Paid In Full

[mjarrels]

Citi finally sent the paperwork... My Mortgage is history! Nice refund of escrow funds too... 20 years early on a 30 year loan (house is 10 years old). Cars, trucks and tractors are all paid off... Still have money in the markets, another house paid off with a new standing seam roof, new septic system and oil heating system. I am going to plant a bigger garder this year than ever before... raised 10 X 12 is not going to cut it this year! Don't use the political words or this will be deleted... Just saying be prepared to feed and care for your family!

mark

 

[coobie]

Citi finally sent the paperwork... My Mortgage is history! Nice refund of escrow funds too... 20 years early on a 30 year loan (house is 10 years old). Cars, trucks and tractors are all paid off... Still have money in the markets, another house paid off with a new standing seam roof, new septic system and oil heating system. I am going to plant a bigger garder this year than ever before... raised 10 X 12 is not going to cut it this year! Don't use the political words or this will be deleted... Just saying be prepared to feed and care for your family!

mark

I say good for you and your family.This is the true american dream.coobie

 

[mjarrels]

Thanks Coobie... I'm 54 years old, Son is finishing up two years of college, getting ready for the next two years, wants to be a Navy pilot, College is paid for by family trust fund, sixteen year old daughter college fund is paid for by the same trust fund. Go Navy, I'm a retired Navy airdale (brown shoes rule).

mark

 

[2manyrocks]

Congrats!

 

[scoutcub]

mjarrels -

A hearty congrats from a fellow retired brownshoe!

Many thanks as well for your service to our great country, and the sacrifices you and your family made along the way to get you where you are.

BZ!!

(PS. You need a yellow tractor to round out the ensemble.)

 

[CATMAN]

Feels good doesn't it. I paid mine off in 10 years and 5 months back in Aug 2000 (put in lots of overtime). I figured it saved me over 100,000 in interest(verses 30 yrs). The extra income goes into retirement and savings now.

 

[chh]

Congrats!!! Debt free is great isn't it!

 

[JB4310]

Congratulations on paying off the mortgage and early to boot.

I hate paying interest, I payed off my first house early and at the closing when we sold it (by owner, no realtor) the lawyer for the buyer asks my lawyer for the disbursement paper or what ever they call the paper work that says where all the money is going, like real estate commissions, mortgage payoffs and equity to the sellers etc.
My lawyer said just make out the check for the full sale amount to my clients, the other side was a little surprised since we were still fairly young at the time.

As far as the garden goes, I am seriously considering making a good size garden myself this year, we haven't had one in over 5 years,
In Jinman's garden thread, I mentioned I was going to make a "victory Garden" myself, kinda inferring the tough times necessity of it. Been hearing alot of people talk about gardens.

JB.

 

[elalexander]

Atta Boy Mark.

 

[texasjohn]

congrats all the way around.... I'm also debt free and planting a large garden, first time in years... reason is obvious to me, some of y'all, too

 

[gc2310]

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It sure does feel good.

 

[Patriotic Stabilist]

We were fortunate enough to be able to pay cash for this house. But we always buy fixer uppers or foreclosures so this was no exception. It was an undesireable neighborhood when we bought it 17 years ago but like I told hubby the area had nowhere else to grow but out here. So about 6 years ago a new subdivison with acreage lots went in across from us, really bumped our property value. We have added on and upgraded a lot too, so ended up with a very nice house for very little money. All we have left to do, is to put in new kitchen cabinets, and redo our half bath to a full in our master. We will do it ourselves when he has the time. I honestly do not see how people save or even live with some of the house payments and property tax bills I hear about. But anyplace we bought we always hunkered down and paid it off in about 5 years, we just don't do debt.

We had talked about buying in the new subdivison, a brand new home is nice, but after we looked at the tax amounts decided to forget it. I want retirement to be about enjoyment and not worrying about how we are going to pay the property taxes on our house. So we ended up with the best of both worlds. Hope we can live here for a long time yet. We do realize in time though our physical abilities will decline and we will have to leave, but hoping to be here at least 10 more years, that will make us 73. Those years will fly by I fear. But his mom is in her 80's walks a mile or two everyday and still mows her lawn and drives, she also just fought off breast cancer. He has some really good genes in his family, his dad just passed last year.

 

[Podunkadunk]

Congrats Chief. Post up some pics and let us gawk at what you OWN!

Podunk

 

[jimmyj]

Way to go Mark. You must feel great. I second the garden thing, we've got about a quarter acre garden and we're putting up a greenhouse this spring.

