Net Worth & Debt Update: May 31, 2020 – Mortgage Obsession

To say I’ve been on a mission is no understatement. I want this house paid off! The absolute beast of the mortgage debt is getting to me. We’re already following a few strategies to get it paid off faster. Biweekly, I send in half a mortgage payment, which works out to a full extra payment every year. Every week I look at my budget to see how much I can send additional on the principal, and I’m mailing in a check every other Friday of at least $150.00.

Every time I log in at work, my password reminds me that I want the house paid in full. I regularly daydream about what it will be like to live without a mortgage. So free! I listen to podcasts daily about being completely debt free and I even have sat through other folks talk about other methods to getting debt free, including using the HELOC method (Risky!) and the P.I.L.L. method (Sounds scammy), just keeping debt-payoff at the forefront of my mind.  

I was also thinking a refinance was in order with these new mortgage rates as low as 2.60%, even though our rate is fairly low at 4.125%. The best offer we received will take three years to recoup the loan fees in interest savings. I spent two solid weeks on the inter-webs and the phone pulling my credit and researching bank rates for mortgage refinances, only to decide with Clint that we are just resolved to pay off our current mortgage as-is. If we keep sending in $150.00 on the principal biweekly, it will pay off in 15 years anyway, and we won’t have had to pay someone $8,000 to refinance the loan.

But I want us to retire in less than 15 years, so I’ve got to figure out a way to get it paid off sooner. We’ve got to start throwing more money at the mortgage. There’s a study out there that estimates that Americans have thousands of dollars’ worth of items just sitting around our houses. Let’s sell it! In May, I unloaded two rollerballs of perfume, three books, and one package of wax sealing sticks. Then I put the profits of those items on the extra principal payments of the mortgage. I’m looking around my house for more stuff to sell on eBay and Facebook Marketplace. This is also clearing out my clutter (BONUS!) and making room for the things in my life that I do want to keep. This month, I’m going to sell those two brand new metal Tonka Dumptrucks, some outgrown kids’ clothes, my kids’ Cozy Coupes, and anything else I can find.

Speaking of coming up with extra money, we got our stimulus check in April, but I forgot to tell you what we did with it, I guess, because it was so boring: we just put it into savings to replace my car when the time comes, since it’s 11 years old. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’ve spent that money about five times in my head already. We could have put it on the mortgage. I could have upgraded our kitchen renovations by picking the glossy finish on the countertops and the really upscale tiles for the backsplash. I’d have totally bought one of the new Roombas for ALL THESE CRUMBS. I’d have probably bought more useless shelving units to house all my crap in the garage. We’d have definitely taken an extra trip to the beach this year. I could have put it toward a custom home plan to include a butler pantry and other unnecessary cool additions. And I could have bought, oh, so many pretty groceries. Maybe we could have repaired the well on our property, or bought a super-deluxe sand filter for the pool. But no, we did the responsible thing, adulting, reasonably.

What’d you do with yours?

I’ve been dreaming about the month we no longer have to send that mortgage check to the bank. (See how it’s the only thing I think about lately?) What do you do? Have a big-ass party? Go on a cruise? Start a renovation? Buy a car? Maybe we’ll do all those things, I don’t know. It’s sure fun to think about while I’m banging out these extra mortgage checks every pay period.

Here’s May’s spreadsheet. Not bad. See you next month!