...because home doesn't happen overnight.

family 2011-4

FYI – This photo was taken in 2011 shortly after we bought our current home and discovered we were unexpectedly expecting a third child. We had just started a gut renovation and were living in an interim, two-bedroom apartment. It was the beginning of our downsizing journey. The boys look so little!

Our decision to downsize was heavily fueled by our desire to become mortgage-free by age 40. We’ve always been conscientious about money. Steve is the person whom creates and studies spreadsheets whenever making a big financial decision. I’m the person whom must have her checkbook balanced to the penny. When I was working full-time before we had kids, half of my paycheck was allotted to savings and investments. (To this day, we haven’t touched that money. We pretend it doesn’t exist.) We also worked diligently to pay off school and auto loans. Even with scholarships and employment during college, we graduated with >$50,000 of school debt between the two of us. (That probably sounds like a lot to some and not much to others.) We buy and drive used vehicles. To this day, Steve drives the same pickup truck he drove in college. #dangerranger

exterior 2011

Five years ago, we bought the worst house on the street in a modest but respectable neighborhood. Our plan was to use the equity from the sale of our previous home to fund a gut renovation then plug away at the mortgage. It helped that we purposefully bought below our means. The dilapidated house cost way less than what the bank/realtor/society said we could “afford.” We were able to pay for the renovation in cash, and we’ve been hacking away at the principal ever since. Earlier this month, we made our final payment. The act itself felt both momentous and completely run-of-the-mill, but it’s official…

We’re mortgage-free! (For the record, we’re 37. We beat our goal by three years. We celebrated by making a list of things to sell on Craigslist.)

We feel equal parts grateful, proud and free. We’re grateful for good educational opportunities, job stability and our health – all of which were necessary to see our goal come to fruition and none of which we take for granted. We’re proud of ourselves for hatching a long-term plan and seeing it through even when obstacles blocked our path. We’re free. Without a mortgage looming overhead, not only do we feel as if a weight has been lifted, but it’s exciting to think about where we go from here, financially speaking. The possibilities are various: more saving, more donating, more vacationing, more investing, more traveling, more renovating (in a different house), more chilling out, more stuff we’ve never done, etc. Our initial thoughts run the gamut.

workspace 2

Even though we consider ourselves financially stable and responsible, we’re interested in trying out a more efficient way to track and budget our money in order to set and achieve new goals. You Need a Budget (YNAB) is a web-based app that simplifies budgeting by syncing with bank accounts and credit cards to keep you up-to-date on your expenditures. If you’re a visual person like me, it’s helpful to see where the money goes.

YNAB combines easy-to-use software with four essential budgeting rules: 1) Give every dollar a job. Before any money comes in, you already know what it is going to be spent on or saved for. 2) Embrace your true expenses. Paying for stuff – from essential things like groceries, shelter, transportation, utilities, doctor visits and medications to less crucial things like date nights, new windows, killer jeans, gifts or that dreamy leather sofa you’ve had your eye on – is part of being an adult. Being honest with yourself and prioritizing your needs and wants allows you to treat larger, less frequent expenses like monthly expenses. 3) Roll with the punches. You’re human. You make mistakes. You change your mind. Life throws you unexpected curveballs. Your budget should be flexible enough to change with you. 4) Age your money. Your spending should be based on money you’ve already made or saved, not money you’re expecting to make in the future. That’s how you stop the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle and get out of debt.

Without really knowing, we’ve been following these rules on our own. Last year, rule #3 was especially important. We had to move money around to cover unforeseen expenses related to Everett’s accident. What was already a traumatic and stressful experience could have been compounded by unpayable bills. Having a flexible budget allowed us to focus on what mattered most – promoting Everett’s full recovery and getting back to “normal.” We’re still working on it. Some days are more difficult than others, but I can’t imagine the added stress of unpaid bills.

If you’re interested in giving YNAB a try to achieve whatever financial goals you may have, you can get three months free by clicking here. YNAB is free to all students!

For fun, here are several ideas we’ve been tossing around now that we’re mortgage-free…

*Finally install those shade sails we first mentioned here.

*Buy a vintage camper, fix it up and road trip with the kids while they still think we’re cool.

portland guest house

portland guest house 3

*Fly out west to see the redwoods and hit up this sweet guest house in Portland while we’re at it. (Those backsplash windows!)

*Buy a fixer upper and flip it. (Spoiler alert: We’ve been looking at distressed properties for months.)

*Buy a forever home in one of our dream neighborhoods and make it ours over time. Or just build one from scratch. (Spoiler alert: I’ve been looking for years.)

*Open an online shop.

new zealand airbnb

new zealand airbnb 2

*Visit New Zealand and live the ultimate indoor-outdoor life.

*Invest in a new garage door.

We would be completely happy bringing one or two of those ideas to fruition within the next year. Although we aren’t opposed to taking on another big project if the right house came along, in all likelihood, we’ll probably sit tight and savor our just right house for now. I think we have some braces to save for anyway. Whatever happens, I’ll continue to share our journey and the things that inspire us. I hope you’ll stick around to see what happens next.

Have you set or reached any financial goals recently? Do you have any tips for budgeting, saving or becoming mortgage-free? Talking about money can be so personal, but it’s important. Steve and I have witnessed our families stress over finances for decades, and we vowed early on in our marriage to minimize that stress in our relationship as much as possible. We aren’t perfect, but we do believe that consistently living within (or even below) our means has set us up for financial (maybe even marital!) success. For us, it’s all about prioritizing what matters most then making a plan and executing it with room for course correction along the way.

*This post sponsored in part by You Need a Budget (YNAB). Don’t forget to sign up for a free three-month trial here. Thank you for supporting the brands that support this blog and our financial endeavors!

images: 1-3) Dana Miller for House*Tweaking 4-7) Airbnb

143 Comments

29.March.2016

First – a huge CONGRATULATIONS! You did it and you should be so so proud of yourselves, I don’t even know you and I’m proud of you. :-) Second, I’m so glad that living mortgage free is becoming “cool”. When I was your age (I’m in my mid 50’s) it wasn’t. We spent as we earned, and I’ve still got 9 years till I pay off my home. It won’t happen faster because I’ve got one in college and one that will be there in two years. I took a home equity line whenever I wanted to change something rather than saving up, and I’m living with the consequences of that now.

By the way, when I was growing up my family had a camper and we saw the US in that thing. It produced memories that are still some of my favorites today, so that has my vote on the “what to do next” list. :-)

29.March.2016

Congratulations on such a monumental achievement! You’re an inspiration to so many. Thanks for sharing your life, thoughts and home – it’s a joy to read.

