At some point today, I'm not sure when, my mortgage will be completely paid off. Yay! I think. I'm actually not sure what to do now.
This house was not paid off with a pot of gold.
Cue the singing angels, and unicorns sliding down a rainbow - my house is paid off. At least at some point today it will be, I just don't know when. My plan is to stay at my computer and constantly refresh my browser until I see that the final payment has been made.
AND THEN ....... !!!!
I don't know.
I guess I could have a glass of champagne or burn my mortgage agreement in the fireplace. That's the sort of thing they do in movies but if the payment goes through at 9 a.m. it seems a bit silly to start drinking champagne unless I'm also wearing a feather trimmed organza house robe with matching slippers. And I don't own any of those things including the bottle of champagne so I guess I'll just keep a glass of ice water and an Alka Seltzer handy.
I'm toying with the idea of making up a big sign like this to put on the front lawn.
But that's a lot of effort. I mean it took too much time just to Photoshop the sign in this picture let alone make a real one. That's time that could be be spent deciding on what to do with all my extra money every month. Purchase a castle? Acquire a small country? Buy only organic?
I have to tell you. I thought paying off my mortgage was going to be a lot more exciting. I realize I'm part of the problem what with not having a bottle of champagne at the ready, but it's weirdly anticlimactic. Like trying sushi for the first time.
But paying off my mortgage doesn't mean I'm going to have mountains of money to blow. I'm just going to have a mediocre amount of money to blow.
Like maybe I could rent a dancing monkey for a week every month. Or start using premium gasoline in my car.
Or, if I want to be extremely practical and smart, every month I could invest the exact same amount of money I spent on my mortgage. Which of course is exactly what I'll do because I am no fun.
Seriously. Zero fun. I get a lot of people comment or email me saying they wish we were friends because we'd have so much fun together. No we wouldn't. You'd have fun and I'd be wishing you'd go home so I could get back to chopping wood and diagnosing my cat's skin condition.
Now if I WERE a fun kind of person I'd allow myself to live a little. Maybe buy a couple of things in my first few mortgage-free months. Things I want but am too cheap to buy. Which is stupid because they're all things I'd not only use, but probably use for a lifetime.
Like a KoMo flour mill.
Or a Dyson hairdryer.
Or 42 of these hand squirrel puppets.
I think we all know what I'd get the most use out of. I mean, as so many of us do, I already have a finger puppet stage built soooo.
The other way I could go is to finally hire someone to work for me part time. That's a kind of investment. But everyone knows that's not as much fun as playing out West Side Story with an all squirrel cast.
I suppose I don't have to decide right away. I mean it's not like they're going to suddenly stop making squirrel puppets. They'll be there next month if I decide to become fun Karen.
For now my extra money is going to stay in the bank safe and sound before I find out Amazon also carries sloth finger puppets.
Have a good weekend. I'll be here constantly refreshing my computer screen.
Eileen Anderson
I remember when my husband and I paid ours off. We forced the end to go through quick by throwing money at it instead of allowing them to drag it out an extra three months, and this was on top of throwing money at the principal many years especially the last one. Shaved a decade and a half off the original 30 year loan and shortened in half that 15 year refinance as well. We felt triumphant! Your going to finally feel it though when your next month comes and you no longer have to pay that debt.. I would recommend you give yourself a little nest egg cushion of ready cash in your bank account just to be a bit more liquid than you may have been before; for us, after living paycheck to paycheck for so long and keeping our belts tightened to make this happen, to finally be able to relax financially and be debt free was amazing. Granted we’re pretty modest people and had a lifetime of penny pinching but this was so liberating and even to this day I still feel tickled pink about it. Take your time on planning how you want to invest, it may be different than what you’ve done before. I also recommend making a celebration out of it! It’s worth it, you earned it, and you will remember it fondly later down the road. Congratulations!
Karen
Thanks Eileen! I have a whack of money saved in the bank. I have always had precarious jobs (tv host, blogger) so I've always had to make sure I have money in the bank for the times in between when I had NO money. For the time being I will keep adding to that. :) ~ karen!
Baba
First off.. congratulations!! Second... perfect time to buy said robe and slippers...forget the champagne ..or well buy a case and have mimosas with your new monkey friend 😉 on a serious note that is an awesome accomplishment and now be considered by many an official adult. Btw I would go for the puppet.
Karen
Ha! Well yes, most adults would go fro the puppet. At least most fun adults with any sense. ;) ~ karen!
janpartist
I really want a Dyson fan!
Carolyn Schneider
Congratulations! It feels so good.
I little FYI, because I paid my mortgage off in August. Don't forget to pay your real estate taxes if they have been paid by your mortgage company. I had a big ooops, mainly because I'm moving 1500 miles away and my mail got mixed up.
Librarian Nancy
Congratulations, Karen! I paid off my mortgage last year, and while I did drink the bottle of (reasonably priced) champagne, I didn't immediately blow the extra money on anything. I think I didn't actually believe that it was done, and the mortgage company was going to come back and say they made a mistake. Or it's an April Fool joke. Maybe after April 1st, I'll be able to convince myself that I can afford to replace my old iPhone 5.
Alyssa Trobacher
Congrats! What an amazing accomplishment. We've got another 15 years to go...though we've only been paying for 3.5 years.
Karen
Thanks Alyssa. I paid mine off in 20 years so you'll be ahead of me. :) ~ karen!
Barbara
Go you!
SusanR
Congratulations. While you're trying to figure out what to do, set up a new savings account and set up an automatic payment to it for the monthly mortgage amount. That way it won't be frittered away. A 25 lb bag of flour is just over $5 at Costco, so consider that when evaluating a purchase of the flour mill. I'm sure you'll come up with the right investment of the funds, for your future benefit. You don't have to come up with it today.
Mindy Northrop
You should totally buy a donkey.
We got two for free....with a brand new mortgage.
Margaret K.
Congratulations! As you say, it isn't the only bill, but it was certainly the biggest monthly bill for us. We worked hard at saving in order to get our mortgage paid off before my husband and I retired - and succeeded. I am reminded of how happy I was to pay that last installment every time an expurgated mortgage robocaller rings us.
Gwen H.
Congratulations on paying off your home. I say buy the squirrel puppets.
Yabut
We paid ours off back in th 1980's when the interest rates hit 18%. Even though the payments were less than what I now pay for taxes, I wish we has put the money we were used to paying out for housing into RRSP'S. We never would have missed it. We would have easily stashed over $90,000 by now, and invested properly it could have grown to $450,000 towards our retirement. Sigh. Start now. The amount you have been paying on your mortgage will add up much faster than that.
PegB
Congratulation, Karen. This is a huge landmark day. I think you should do your happy dance while singing Hallelujah. Then go buy that KOMO Flour Mill. It will come in handy when your wheat growing effort pays off.