It seemed rather challenging in the beginning. My wife and I decided to get really serious about pursuing a life of financial freedom. The one mountain that seems almost insurmountable for many is the mortgage. In my opinion, the banks have done a good job of painting pictures that include permanent mortgages. Thirty years is a great deal for the mortgage companies because it gives them time to make big bucks on all that interest we pay. For me, getting serious meant setting an aggressive payoff goal that required changing the way we look at monthly spending. I believe the more you automate your goals, the better your odds for success.
The first step we took was to refinance our home using a ten-year mortgage paid bi-weekly. We modified our spending habits to absorb higher monthly payments. We decided on an additional monthly amount over and above the mortgage that would be diverted automatically into a second checking account and only tapped into it in case of emergencies. Everything seemed like an emergency during the first seven months of a three-year goal. It's like turning off cruise control because of construction zones or excessive traffic on the road. We can see the finish line in the distance and we have a pretty good idea of exactly when we will achieve full financial freedom. The cruise control idea seems to be making our debt reduction journey a little bit smoother. I'll share more about this in upcoming stories. My recommendation for anyone attempting to do this is to automate as much as possible. Have a great day.
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