29.March.2016

That is wonderful news! Just earlier this month, the husband and I were discussing how great it would be if we could pay off our mortgage within 15 years instead of 30. I think it’s totally doable for us, but right now, it seems almost like a pipe dream.

We are undergoing a major (for us) renovation. While we both have minor chops in the renovation and rejuvenation department, the entire house needs updated electrical to pass inspection, and just the costs alone from that are enough to make me faint. But we are determined to pay for the renovations in cash (like you!) and then to have the house reassessed, hopefully ridding ourselves of the PMI on the mortgage, and enabling us to pay more straight towards the principle.

Are you still paying on student loans? Next to the bills that keep us sheltered and warm (naturally!), paying down student debt is my top priority, but I feel like no matter how much overtime I work and put towards it, the amount barely budges!

29.March.2016

Congratulations! What a feat!

Congratulations! That is a huge goal and you crushed it! I’m always impressed by people who set and meet big financial goals because it always seems out of my reach. It’s not like we have crushing debt, but paying off our mortgage is not even in the realm of possibility for the foreseeable future. I have tried various budgeting apps before but because I do my banking with a local bank that offers all of the things you get from a local bank, including tellers who know your name and inquire about what’s going on in your life and the ability to call the president of the bank if there ever is an issue, most of these apps don’t work for me. They are usually set up to only work with the larger banks unless you want to manually enter all your information (I haven’t balanced a checkbook for 15 years because it was too much work, I’m definitely not manually entering info in an app). I’ll check out YNAB though, you never know. I do wish app developers were a little more cognizant that people do bank with companies that aren’t huge, impersonal conglomerates.

29.March.2016

Congrats Dana and family! You and Steve are leaving such a legacy for your kids. Way to be intentional (with your lives, money, energy, time, etc.)!

29.March.2016

Congrats, Y’all! It’s exciting to hear about all of the possibilities that have now opened up for your family. You know me, I would say NEW ZEALAND first and foremost, but I am biased! I also love the idea of purchasing a travel camper while the kids are still small enough to fit in it! That is one of my “pipe dreams”, especially since discovering This Must Be The Pace and Birch and Pine on Instagram. So many adventures are waiting…
I signed up for YNAB. Being a homeowner on my own now, budget is extremely important. This looks like it beats my excel spreadsheet! Looking forward to trying it out.

29.March.2016

Congratulations! What an inspiring achievement!! Must be so refreshing to have so many doors opened to you!

29.March.2016

I’ve been waiting for this post! Congratulations on your success! We are planning to be mortgage free by the time we are 38. I’ll be 30 in June and 8 days later my hubby will be 31. Right now we are paying $400 or more EXTRA every month on our mortgage trying to get rid of it. After that our plan is to roll the payments right onto our retirement savings. CAN’T WAIT!

29.March.2016

Wow Congrats!! That’s a huge accomplishment! I unfortunately fall into the category of “wow 50K of student loans seems so small”. We had a bigger than many people’s mortgage worth of student loans before we ever even got a real mortgage. Very scary/should we have a second kid, are we crazy? AHH

29.March.2016

CONGRATS! This is an inspiring post and I appreciate the chance to check out YNAB. Can’t wait to see how your year unfolds…

29.March.2016

Wow! Congrats on the pay-off. I had no clue you guys were a YNAB family. How long have you been using it?

I started YNAB in Jan. 2014 and it’s promptly helped me pay off my undergrad debt and save for a rainy day & retirement. I *love* it. I’m 26 and just decided yesterday that saving for a down payment is gonna be my next goal. :)

Love your blog as always, Dana!

29.March.2016

Wow, you’re an inspiration! So many good lessons and worthy goals for me (a single 30-year-old) to consider. Congratulations and thanks for sharing!

29.March.2016

CONGRATULATIONS!!! This is such a major accomplishment for your family! My husband and I are focusing more on making our money “work for us” by paying off debt and investing more wisely. Your accomplishment definitely inspires me to stick with it!

29.March.2016

Congratulations on being able to “burn the mortgage”! Isn’t it a wonderful feeling? Especially when you realize that many many people will never, ever be able to do it or even consider it an option… We paid ours off about 10 years ago and it was so. much. FUN. I hope you enjoy your major accomplishment; it did take an amazing amount of hard work and dedication. Again, congrats to all!

29.March.2016

So, one of the reasons my husband and I aren’t worried about our mortgage is that the interest is tax deductible. Was this ever a consideration? Everyone’s situation is different, just curious.

Aside: Well done you guys for being so responsible! As long as we don’t go crazy we’ll be debt free (except our mortgage) in 2-3 years. It’s oddly fun to work towards.

29.March.2016

WOW! that’s incredible news! i can’t believe you guys paid off your house so quickly! i’ve been trying to throw extra money at my mortgage when i can, but it’s hard to be that disciplined when my list of projects continues to grow. i feel like i’m always saving for my next mini-renovation.

Wow! Congratulations! That is wonderful for you and I’m sure an amazing feeling! Especially with your kids still so young and knowing you can save for those things like braces, lacrosse, dance or whatever it may be they want to explore or desire, as well as offer opportunity for yourselves.

We also bought our house in 2011 and are also 37 years old, but it was our first house together, (having gotten started and married a bit later in life that you both). We work hard to achieve similar budgeting goals than you and are hopeful we’ll have the house paid off by 55. We have a lot of projects done, but the bathroom addition/renovation we recently completed was by far the most expensive. Hopefully we don’t get any other big curve balls and can reach our goal too!

29.March.2016

Congratulations!! As someone who just bought their first home 1 year ago, I envy your new-found financial freedom :) My husband and I have started YNAB (for real this time!) so that we can better track our dollars. With a mortgage, major student loans and a kid in daycare, we have a lot on our plate. I am struggling with it more than he is as I’ve always been debt free outside of car payments whereas he’s used to dealing with such large sums of money going out the door. I can’t wait for the day that we finish paying off our loans!

29.March.2016

Congrats, Dana! I can only imagine how GREAT it must feel be to be mortgage-free, and living in a beautiful home that you and Steve created with 3 healthy, adorable children and your adopted feline. You are living the life. :) Enjoy!

29.March.2016

So happy for you. We started with this plan and the recession of 2008 just killed it. Not sure we will every recover fully. You give me hope it is possible.

29.March.2016

You deserve a round of applause-way to have your shit together! Looking forward to reading along with all your new adventures. You should definitely do Portland, it is funky and people are really friendly. Stop by Dicks kitchen, good wholesome burgers, Paleo friendly. That rental is amazing! There are like 2 whole city blocks dedicated to food carts, so there’s that right there. And the redwoods are so beautiful and humbling. We just got back from a Seattle to LA roadtrip and those were 2 of our favorite stops along the way. Cheers to your new beginnings!