Good for you.

PS: I agree you need to get more tractors to have every color of the rainbow.

 

[MossRoad]

Congratulations!!!!

We've been there, done that twice. Debt free for more than a decade. Pay as you go!!!

 

[laen64]

I found a qoute from a trusted source that says "if a man don't take care of His own, especially those in his own home, then he is less than an Infidel!"

Then again if a man don't work, he ought not eat! So with that said I'm with MJarrels.

Hooah!

 

[Dargo]

It's hard for me to not get into any political implications after doing what you did. I sacrificed for many years, and my five kids didn't always get what they wanted, to become completely debt free. A neighbor, who happens to be an in-law, hasn't sacrificed anything and has lived high on the hog. They are one of those who refinanced every single time they could so they could take more vacations or buy more toys. Just last week they told me that their house isn't going to be foreclosed on and $50k of their debt is going to go away on their mortgage so they can make the payments in a reorganization of their mortgage. Although I'm happy to be in the position I'm in, it does bother me that apparently I could have burned all my money and still be bailed out. Oh well, I do have this thing called pride which it's apparent you also possess. Congratulations!

 

[tallyho8]

Congratulations on being debt free!

Dargo, I agree with you completely.

One of my best friends and I have remarkably had almost identical incomes for the last 30 years. We had a financial discussion that started when I asked them to go on a cruise with us and they said they couldn't afford it. We compared our total assets and found that mine were about $300,000 higher than his. How was this possible when we made the same amount and actually spent about the same amount on houses, cars, etc?

We quickly realized that the disparity started 30 years ago when I scrimped and saved for a few years to pay cash for my first new vehicle while he bought his on credit as soon as he was able to get financing. The extra amount he had to pay in interest kept him from saving enough to buy his home without the very minimum down payment and small payments over an extended period of time. I bought mine with a large down payment and paid it off in 5 years.

After doing a little math, we discovered that he spent $300,000 more in interest than I did in the last 30 years to get the exact same things. He just got his new car a couple of years earlier than I did and that made the $300,000 difference!

 

[newbury]

Congrat y'all on mortgage payoffs etc.

I used to be that way but times have changed.

The main thing is don't buy what you can't pay for. But if you can save the money up to pay cash, then borrow the money for one rate and then get a higher rate on what you saved you can come out ahead.

For instance on my new car - borrowed at 3.75%, put the same amount of money in the same bank at 4.2%.

Plan on buying a used tractor, might take advantage of Barlow and Kubota credit, borrow the money at prime minus 2% (presently 1.25%), put the equivalent money in my bank at 3.7%.

If they drive the mortgage rates lower I'll probably do a refi on my house. Presently my rate is 4.5% and I owe over $30K. The last couple of comparable sales were in December and about $500K. If I can borrow at 4% and buy another few hundred acres at depressed prices it might be worth it.

These cycles of low rates then higher rates have been going on for years the key is to borrow low, save high and don't spend it on what you don't HAVE to have.

I used to have a problem with my credit rating, I paid cash or cashiers check for everything except my house, including new cars (few and far between). Finally I figured out I had to borrow money to get a good credit rating.

I also have mixed feelings about bailing out all the freeloaders, but I plan on retiring and not making much taxable income.

 

[tallyho8]

The main thing is don't buy what you can't pay for. But if you can save the money up to pay cash, then borrow the money for one rate and then get a higher rate on what you saved you can come out ahead.

For instance on my new car - borrowed at 3.75%, put the same amount of money in the same bank at 4.2%.

Plan on buying a used tractor, might take advantage of Barlow and Kubota credit, borrow the money at prime minus 2% (presently 1.25%), put the equivalent money in my bank at 3.7%.

I refer to this tactic as "false savings". In 99% of cases you will save money by paying cash for the item after haggling for a lower cash price. I just bought a new Kubota a few months ago and paid cash. I got it a couple of thousand dollars cheaper than they sell it for to people who get the "no interest" or "low interest " loans. I have done the same thing with new trucks many times.

When the dealerships tell you "no interest" or "low interest" this is just another sales tactic and they just raise the price of the vehicle to make up for the loss on interest. In most cases they offer rebates to cash buyers and lower interest rates to others but they don't get as large of a rebate, if any.

If your dealership won't give you a lower sales price for paying cash instead of getting it with a low interest loan, simply get a price from another dealership and you will be astonished at the savings. If you prefer to buy from your dealership, just bring your lower quote from the other dealer to them and they will almost always match it.