Mortgage Paid Off!

Well the deed is done! We did it, we paid off the mortgage! We scrimped, saved, sacrificed and dreamed for two years about the possibility of killing the mortgage and we did it! We know there are a lot of people out of work and struggling just to pay their bills let alone try to get "ahead". We got fired up to become debt free after two "reorganizations" and staff reductions got us thinking, "What if it happened to us?"

We sat down and decided to forgo some wants and some fun stuff in the short run to get our financial house on solid ground. We found ways to cut some costs and reduced our spending on food & clothing to create some extra cash. We took any extra cash along with bonuses and some side income and threw it all at the mortgage.

We severely restricted our use of a credit card (except for set expenses) and paid cash for nearly everything; if there was no cash allocated for it we didn't do it!

We continued to give to our church, never went without because the Lord made everything go farther! We went on two family vacations to the beach, a 3 day cruise & most importantly He blessed our efforts and allowed us to take a mission trip to Romania and remain on track with our plan!

You too can accomplish this, be weird, "live like no one else so one day you can live like no one else."

My new mantra, "There is no such thing as good debt!"

Goodbye Bank of America

Bank of America is now starting to charge fees based on the date that people pay their mortgage; no fee for the first few days, $3 for the next few and then $6 for the balance of the "grace" period. A bunch of people are up in arms about the new fees. Honestly, I never paid any attention to it because I always pay my mortgage on the due date - the 1st of the month .

I get that sometimes you might need a few days to get the payment to them but in my opinion that should be the exception rather than the rule... I guess there are "smart" money managers who know how to use every deadline to their advantage but, seriously with the paltry interest rates being paid for savings accounts you can't be talking about a lot of money. I just want to pay it and be done with it and not have it hanging over my head.

I have this suggestion for those smart money managers - quit spending so much energy trying to delay the payment and instead look at ways to find additional money to throw at the principal balance of your mortgage. My wife and I have gotten serious about paying off the mortgage company and becoming debt free. We are almost there!

I have come to understand that there is no such thing as "good debt"!