29.March.2016

Wow, what an amazing accomplishment! I’m working on paying my home off as well. I bought 8 yrs ago and had a 30 year mortgage. I refinanced to a 15 year two years ago and just this month I was able to start to add extra to the principal. I’m hoping to be mortgage free in 8 years, if not sooner.

29.March.2016

Congratulations on the mortgage payoff! That is awesome!

We’ve been using YNAB for years, since it was a spreadsheet. It has been THE reason we’re financially OK through the ups and downs in life. 5 years ago we were doing amazing financially, but life keeps hitting us *hard* ($5,000 in unexpected medical bills in January, anyone? On top of our dead air conditioner that will need to be addressed before the summer hits.), but when you can see exactly how much money you have moving in and out it’s so easy to move things where they need to go. So yeah, go YNAB!

I think you should open an online design business, as I am having a horrible time figuring out what to do with my windows and could use some help. Then again, I’m still fighting though the medical expenses and have that HVAC to get done, so maybe paying for design help isn’t the best decision I could make right now :)

Congrats! We are on a similar trajectory and got a 10 year mortgage on our house instead of the traditional 30. It has everything we need and we’ll be free that much sooner!

29.March.2016

Congratulations! What a milestone! I’m so glad that even though your house is pretty much done and you have paid it off you still plan on blogging. I am excited to see what your next plans are!

29.March.2016

BRAVO!!! I think it is absolutely amazing at what you’ve accomplished! Your family is blessed that you now have the freedom financially to be able to do what you want to! Congrats!

29.March.2016

Congratulations!!!! So refreshing to hear a story about financial responsibility!

Our house in Dayton will be sold in a couple weeks but when we were there I frequently house hunted in the “O”!neighborhood :)

We are already big fans of YNAB around here!

29.March.2016

What a feat you guys! Way to go. I should be so lucky but the Vancouver real estate prices are a gong show, so we will have a mortgage forever!!!!!

29.March.2016

This is absolutely amazing, a crazy goal accomplished, and I wish you all the best in the future! WOW! We are currently debt free other than our mortgage (we just built a house) but my dream is to pay as if we have a 15 year mortgage in 2017 and possibly have it paid off in 12 years and then build again! This is a BIG goal and i’m not sure it’s attainable but I’m at least going to try! Have fun saving, spending or whatever you decide to do with your extra income!

29.March.2016

I’m all for pretty windows but, YES!, only after all other necessary finances are in order!

29.March.2016

That’s awesome, Renee!

29.March.2016

Congratulations! What an amazing accomplishment!
We hit that goal recently as well. Ages 34&36. It feels so good. We did add back in vacationing to our budget but otherwise our mortgage payment is now allocated to retirement and college funds. So while it doesn’t effect our monthly living, its the most amazing mental break ever!

29.March.2016

Thanks for all the recs! Portland is officially on our to-see list for 2017.

29.March.2016

The life we have built here feels pretty good. Thanks Brenda!

29.March.2016

Good point, Erin. Thanks for the feedback. Mind if I pass along your comment to YNAB?

29.March.2016

No mortgage, no student loans over here! It feels amazing!!

29.March.2016

Congratulations! What a wonderful goal to accomplish, and example to set for your children! This is why I read your blog. We need more blogs out there that share this message instead of a message of “Buy all the pretty things!!!!”

29.March.2016

I am just floored and honestly verklempt over here! I can’t believe you guys did it! (I mean, actually, really, I can totally believe that YOU would be the ones to actually do it, but still…)

I feel so shackled to our house, but I’m grateful that we have no student debt and are down to one car payment. We are terrible budgeters and even though we have gotten better about always having a bit stashed away, we tend to be cash poor.

I can’t WAIT to see what you guys do! I vote camper but I’m sure any/all of the above will be amazing.

29.March.2016

You did it!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m so excited for you guys!!!!!!

29.March.2016

Congratulations! Paying off your house is the best feeling. We’re in our mid-thirties and paid our house off about 2 years ago and it was seriously the best experience! We took our whole family to the bank with us and made a big deal out of it, hoping it would be impactful for our kids. It CAN be done! We have 7 children, braces, and all kinds of real-life happening, but it CAN be done. And you can still save for your kids college funds! It takes hard work and sacrifice. Thanks for your inspiring example!

29.March.2016

This is the first comment I’ve ever posted on a blog, but I just had to say Congratulations on such a huge accomplishment. My husband and I are also big savers, and I admire your efforts and goals. It is a huge reason why I love your blog. Thank you for continually sharing your story.

29.March.2016

Oh man, this was a sponsored post! It really snuck up on me this time. I usually don’t mind them. But I would be WAYYYYYYYY more interested in more details about your budgeting since you accomplished an impressive goal without YNAB’s help .It’s a decent app, but it’s not magic or that intuitive. I have never both enjoyed a post or been so disappointed in a post of yours before. Real highs and lows here.

29.March.2016

I think YNAB actually pushes you to manually enter transactions to make you more aware of where your money is going. They do have a sync option, but it’s almost as much work to use it as it is to not. I did their free trial but it didn’t really work for my family.

29.March.2016

Your story is so inspiring to me! I have been mulling over the idea of living BENEATH our means for years, but it’s never morphed into any action steps. Thanks for sharing about your own goals and what it took to accomplish them.

29.March.2016

These were each of my thoughts exactly, just substitute [Miami] for [Vancouver]. Congrats to you guys! So inspirational that you’ve got us pondering a relocation to the midwest! :)

29.March.2016

I vote camper!! Just imagine the possibilities of tweaking one (IKEA camper kitchen anyone??) we are saving for a house and paying down student loans but own both our cars and actually have savings and retirement plans which feels good for this girl who decided 20 would be a good time to get $10k of credit card debt (which I’ve since paid off). It does seem like paying things off is so far away but I think we just have to be persistent and more purposeful with our spending. Congrats though you guys! That’s so exciting to be financially free!

29.March.2016

You lose a dollar to the bank for every quarter you get back in the tax refund. It’s way better financially to be mortgage free.

29.March.2016

You can donate to charity the amount you’d give to the bank in mortgage interest and receive the same tax deduction!

29.March.2016

Believe me, there are times I dream of living somewhere trendier, artsier, WARMER, whathaveyou, etc. But living in the midwest does have its perks and it’s been a wonderful place to raise our kids so far. Great schools, minimal traffic, affordable cost of living, lots of parks.

29.March.2016

Congratulations! You’ve obviously worked and planned very hard to hit this milestone and build the life you have. I don’t want to be negative, but I hope you realize that part of your good fortune is…fortune. Luck. There are so many people that work just as hard and might never have the opportunity of an education, home ownership or even a savings account. I love that you mentioned the possibility of donating more of your income to charity. Good for you. It shows a gratitude towards the community and world that helped get you where you are.

