What an Ostrich I've been

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-01-2008
What an Ostrich I've been
17
Sat, 01-16-2010 - 10:42am

A few weeks ago Beepsmomx2 started a discussion on facing the truth about your total debt.

Norma


"Patience is the best remedy for every trouble"- Plautus


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Avatar for sohappilyme
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Sat, 01-16-2010 - 11:39am

I'm painfully aware of how little of our payment goes to the principal on our mortgage, LOL, b/c I review that statement on a monthly basis along with the others. The only time I even remotely like the number attributed to interest is around tax time, although I'd MUCH rather have a big fat ... ostrich egg, LOL ... for that total. If all goes well, we do plan to pay off our mortgage within another ten years. It's not spectacularly early, but it will be for our brand new house and DH will only be in his mid 40s when that happens if all goes even remotely well.

We may upgrade houses yet again to be waterfront so we can keep our boats at home instead of at a marina, but we've also designed our new house to be something we'd be happy to remain in for the rest of our lives so if we don't take that final step we'll be fine. We're looking at more than tripling our income within the next year or two, however, so all of our plans are well within reason as far as realistic expectations go. And because we are DIY home builders without extravagant tastes, we can build a house at a huge discount off of "retail" LOL.

My dream is to build that sprawling country home on the water and put a duplex guest house to one side with one part for my mom and the other for my in-laws. That way they can live out THEIR days without financial worries (rent free) and remain close to family. We found a duplex that looks like an old farmhouse (both sides are NOT identical) that we can DIY for about 75k (current prices) and if we are able to build that home on the water then that cost will not be a problem at all. Of course, a lot can change by then, but a girl can dream. =c) We just feel like that would be our way of giving back - giving our parents both financial and emotional security - and in the end that is truly the best gift for all of us.

Wow, am I OT or what? LOL. Anyway, yeah, mortgage interest bites. Off with its head! ;c)

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FLINGING DEBT:
Sarah
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-01-2004
Sat, 01-16-2010 - 2:31pm

Norma, your situation cemented for me the goals we have.

We bought a large house in an excellent school district a few years ago and did a complete renovation on it. We had to sell for a slight loss, so the move is the source of our current (large!) amount of debt. We will have it all paid off in two years. We did all of the work ourselves for about $40,000, which saved us a conservative estimate of $100,000. We will never need any more "house" than this, so we plan on staying here forever. Well, unless we win the lotto!

Anyway, at 31, we have 28 years left on the mortgage. We will not refinance to anything that extends it. We have a great rate of 5%. Once our children are older (we have two in daycare and I am pregnant now), we plan to start paying additional principle to bring it down more. My point is that you are a great lesson of what to try to avoid and what to focus on.



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iVillage Member
Registered: 08-04-2008
Sat, 01-16-2010 - 2:48pm

I so agree with you Norma!
Not only the mortgage but we don't look at where any of our money really goes, we just pay.
DH and I have been sitting down and really talking about money a lot these past couple weeks. Our goals are now clearly outlined and he was shocked when he actually saw how much total interest we were paying each month - hasically two weeks of what I bring home every month goes to interest. A full 24 weeks of my work goes to nothing but interest!
And our house mortgage is at 5%, with our HEL at 2%! So those are not really the problem - it is those darn CCs.

-Marie




iVillage Member
Registered: 10-01-2008
Sat, 01-16-2010 - 4:46pm

I guess I was just to focused on the Bankruptcy for the past 12 months to even care about the mortgage balance.

Norma


"Patience is the best remedy for every trouble"- Plautus


iVillage Member
Registered: 07-10-2003
Sat, 01-16-2010 - 5:05pm

I have to confess to looking at this with a wee bit different slant. I got a 30 year mortgage at the age of 60!!!

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-01-2009
Sat, 01-16-2010 - 7:53pm

I would love to see the plans for your dreamhouse Sarah


Very exciting


Duke

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-12-2007
Sat, 01-16-2010 - 8:39pm

Great topic, Norma.


This is actually one area of our financial life that we are totally on top of and in great shape with.

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-14-2008
Sun, 01-17-2010 - 1:34pm
We have actually made significant progress in this area. We pay extra on our mortgage every week. We pay more on our principal than in interest. We are lucky enough to live in an area where housing is very inexpensive. It's not why we live here, but it's a huge benefit. So, between low housing prices and putting extra on our mortgage, right now we are scheduled to have our home paid off in about 8 years. I will be 43, DH 46. However, we do have a dream of haming it paid off in about 5, making me 40, DH 43. We have a plan to make this happen, but, things need to go very well. But, if we have our home paid off in 8 years, that will be good, too.





Avatar for sohappilyme
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Sun, 01-17-2010 - 4:51pm

The one we're building in a couple of years is linked below. We are NOT doing the garage connection (we have a large shop with a concrete floor and several outbuildings - we don't need the garage or the expense). Downstairs we're expanding the family room toward the back and pushing the porch/outdoor room back to do so but keeping it. We're also making that office larger by taking some away from the master bedroom closet. The office will be homeschool central and the front living room will my office/study.

Upstairs the media room will become a bedroom and the sleeping porch will be finished into two more (with just a bit of rearranging to get access and closets to all). Six bedrooms up, one down. If you scroll way down on this link you'll see photos of a house someone did. We love the farm house look and want to give it the "old" look with 6" baseboards, crown molding, plank hardwood floors, etc.

http://www.eplans.com/victorian_eclectic_house-plans/HWEPL55878.hwx

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FLINGING DEBT:
Sarah
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-14-2008
Sun, 01-17-2010 - 4:58pm

We have 24 years left on a 25 year mortgage for land. We will add to the mortgage when we build a house. Then we will be in a position to pay extra on the mortgage after that. I would like to concentrate on retirement funds as well as paying it off. As my dad has always said "You cannot eat a house" LOL! So I will do both and it will be paid off by the time we retire and we will have savings. It will likely be paid off earlier than not.


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