Less Money Now vs. More Money Later
Last night my wife set-up online billpay with her bank and is now contributing $25 every two weeks towards the mortgage. This is in addition to the $125 per week I’ve been contributing since the start of the year.
Now, while $25/week may not sound like a lot (and really, it’s not), it DOES make a sizable difference in the speed with which our mortgage is paid off.
Our mortgage was originally set to be paid off in November of 2032. Yes, that’s 24 years and 8 months away.
Through the extra payments I’ve been sending all along, I’ve already knocked 2 years off of that — so sometime in 2030.
The aggressive new $125/week plan started back in December knocked another dozen years off. Payoff date now lines up to be June of 2017.
But now, with my wife’s additional contribution to the effort, we’re up to January of 2017 — just 9 years away.
Putting that in perspective, personally, I’ll still be in my 30’s.
And with the credit card balances finally nearing zero, there will likely be even more additional money available to throw towards the mortgage. The thought that just an additional $50/month can knock off 6 months of payments is motivating.
I know that, financially speaking, a lot of people think it’s a dumb idea in the long run to pay off a mortgage early, but I’m not sure I can put a price tag on the stress that will be lifted off of my shoulders when it’s finally paid off.
It’s the classic choice: less money now versus more money later.
The answer is a no-brainer for me.
Can you can imagine life without a mortgage? In your 30’s?! The freedom that would allow is insane!
The “FU Factor” (because I wouldn’t really need my job) would be my “new” weakness, replacing debt, and really, is that such a bad thing, in a selfish sort of way?