29.March.2016

I’ve been a follower of the Dave Ramsey plan for 10 years! Consumer/student loan debt paid off before I turned 30 and my mortgage paid off in 2010 at 33, plus 100K in the bank to upgrade my house with cash! All while single! You will enjoy the Peace like no other! Give and Live like no one else!

29.March.2016

Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover – the baby steps to being debt free! Changed everything about how I manage my money.

29.March.2016

yes, yes, yes! Thank you for sharing your financial journey and congratulations on being mortgage free! I really appreciate your honest approach to life and finances. I also vote camper! Seems like that would satisfy a few of the dreams: it’s a small-scale fixer-upper and would allow for very cool travel opportunities on a budget with the whole family. Sigh, you’re living the dream.

29.March.2016

By far, our biggest step to becoming mortgage-free was downsizing to a house that cost waaayyyyyy less than what we were pre-approved to buy. (We were already free of school loan and auto loan debt by that point.) That freed up a bunch of income for us to pay down the principal. Renovating a smaller house is much cheaper, too, just due to less square footage. I don’t think YNAB is magic, but it might be helpful to someone who has trouble “seeing” where their money is going. After using it for while and making some spending/saving changes, they may decide it’s no longer necessary. Or maybe they use it to focus on one big goal and then once the goal is reached, move on to something else. It’s just an offer, no need to try it if you don’t want to.

29.March.2016

WOW! WHAT AN AWESOME POST! MY HUSBAND AND I WILL BE LOOKING FOR A HOUSE/CONDO NEXT YEAR OR SO AND THAT WILL BE OUR ONLY DEBT. I’M PAYING OFF MY STUDENT LOAN IN ONE SWOOP! WE WILL BE DONE WITH OUR CARS NEXT YEAR. WE REFUSE TO BUY UNTIL OUR CARS ARE PAID OFF. OTHER THAN THAT, WE WILL BE GOLDEN. IT’S AN AMAZING FEELING SO I BET BEING MORTGAGE FREE WILL BE EVEN MORE AMAZING!! CAN’T WAIT!!! SO HAPPY FOR YOU TWO! YOU SET AN AMAZING EXAMPLE FOR OUR YOUNGER GENERATION.

XOXO
ANGELICA

29.March.2016

That’s so awesome! Steve was adamant about making an announcement to the kids after we made the last payment. He gathered them together and told them we had worked really hard and made some sacrifices to pay off the house and now we owned our house and not many people do that. They were like, “So, we’re buying another house?” They totally didn’t get it. It felt good, regardless. :)

29.March.2016

Thanks! :)

29.March.2016

Congrats! We’ve discovered that we really enjoy vacations (which is strange because I grew up not really going anywhere except my grandparents house in Florida) and would like to take more, too. So we’ll be budgeting for those but most likely we’ll be saving more too. After budgeting to pay off the mortgage for a while now, it’s almost a fun challenge to see how much (spending/loans) we can live without!

29.March.2016

If living the dream is getting lots of texts from your husband, “truck won’t start. come get me.” then we are doing it!! Ha! No, really, that does happen more often than we’d like but, man, car payments are THE WORST. I’d rather come pick him up from time to time. Those trips always turn into the best stories anyway.

29.March.2016

Yes! We honed in on that about 8 years ago (from the suggestion of a close friend) and it really jumped started the whole debt-free living thing for us.

29.March.2016

Live like no one else now, so you can live like no one else later ;)

29.March.2016

We completely realize that and take nothing for granted.

29.March.2016

This is absolutely incredible! We toy with the idea of selling our home and moving into something smaller but it is a family house and that makes it harder to do. I still look every day though. We are talking of taking our mortgage and switching it a 15 year. The idea of having it paid off before our kids leave for college is a big dream!

Thank you for writing this post! It is encouraging :)

29.March.2016

Congrats !!! My husband and I discovered Dave about a year ago and it’s completely changed our mindset about money and the life we want. We also have the goal to be debt/mortgage free by 40 (7 years to go). We started with $150,000 in student debt and car loans and a mortgage. But we’re chipping away each month.

Thank you for sharing your story! And knowing that’s you can make a beautiful home while on a tight budget and with the bigger financial goal in mind is such an inspiration.

Thank you again and so many congrats.

29.March.2016

***SUPER CONGRATULATIONS*** Knowing that others are living the best quality of life they can uplifts everybody. Thank you for the post!

29.March.2016

Hi Dana,
Congratulations on this huge milestone. I hope you celebrated and not by going toilet paper shopping. :)
My husband and I live up in Canada and we will have our home paid off Oct 2017. We are 28. We both came out of school with less than 5k in debt. We drive older vehicles and recently bought a rental property. We are kind of in the same boat where we bought a not so sought after home but because of its size. It’s small, but it’s less to clean and we are very close to work and city center. Everyone keeps saying we will need to get something bigger when we have kids but I’m thinking otherwise…we will see. Mostly I wanted to point any interested readers to http://www.mrmoneymustache.com he is a great resource for anyone looking to get out of debt and retire early. Him and his wife retired at 30 and now do whatever they want. I love it and I can’t get enough of his saucy blog posts. Anyway keep up the awesome blogging. I read every single post and I love your home.
Ali

29.March.2016

That is incredible!!! So glad for all of you!

29.March.2016

Congratulations! That is a huge accomplishment. I have been following your blog since you started renovation of Underdog and have appreciated your candid posts. I love talking about money and wish more people did so openly. I practiced bankruptcy law for a decade and saw so many sad stories. You never know what is going to happen in life: loss of a job, serious illness, death of a spouse–events which are hard enough without the accompanying financial ruin. I am so encouraged by all the previous comments from people in their 20s and 30s about budgeting and striving to be debt free. It is not fun or sexy, but it is totally worth it!

29.March.2016

Congratulations…that is fantastic news!

29.March.2016

Awe shucks I just signed up for YNAB last week therefore I guess I’m only getting 1 month free not 3 :( it’s really ok. I’m super stoked to give each dollar a job that is gonna be most helpful reaching my savings goals. My income varies so much month to month so I’ve always been nervous to set up a budget but YNAB seems and feels different for some reason. So excited to give this a whirl. Congrats to you guys as always you are an inspiration.

29.March.2016

Congratulations! What an accomplishment! I can’t wait to see what you do next.

Your posts about downsizing and living with less are some of my favorites as those are philosophies my family and I also live by. I love reading about how other people do it and picking up new tips and ideas. Thanks for the inspiration!

