Mission Accomplished

On July 29th 2010, I walked into Bank of America and wired funds to payoff my mortgage held at Chase (formerly Washington Mutual). The excitement/nervous wait then began until official word was received on Friday July 30th 2010 from a Chase representative that our mortgage balance was considered "Paid In Full". Thus marked a milestone in my wife's and my own financial education and growth. We took out our 30 yr mortgage in February 1999 a few years removed from college. Looking back over the years, we like all young couples made many foolish spending choices. Over the course of the last 11 years, we have grown immensely in our financial lives. We are living debt free: no credit card debt, no home equity loans, no mortgage. Please understand that we have made many sacrifices along the way to achieve our current state. Our vehicles are 1998 model years (Acura & Honda). Plenty of Home cooked meals. We purchased our first flat panel tv last year, a 32in from Costco for about $600, obviously far from big screen luxury.
My occupation in the financial services field often (Securities/Wall Street)focuses on investments. Many working families can get better returns by reducing debt, owning their cars and home all the while reduce their cost of living.
The one thing I am very proud of is that my wife turned 40 in July and I just turned 40 at the end of August. We paid off our mortgage at/before turning 40 yrs old. A little piece of mind with the state of current economy is priceless. May peace of mind be with each of you in the future.

Mother's Day 2010

What a nice day our family is having. My first post for 2010 is happening on Mother's Day. Here in Issaquah, Washington, the sun is shining bright with just a few clouds in the sky. Personally, I have not posted since around November 2009 due to the holidays, a change of employment and because a break was needed. This mission of helping people to payoff their mortgage is in it's third year. In that time my own mortgage has gone from $88,000 to $16,145 as of today. My wife and I are just being disciplined and practical about our money. Just as a note, we have not collected any gift contributions in our journey paying down our own mortgage only our paychecks and bonuses over the last few years.
Those people that know me know about my background in the Financial Services field ( banking & brokerage). While I work in the investment field and watch Wall Street everyday, I believe that owning your own home offers diversification (outside of mutual funds, stocks) and peace of mind.
2010 is proving to be a slow march toward a recovery of the economy in the US but unemployment and foreclosure rates remain high.
Payoffthemortgage.org will be taking a slightly different direction this year. We are going to offer one slot per state for any organization that has over 1,500-2,000+ members. So the 10 slots for each of the 50 US states, could go to only 10 organizations in each state. The goal of helping homeowners in paying down/off their mortgages can grow exponentially through the support of organizations. The time has come to build stronger communities, families and organizations through North America.