How much debt have you paid off?: $455,000
What was it for?: Mortgage
From deciding to become debt free to making the last payment, how long did it take you?: Three years
What age did you take on your first debt, and how old are you now?: 18 when I took on a student loan, and I am now 47. I got my first mortgage when I was 32.
Did you do it alone or as a family?: My husband and I
Did you pay off debt from your regular income, take on extra work, or change jobs to speed it up?: Yes, originally. We would live on one salary and save the other.
Did you sell anything or receive cash gifts to contribute towards your debt payoff?: My husband left the police force and we used the superannuation to pay off the new mortgage. My mum has given us $50,000 over the last three years, and we sold our original family home that we were renting out.
What people, books, websites, podcasts, budgeting tools, debt trackers and resources helped you?: Mary Holm, your podcast. Not much really.
Did you keep an emergency fund while you paid off debt? If so, how much?: No, not as such. But we have an emergency fund now consisting of $50,000.
Did you have any setbacks along the way, and how did you overcome them?: My husband leaving his job and starting up his own business. Me leaving my teaching job and relieving for six months, but then being employed to work part-time. We earned enough to survive on and we made do. Selling the original house was a huge relief and gave us options to consider. I also tended a great garden which gave us vege and fruit.
What tips/hacks could you share?:
Living on a budget. Just simply not spending - stopping shopping, expensive holidays, significantly reducing cafe outings. Not having the mod-cons.
Doing a weekly menu with the food we grow, directing what we cook each week.
Preserving food. Having chooks.Killing most of our own meat. Buying meat from a wholesaler and cutting it up ourselves.
Living in a cheaper house than what we were originally - having the least amount of capital tied up in a house.Working for yourself. With my husband's business, our phones can be paid for, as well as contributions to electricity etc. The garden implements we own are business expenses but allow us to use at our own house.
Painting the house yourself. Attempting DIY but I am good at starting projects but not so good at finishing them.
Was there a structure to your debt payoff? i.e. paying smallest to largest, or highest interest rate to lowest?: When we took on a mortgage again, we structured it so we would target paying off the mortgage with the highest interest rate. We were fortunate we could make lump sum payments until the bank changed this method in doing so.
How did you stay motivated, and what was the most challenging part of paying off your debt?: Knowing that once our original home sold, we would have a large windfall that would pay off our mortgage where we currently live. The most challenging part was regularly going over to the original house to prepare it for its open homes. But what was more difficult was parting with our furniture from our home, and my husband and I doing the moving together.
How did you celebrate making your final payment?: I can't remember. We bought a car. We pondered what to do with the money. I'm sure we went out for tea!
Was getting out of debt worth it, and what have you learned about yourself?: Always. We were out of debt, but then we put ourselves back in debt when we bought a second house when the mortgage rates were really low. We're good with change, but we're not risky investors, and that's my biggest setback.
Will you ever go back into debt again?: No. The tricky thing is that owning a cheap house is both a blessing and a curse. We would like to move to Christchurch someday, but the sale of our house in Geraldine wouldn't buy us something comparable. Our priority is to not be forced to work even though I haven't been very good at following that mantra.