29.March.2016

I agree! Amen!! Congratulations and thank you for the reminder about responsibility in your posts!

29.March.2016

That is so inspiring, congrats!

29.March.2016

Congrats! I look forward to accomplishing this one day, too. Right now I am hacking away at our last (of eight) student loans which I hope to pay off by the end of the year. We will still have a mortgage and one car loan, but man, these student loans have been hanging over our heads for twelve years and it will feel so good to say goodbye for good!

29.March.2016

This is so awesome and inspiring because I don’t think a lot of people our age truly have a debt free goal (or at least in my circle)! We’re on this journey of school loan and mortgage- free living also, paying cash for our reno, and also trying to furnish our home (we literally sold everything when my husband went back to grad school), my income is also going into our retirement/savings so we’re just on my husbands income- similar to what you mentioned. So my Q for you: how did you furnish your home? I feel like to pay off debt fast, we literally have to put all our extra money into it. I have this burning desire to decorate and furnish but then even with a monthly budget for that, it seems like it’s going to take forever to have it looking the way we want it to. Hope that makes sense! :)

29.March.2016

Congrats! That’s an awesome goal to reach. Can’t wait to see where the journey takes you!

29.March.2016

Such wonderful news! Congratulations Dana, Steve, and kiddo’s ! very well spent!

29.March.2016

Congrats! I have been a long time reader of your blog and think the modest lifestyle is great. I try and live the same way as well. Question- not to get too personal but what are your views on saving for your children’s college educations? (Sorry if I missed a comment or post on this!) my brothers and I were blessed to have parents who both lived and raised us modestly as well and were smart enough to save for our college. Fortunately we were student loan free when graduating. Just curious to hear your thoughts. Thanks :)

30.March.2016

Beautifully succinct Sarah!

30.March.2016

Excellent work you two! And now for some unsolicited dental advice, or at least something to discuss. I was just talking to a friend whose daughter had braces put on and promptly ended up with five cavities for the first time ever. The teen years seem to be the years we put braces on our kids, (Americans see it as a badge of good parenting I think). It is also the time they are separating from parents and all of the extra care that needs to go into tooth care combined with reminders from mom just seemed to be a challenge for this girl. It might be a better project for a young adult who can really commit to the extra work.

30.March.2016

so have you gotten into financial independence blogs yet? you guys would fit right in! here are some of the favorites I geek out to:
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/
jlcollinsnh.com/stock-series/
http://www.madfientist.com/archives/
real estate focus:
http://www.affordanything.com
http://www.biggerpockets.com

30.March.2016

Congrats! I was wondering about your take on college funding for children. Did you save for your kids’ college? I’ve just read Dave Ramsey’s 7 Baby Steps and Step 5 was College Funding for Children and Step 6 was Pay Off Home Early. While we didn’t follow Dave’s steps to a T, we have only brought one year worth of credits for each child (we have 2) and I am debating whether or not to save for college or to pay off our house. Love to hear your thoughts!

30.March.2016

Congratulations- that’s a HUGE accomplishment! I’ve read that 7/10 American families live paycheck to paycheck. It’s families like yours that show there’s an alternative, and I hope you continue to post about your mortgage-free adventures.
My parents paid off their mortgage when I was in high school, and they were then able to pay college tuition for my brother and me. That was a huge blessing to me- starting real life as a teacher (making 25k per year) debt-free. My husband and I have the same goal- pay off our mortgage before our daughter goes to college. She just turned two, so I’m confident we’ll reach our goal. :)

30.March.2016

I just got pulled over yesterday for a loud exhaust (I didn’t even know that was a thing that could get you stopped). I drive the 2003 Subaru we purchased from my mother-in-law and have been thinking of upgrading to something that would equal car payment. Not anymore! I’ll go get that exhaust fixed and proudly cruise around town in my old a$$ car :) Thanks for the inspiration and a huge congrats to you guys on a monumental goal achievement!

30.March.2016

Congrats!! So awesome. I just want to know if you are going to go scream on Dave Ramsey’s show? (:
My husband and I just refinanced to a 15 year note and are renovating our house right now. We’ve followed Dave’s plan for about 5 years. Started it when our 2nd child was 1. My husband worked an extra job and we paid of our consumer debt in 6 months (we owed about 26k). After 2 more babies, the sale of a business and many other things in life…we are starting to work towards paying off the house early. You guys are inspiring to just keep on plugging away! Can’t wait to see what you guys decide to do! Love your blog as always!!

30.March.2016

This is so inspiring to read. I hope to make such an announcement some day, although I’m headed in the wrong direction with purchasing a new home in the next month :) Paying down our debt will be a huge priority for our family with this new move.

30.March.2016

Hey! This is such an inspiring post! My husband and I decided to buy a small house in the “downtown” area of our town. It is such a manageable price for us and makes us comfortable in other aspects of our daily lives (splurging on shopping at the butcher, some locals travel, donating to charity) lots of people thought that it was little too small, not enough storage among other things but we are making it our own. We even manage to put extra payments on and have done a stellar job in just a couple of years. But thank you for this, this will help push us to setting a deadline :)

30.March.2016

Agreed! Most home or style blogs – by nature – are extremely materialistic.
This one manages to be interesting AND stylish, without being a sucker for the viscous cycle of trends, and perpetual buying of “stuff”.

Congratulations to this family!
It’s such a great feeling to create and enjoy a life that one is actually happy and completely satisfied with.

30.March.2016

The old YNAB was a manual import. The new one has an automatic sync, I don’t know if they work with smaller banks.

30.March.2016

I love YNAB!!! We have been using it off and on for about 3years!!

30.March.2016

Wow congrats on being mortgage free. I think it’s one of the best achievement in finance you can get.

30.March.2016

Congratulations! My husband and I are always talking about your blog. We have a very similar looking house, and are always looking to your experiences as guidance! Yesterday I told him, “Housetweaking paid off their mortgage!!”

Have you seen the shade sails at Costco? They were there last week, 13 feet triangles for $20!! The price is ridiculous if you can install yourself! Not sure how they compare to the professional ones, but for the price, worth a try!

30.March.2016

Save and pay cash for the car. I have never had a car payment because I buy it with cash.

30.March.2016

Good for you. I hope you choose wisely when you divert the funds. Your forever home? Rental properties to support you in retirement? College funds? Retirement? We own two houses out right and are working on a third one.

30.March.2016

Congratulations! What an incredible accomplishment. Not owing anyone anything is the greatest feeling. Many people will never know the joy of living in a paid for home, or at least not until they’re too old to enjoy the freedom it allows. You are setting a tremendous example for your kids, too.

