Why We Paid Off Our House Early
Get your own Paid Off House
A paid off house sounds magical, right? For most of us, it just seems like a pipe dream or maybe not even a dream at all because the thought of a paid-off home seems unimaginable. Maybe you must be a unicorn or have some special powers to pay off your mortgage early.
Most people just wish to have a paid-off home before they retire so they are able to retire, but what would life look like if you could have a paid off house today? What would having a paid-off home give you the ability to do?
Could you go on that dream vacation to Greece? Would you be able to afford some things you’ve always wanted? Or maybe you wish you could be able to be more generous with your money and your time? Having a paid-off home gives flexibility and financial freedom.
Financial freedom looks different to each person. To some, that means being able to pay for whatever you want without caring how much it costs. For others, it means being able to work fewer hours, play more and be more present.
For me, financial freedom means that I don’t owe anyone anything and I’m not stressed by finances. Financial freedom would allow me to be generous when I see a need. It would give me the ability to live my life how I want to, without money being a roadblock.
I crave financial freedom, and I’m sure you do too. We all long for security, the ability to live our lives without the stress of living paycheck to paycheck. Finances impact every area of our lives, and sadly, most of us are held back by them.
The decisions we make about money profoundly changes our lives. This is why my husband and I have been on a journey of getting rid of every ounce of debt, including our mortgage. And believe it or not, we’re debt-free! We didn’t get to this goal by accident or luck. We didn’t win the lotto or inherited money.
Honestly, we’ve never had brag-worthy incomes that would make this goal an easy feat. What we have had going for us is a stellar financial defence. What I mean by financial defence is that we are really good at saving money.
Financial offense is the money you earn. It doesn’t matter how good your financial offense is if your financial defense is not on par. Financial defense wins the game. Here are a few of my articles that go more in depth on saving money: Live Like a College Student, The Phrase I Use to Curb Overspending, and How to Save 40% on Groceries Without Coupons.
My husband and I have had a clear goal and we are determined to change our financial destiny. We don’t have one big secret to help you be financially successful. Finances don’t work that way. Every little financial decision has an effect. That’s why I can’t pinpoint just one thing that has helped us more than anything to reach our financial goals.
A Good Financial Plan:
A good financial plan is a culmination of millions of everyday choices. The small choice of making coffee at home instead of purchasing it at a coffee shop can make a huge impact on your ability to save. Over time that consistent coffee shop purchase adds up. Our choices change our financial future and that’s why we need to start paying attention and being intentional with those decisions.
Now in the financial world, most people would’ve recommended that we should’ve invested into the stock market more instead of paying off our house early. Their reasoning is that the interest rate you pay on your home is typically quite a bit less than you’ll make on your investments. Yes, this is true. But, we still invested and we’ll be able to invest quite a bit more when we have no monthly mortgage payment going out.
Or the other common reason people don’t pay off their home early is for the tax deduction. When you actually do the math, keeping a mortgage for the tax benefit doesn’t add up. You’re only getting deducted from the interest you are already paying on your home. It’s not a tax credit. But we took a different route.
We didn’t want to just follow what the mainstream financial world recommended us to do. We wanted to pay attention to what God says about money and He is very clear that debt isn’t good at all. In fact, in Proverbs 22:7 it says, “The borrower is slave to the lender.” That means that when I owe money to anyone or to the bank, I’m giving up my freedom and handing it over to someone else.
Christ has set us free, but when we live in debt (being enslaved to the lender), we aren’t experiencing the full freedom given to us. And that’s why we wanted to become debt free. Now that we have no mortgage, we have more available finances to invest and use in other areas.
If you want to here some of the tips that helped us pay off our home at 31 years old, check this out. I’d love to hear about your financial goals. What are you doing to make your financial future a brighter one?
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