage was, to me, the holy grail of financial freedom. I had only theoretically believed that it was possible for us. But now, only 5 months out from our projected payoff date (fingers crossed!), it finally feels attainable. Now, I find myself looking beyond that milestone and planning for the next one. It feels incredibly freeing, and I am so grateful to be in the position to experience it.

But don’t be hoodwinked – all that progress doesn’t just happen. Yes, we’ve been blessed to benefit from a few unexpected windfalls and smart investments, but most of the money we’ve contributed to our mortgage payoff is the product of good old-fashioned hard work and diligence.

We’ve had a budget since we started our financial journey way back when. And, as I’ve mentioned in the past, I believe that if we hadn’t had an existing budget when our income increased or when we came into unexpected money, we probably would not have been nearly as smart with it.

Now, we haven’t always had a truly functional budget…the process has been messy and imperfect and full of plenty of money mistakes. We’ve had to be very purposeful about what we spend money on, and more often what we don’t. But our budget has been the one constant as we’ve progressed from one “baby step” to the next. Without it, we’d seriously have no idea what we were doing financially. It has been our roadmap to financial freedom.

If I sound enamored it’s because I am. Budgeting has 100% changed my life.

If you’re interested in following along on our journey or gleaning some inspiration or tried and true money tips for your own life, consider subscribing to my blog! I don’t post regularly by any means, but if you’re subscribed, you’ll get an email as soon as a new post is published – so you’ll never miss a single one. Lucky you…;)

Looking for a place to begin? I have a series of posts about beginner budgeting:

If you’re looking to change your money life and need a little inspiration to get started, consider checking them out! And let me know if anything speaks to you.

I also have a number of posts on other topics related to saving, spending, and living intentionally. Here are some of my favorites:

Thanks for reading and be sure to let me know if you want to hear more from me!