I’ve been using YNAB for a few months now and LOVE it. I was using Mint before and found it too inflexible. Have you heard of Mr Money Mustache? He’s like Dave Ramsey on steroids and without all the religion. I’m a steadfast follower of both. My goal is to be financially independent by 40, which sounds a lot sooner now that I’m 30. Haha

Thanks for sharing your journey with us all!

30.March.2016

I grew up in a blue collar household and was the first in my family to go to college. My parents are high school dropouts and have stayed in the lower middle class income bracket their entire lives, struggling at times to get by. I am blessed to be able to accomplish things that I could not have even dreamed of as a child growing up with a lot of income insecurity in the air I breathed. Fast forward to age 47, and I am living a life that was once inconcievable. I was able to put myself through college and grad school and paid off all student loans years ago. I worked in the public school system for 12 years until I could get the guts to break free from what felt like a soul sucking job that provided a predictable paycheck and health insurance, which is the most I hoped for at an earlier point in life, before I found the courage to challenge the restrictive financial narrative that I lived by. Meeting and marrying my partner of 10 years made it possible for me to leave that dreadful job and open my own private therapy practice that has boomed in two short years. I do not subscribe to the puritan work ethic, detest getting up early, and want to be able to take time off whenever I choose. So, being my own boss and setting my own schedule is perfect. I work 25 hours/week doing something I truly love and find rewarding. I came into my relationship with a small home in a VERY HOT neighborhood in Nashville. My partner, luckily, lived only 5 minutes away in the very same neighborhood, and her house was a better fit for us, so I moved in and rented out my house. This has allowed me to pay down my mortgage and am three years shy of paying it off, at which point it will produce nothing but very positive cash flow going forward. I see it as my retirement, though I do save a bit every month in an IRA. We will have the home we live in paid off in 7 years, so will be totally mortgage free, owning two homes outright in East Nashville. If you know anything about Music City, you know this this is truly a blessing given real estate prices here. We recently finished a kitchen remodel (IKEA), which will be paid off in August, and I need a new (used) car, which we will pay off in two years. After that, our next plan is to add a small addition in order to have a true master suite. After that, it’s on to building a screened in porch and detached garage. If we saved to pay cash up front for these projects, we would be foregoing many years of use, so are opting to use a HELOC to fund these projects along the way. Once my house is paid off in three years, we will be able to up the payment on the HELOC to 2k/month, which will allow us to be totally debt free, living in our dream home, in our dream neighborhood, working at our dream jobs, and taking dream vacations within 8 years. When I think about this, it blows my mind. I feel so blessed. Being DINK’s certainly makes it easier. Having what can only be described as good luck along the way has also helped. Getting our houses when and where we did, finding the right mentor who nudged me into a new career, getting a small inheritance that allowed me to pay off student loans early are all examples of that luck. Also, living pretty frugally helps, too. We both drive cars with 150,000k miles on them, our houses are small (but sweet), and neither of us have cloth or shoe fetishes. I will indulge myself in an Eames Lounger, though, once everything else is paid off:)
I was inspired when I read your blog to actually map out our financial future, and I see that it is much brighter than I had even dared to think. I am not trying to gloat or “rub it in”. I am just sharing a story of how 2 women from very modest means will be able to live the dream, and be income secure in a few short years (barring anything unforeseen – knock on wood). Thanks for sharing your story, and allowing me to share mine.

30.March.2016

Well done! So many people are focussed on do it all and have it all . What a refreshing change. Your house is so lovely and really proves you can gave the best of both worlds.

30.March.2016

Agreed, more blogs with the less = more approach would be awesome. Congratulations Dana, how thrilling!

30.March.2016

Congratulations Dana, what an accomplishment!

30.March.2016

We have very similar backgrounds! Congrats to you and your partner on what looks to be a very happy, debt-free future in your dream neighborhood!!! That’s amazing. Thanks for sharing your story :)

30.March.2016

I will have to check out this Mr. Money Mustache! We loosely followed Dave Ramsey’s financial (not religious) advice…he’s what got our debt-free ball rolling several years ago.

30.March.2016

Ah, thanks for this! We bought and painted the poles over the winter (in the garage) and are itching to install them and hang some shades this summer. I’ll have to check them out.

30.March.2016

And I forgot to also share a heartfelt congratulations to you. I can only imagine that it feels like being on cloud 9. I also echo what others have said . . . reno an RV or camper. Additionally, you have such a great aesthetic that it seems really doable to translate that into an online consulting/designing gig, kind of like the YoungHouseLovers used to do. I know I will need some help sourcing items and pulling my thoughts together as we get ready to break ground on the addition in a few years. I would certainly consider calling on you for help if you offered such a service.

Again, just bravo.

30.March.2016

Oh my goodness! Thank you for these!!!! Falling down the rabbit hole…

30.March.2016

Congrats!!! I just paid off my first house a year ago this Feb at the age of 31. I know its not my forever house but I plan on staying here for a while and enjoying it, savoring having a full paycheck that is really truly mine. And in the mean time, save for the next (Larger) home which hopefully I will be able to pay for in full :)

30.March.2016

I vote come to New Zealand!!! If you need a place to stay…. ☺

Congratulations on this milestone.

We became mortgage free by 33 by really focusing on a budget and buying the cheapest wee two bedroom we could. When baby #2 (“surprise!!”) came along we needed a bigger, more family friendly, home. Like you, we went for the worst house on the street. This meant we could be mortgage free from day one and diy/save for renovations. It’s pretty slow going, but has it’s benefits – when I stopped work to be a stay at home mum, not having to worry about mortgage repayments was AWESOME.

If you’re after some inspiration and ideas, I recommend MrMoneyMoustache. Hilarious reading.

31.March.2016

Buying below our means not only allowed us to throw more money at the mortgage but to invest in materials and pieces we love. We bought these pieces slowly over a few years, using handmedowns as placeholders here and there, selling items from our previous larger home that we no longer had space for and using that money to buy fewer but higher quality items as we could afford them. Higher quality doesn’t always equate to a higher price tag. I bought many vintage items from craigslist, etsy and ebay which was cheaper than buying new and gave us the cozy, comfy vibe we were after. IKEA has been a great source as well, especially for the kids’ rooms. We bought all the tongue and groove for the vaulted ceilings from a local overstock warehouse for crazy cheap. We liked the look of it so much we ended up using it for wainscoting in the mudroom, a planked TV wall and for a backsplash in the kitchen office. Repeating the tongue and groove not only saved us money, but provided some cohesion between adjacent spaces. If we couldn’t afford an item or were having trouble finding exactly what we wanted, often times we just held out. Having a home-related blog also provided some opportunity. The gray chair in the living room was won from an Apartment Therapy contest I entered. The bench at the foot of our bed was acquired in collaboration with Rove Concepts. (I’ve always noted when items were given to us.) These items are in line with our aesthetic and budget and only make up 5-10% of our home’s decor, but I would feel dishonest not mentioning them here. In general, downsizing from >2,700 sq ft to <1,700 sq ft provided a great opportunity to really hone in on our aesthetic. When you have less square footage to renovate and decorate, that alone stretches the budget so much farther!

