Mortgage Free Diaries - Ashleigh Thomas
Drumroll please for our mortgage free diarist this month! I actually personally know Ash from when we used to work together and somehow the conversation turned into us both talking about our goal of becoming mortgage free early! She is the only friend that I personally know that has also paid off their mortgage early and what is amazing is that she purchased her home when she was single and paid off her mortgage by herself! Obviously, I am not saying that you cannot achieve an audacious goal like paying off your mortgage early solo, however I do come across a lot of ladies who feel like they are behind or can’t buy a home until they have a partner. Ash is here to show us that not only can you get into the property market, you can also pay off your mortgage early - she did it in 10 years at the age of 34!
How did she do it? In a nutshell she purchased her first home with her sister, worked to pay this mortgage off and was about 2-3 years away from doing this when they upgraded to a larger home with her brother and made enough on the sale of the first home to mean she was mortgage free. Keep reading for more details and I am sure you will find Ash’s story as inspiring and motivating as I do!
Reformer Pilates - a non-negotiable cost that Ash kept whilst working towards her money goal. Balance is key! Image by Helen Thomas
Location: Auckland, NZ
Occupation: Accountant
Mortgage Free age: 34
Time taken to pay off mortgage: 10 years
Mortgage/Cost of home paid off (OPTIONAL): First home in Auckland. $250k-$350k. Purchased with sister (60% share)
Natural spender, saver or investor: Spender
Where did your inspiration of becoming mortgage free come from? Mum encouraging me and my sister to look at how we were spending money and investing for our future. She had seen a talk/advert for a financial coach and got us to attend a seminar. Even though I am an accountant I found that having external accountability helps you see what you often don’t see yourself and also someone that is not family helps because it is sometimes harder to take criticism and advice around money from family. It helped for me to investing in someone to help me with my journey.
What was your main motivation for becoming mortgage free?
Setting myself up for the future to not be in debt for until I was 70 years old! Even when I initially took out my mortgage I got it on a 15 year term because I wanted to pay as little interest as possible.
What was your biggest challenge during your journey and how did you overcome this?
When we stopped going to a financial coach (after 3 years) and trying to stick to it by yourself and holding yourself accountable. Making sure I was still motivating myself to stick to the plan was a challenge.
Diverting disposable income to my financial goals rather than buying things (e.g. I probably spent more than I should have on a new car!)
What lifestyle has being mortgage free early given you?
Not having to stress about money.
How did you feel about getting another mortgage?
To be honest a bit annoying at first because it was not something that I planned on doing however me and my sister decided to buy my brother out of his share of the house because he ended up moving overseas. However it has given me new motivation to concentrate on another goal since I did find myself spending more frivolously after I was mortgage free.
What kind of conversations did you have about money growing up? Do you remember being taught about money by your parents?
I can’t remember us having any actual sit down conversations about budgeting or anything. It was more just seeing how they lived within their means. E.g. we wouldn’t go on extravagant holidays but would do little road trips. It was more seeing how they managed money rather than formal conversations. My mum warned us about making sure to only put on the credit card what we could pay off in full to avoid being charged interest.
Did you/do you feel comfortable discussing your mortgage free journey/becoming mortgage free with friends and family? Did you receive any unexpected responses?
It was awkward because I don’t want to be seen to be gloating about it and so not many people actually know about this. Everyone that has found out has been really supportive but I have not really talked to many people about it.
What was a non-negotiable cost that you did not give up during your mortgage free journey?
Reformer Pilates classes and gym membership. Travelling. Weekly brunches.
Do you feel different about money since becoming mortgage free?
You become more aware of where your money is going during the journey from budgeting and understanding how small daily things such as buying lunch everyday has an impact on the larger picture.
Did you invest outside of Kiwisaver/Superannuation whilst paying down your mortgage? Why?
I didn’t because I wanted to focus on paying down my mortgage as soon as possible.
Do you have joint or separate finances? How important do you think this is?
Once you are married it makes sense to combine finances. Growing up my parents had combined finances so I saw this as ‘the norm’. I see it as part of being a committed couple and a team.
What is the best money advice someone has ever given to you?
Making sure you are spending within your means. Not racking up debt.
What are your top 3 tips for becoming mortgage free?
1/Sitting down with someone and setting a budget
2/Having someone to help you with your journey to keep you accountable
3/Concentrate your spending on what truly brings you joy, rather than frittering your money away on everything.
A big thank you to Ash for giving her time and opening up about her journey and providing us with a dose of inspiration and motivation!!!
If you have also paid off your mortgage early please and are interested in sharing your journey, please touch base with me via the contacts page, I would love to hear from you :-)
Friendly reminder: The above reflects personal choices and opinions. As always all my posts and content are for entertainment, inspiration and education purposes only and is never financial advice.