I know from the before-and-afters it looks like our home was renovated and decorated overnight, but please remember it took us five years to get where we are today...furniture and all. For me, when we first moved in, the most important thing was to create a functional space that worked for everyday life. Some of our first projects after moving in were installing interior doors and adding closet organization. The decorating came afterwards. We often worked room-to-room, too, as we found it was easier to focus (mentally, physically and financially) on one space at a time. Starting with smaller areas (like the nursery, closets, etc.) gave us confidence to move on to larger rooms. Selling off multiple unwanted/unnecessary items and using that money to put towards one awesome piece is something we've done over and over. I think the takeaway is that these things take time and that's okay. If you have some extra money to invest in a piece you REALLY want that will make your everyday happier/easier/more beautiful, I say go for it as long as it has staying power. And maybe start out by focusing on acquiring specific items versus decorating entire rooms - although you should have a good idea of what the room's ultimate design will be.

Sorry, that was a very winded, jumbled reply but hopefully it gives you some ideas.

31.March.2016

Good for you!!!!

31.March.2016

Whoo hoo!! Sometimes living below one’s means can feel like a lonely journey, so thank you so much for sharing your story. Plus, ten cheers for YNAB!! We’ve been using it for three years and didn’t think we could love it any more than we already did…until the new version came out this year :) Having the right tools for the journey makes all the difference!

31.March.2016

I agree! Some of us are very blessed to have health and a sound mind. I totally agree that someone with impaired health or an impaired mind does not have the same footing to have certain successes.

However, I would not like to take this concept too far. Even the single mom with a rough background with four children has been able to financially succeed *with choices she has made.* You can ask Dave Ramsey followers what sacrifices they have chosen to take. The single mom might choose to not subscribe to cable TV! The single mom might choose to learn car repair and plumbing techniques to DIY! The single mom might buy her and her childrens’ clothes second-hand! The single mom might arrange to take college courses to improve her education and employability!

Some choices that I personally make are to clip coupons, use cloth diapers, drive an old car, skip manicures, skip makeup, and plan meals carefully to save money. Those choices allow me to have more money at the end of the month and put the money into a savings account.

I would ask people to consider making similar sacrifices before chalking their situation up to luck. These sacrifices are my choice.

31.March.2016

Congrats! You have done an amazing job. . .I have enjoyed watching you take your house that many people would not have given a second glance and turned it into a dream home. Enjoy being debt free!

31.March.2016

Congratulations! Love hearing your story. We’d love to be mortgage free by 40 too. Feels like a lot to pay off, but we are finally both on board with the idea which is important. I’d love to hear more posts about simple living financial freedom. Thanks.

31.March.2016

Dana, how exciting! My fiance and I are just now getting serious about our house search and I found this post really inspiring. We were even looking for an “Underdog” in the house listings online last night :) You may have shared this before, but if not, would you mind sharing the square footage of your place? We are really interesting in learning about the types of things you can do with all different sized places. I happen to be obsessed with tiny homes, but don’t think we’ll go in that direction for our first house haha

31.March.2016

Our home is between 1,600 and 1,700 square feet with 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths. Hope that helps!

31.March.2016

Wow!! Congratulations, that is fantastic! House prices where I live (Brisbane, Australia) are ridiculously high, and we’re struggling to save a 20% deposit just to GET a mortgage, let alone pay one off! I vote for the campervan trip and New Zealand – you can always buy a new house and fix it up, but these years with your kids are precious and fleeting and the memories would be priceless. Plus I would love to see how you fix up a caravan!
Kylie x

31.March.2016

Oooohhh my goodness! I love h*t and I really love YNAB! Congrats on being mortgage free!!! That is an incredible feat, especially three years early. Your blog is inspirational in a whole new way knowing that you guys have that gorgeous house DEBT FREE!!!

01.April.2016

Dana,

I’m very proud of you and your family. My husband inherited his dad’s small (bungalow) five years ago and after paying his two sisters 1/3 of what the house was accessed at we are totally mortgage free now. I do like to entertain and it’s tough not being able to do it the way I’d like but we will make a few renovations in a few years when we have more income streams. I cannot complain: no mortgage and we both retired early (we’re 57). When some household item breaks I head to the thrift store. I rarely buy clothes but I’m often complimented on the way I dress. We cook at home most of the time. I have so much and I KNOW I’m blessed. We help out our friends with rides to the airport, babysit when needed, and offer other services to family and friends. I volunteer as well. Life is good.

01.April.2016

First-time commenter, but just had to say CONGRATULATIONS! I agree with you re: mortgage-free vs mortgage. Unless you are super good at investing, makes a lot of sense to be mortgage-free. Plus, it is SO MUCH BETTER for peace of mind to know that NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, the house is yours. My husband and I made it a goal to become mortgage-free once we had our kids, and it is the best thing we have ever done to our lives (except for of course, marrying each other and having the kids in the first place…) We did it pretty similar to you guys – bought a just-right house in a modest but respectable area. Also second the Mr Money Mustache recommendation for budgeting tips. Root of Good guy is also pretty good for ideas on how to live the mortgage-free life http://rootofgood.com/

[…] mortgage free by 37. i wish! […]

01.April.2016

Yes! So happy to see other folks following this plan. Also, my hubs and I have been using YNAB for several months now and we are hooked! We’ll use it forever if we can. It actually makes bugeting pretty fun. =)

01.April.2016

Congratulations on paying off your mortgage! I wish you the best as you continue to work on your goals, financial and otherwise. I’m dying to know what you have in mind for your “forever home”, though I suspect it’s most practical for you to wait before moving on to that journey. :)

01.April.2016

I did a little dance when I saw this post and exclaimed to my husband, “Housetweaking paid off their house!” Haha. Amazing news and CONGRATS DANA AND STEVE!

My favorite part of your story is how you chose to both downsize AND become a work-at-home-mom AND still manage to pay off the mortgage so quickly. We follow Dave Ramsey and are debt- and mortgage-free, but we are also child-free. It is great to read your story and have an idea of what this lifestyle might look like for us a few years down the road!

Also, isn’t it amazing how every little choice you make daily can add up to reaching such a huge goal?! If you’re willing to share I’d be excited to read more about the day-to-day of how you guys reached this big goal.

01.April.2016

Boy do I agree with you Sue. Very well said.

01.April.2016

Congrats! Now go have a great vacation.

03.April.2016

Congratulations on accomplishing your goal, especially as a young family! We’re in California (in a nice city) where our mortgage and property taxes (taxes alone are $10k annually) seem to make that so challenging. We are in year 11 of our home-loan…not sure what we can do to try and pay off earlier, but would love to! One question: I’d heard that it is not “worth” paying off your mortgage completely while you’re young because of loss of write-offs and tax brackets…it made sense to me but I’m second-guessing it now, any ideas?

03.April.2016

Congratulations! You’ve definitely been very inspirational for me.

03.April.2016

We start DR’s FPU class tomorrow night with my parents too! We are so fired up to pay cash for my husband’s last year of school and hammer out the rest of our loans wishing the first year of his new career. Sick of being in debt. This post came just at the right time. I would normally have felt envy or jealousy about someone posting something like this but I am truly inspired and in awe. I hope you call and do your debt free scream and we will all cheer you on. Congrats!

04.April.2016

What a great post and celebratory occasion! Awesome Dana and Steve!!!
I loved reading this!

05.April.2016

I’ve always wondered this when I’d hear about families that like to take vacations, but…

How can you (or in your case, your husband) get away from work enough to do that? Maybe it depends on the field, but my husband is lucky to get two weeks a year, if that, which includes sick days. Though it depends on the job… he’s in IT, and when he was IT support for a university he had a good portion of the summer off, too. But for a corporation, no way.

06.April.2016

I would secretly love to know what everyone’s mortgages were/are ;) I have a feeling American house prices are way different to Aussie house prices. But this post has seriously inspired me. Like i know want to pay off my house within 3 years. I’m going to talk to hubby tonight!

08.April.2016

This was great to read. I just discovered your blog. I am going to share it with my husband. When we found out I was pregnant last year our number one priority was to get out of debt before the baby came. Well as much as possible. We already budgeted but we had some debt, school, some credit and our home to try and tick away at. Well Jett came and we made some huge progress while still being able to prepare for a baby. We were proud. Well at the end of December when Jett was four months our home completely flooded in that Midwest flooding. Now all of our budget is on hold. It stinks because ever penny is going to rebuilding and replacing all of stuff. Anyways your post just spoke to me we will get back on track once we have our home back but we cant wait to get there. Hopefully we will be able to move back in to our top floor in a few weeks is the goal ready to be out of the parents basement. Congrats tho we hope to get there as well on day.

11.April.2016

Congratulations! What an accomplishment.

We have a mortgage and credit card debt and even one more school loan. It can be stressful and I have always worried about it.

Along with our 2 teenagers we have touched the stones at Stonehenge, been at the top of the Eifel Tower and walks the streets of Pompei. They have swam in the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Gulf of Mexico and the Mediterranean. They have played expensive club sports. We have made incredible family memories. I save for years for all of our trips.

Last year I got breast cancer at age 43. Fortunately, an early stage but I still have no energy from surgery and radiation. I don’t worry about our debt anymore because I realize that I could have a paid off house and more money in the bank (we have a large retirement account anyways) but if I would have been given a terminal diagnosis that I would have never had time or energy for all of those things I was saving for…

We never know what is going to happen.

11.April.2016

Thanks for sharing, Kat. The images of your family (well, I don’t really know what you look like, but I’m using my imagination here) experiencing so many different places makes me smile. Send lots of healthy vibes your way!

11.April.2016

I’m so sorry to hear about your home being flooded. Best wishes for a speedy reno.

11.April.2016

Steve has been with the same company since he graduated from college, so he has accrued a few weeks of vacation which he must “use or lose” each year. Additionally, the company is unique in that they shut down for two weeks at the end of each year. He gets that time off and it’s usually spent visiting our families which can be extremely hectic and feels nothing like a vacation. (Last year, he had 14 days off at the end of the year and we only had TWO days free that weren’t planned for us.) This year, we’re taking advantage of that time off and traveling! Also, the company wasn’t in a financial position to offer bonuses this year, so they handed out extra vacation time instead. Cash would have been nice, but more time together sounds good too. Steve works long hours during the week (typically 10-12 hour days) and often works from home on the weekends to get a head start on the coming week. He travels out of state (and sometimes internationally) for work frequently as well. I don’t know that we could ever vacation for more than two weeks at a time, but it sure would be nice.

12.April.2016

I guess it just depends on the job, then. Thanks for satiating my curiosity! :)

13.April.2016

Congratulations! I have to say that while I really enjoy your design/decor posts, this was one of my fav posts of yours. But, like another reader noted, I think you have only scratched the surface here of how you accomplished this great feat, and I for one would love to hear more (by the number of comments I would say many of us would). I think another post is in order. For example, I am so curious to know how you prioritized your savings. Many articles are written about choosing to pay down the mortgage versus investing in retirement, since not many can afford both options. Did you prioritize mortgage over savings? Did you still do savings but a smaller percentage? Also, what kinds of things (besides vehicles) did you sacrifice? Do you make conscious attempts to eat at home, to keep materialistic things in check, to put limits on gifts, etc? Inquiring minds would like to know.

13.April.2016

I’m thinking the same thing Samantha. Where I live in Canada there is no way you would ever find a detached home under 100,000. In Toronto, the average detached home now sells for over 1 million. I live in the outskirts, but still, the prices are exorbitant.

13.April.2016

Great idea for a future post! Adding it to the list!!

14.April.2016

I love that you included that we should all get rid of our addiction to stuff. Many people wouldn’t say that this was a goal that everyone should have, but I think it is! It’s our addiction to stuff that gets us in financial trouble in the first place!

Reply

13.July.2016

Congratulations! I can only imagine how being mortgage free feels! Im so glad I found this post because my husband and I have been diligently paying off all our debt for what seems like ages before we allow ourselves to buy a house and I sometimes feel impatient and discouraged. Some days I just want to get a huge mortgage and get my dream home. Seeing that someone who is financially responsible while having a beautiful home (that didn’t happen over-night) gives me hope. Thanks for posting!

23.January.2017

Our family has tried several budgeting approaches over the years (spreadsheets, mint, quicken) and none of them have worked as well as YNAB. Most budgeting approaches you make a plan and then life happens and then retrospectively you beat yourself up for not following the plan perfectly and make a plan for the next month. YNAB requires a little more conscientious effort through the month, but it actively affects our decisions. I like that YNAB makes me think in terms of trade-offs (I’m out of “dining out” money so if I still eat out for dinner we’ll have to rob our furniture or vacation budgets….not worth it, eating ramen tonight). Maybe it’s not for everyone, but it’s been a huge game changer for us.