The 72,850 Lb Elephant In Our House

The Borrower is Slave to the Lender   -Proverbs 22:7

This month we are living with a 72,850 lb elephant.  In previous months he's been larger, but we've put him on a strict diet and he's really coming down in size.  His name, "Morty"...short for mortgage.

If you've read any of my previous blogs, you probably know that Brittany and I have been Debt Free except for our mortgage since March 2007.  When we graduated college in December 2006, we decided to blaze as far through Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps as fast as we possibly could.  Here's a quick rundown:

Baby Step #1:  $1,000 Starter Emergency Fund - We had this prior to graduating college

Baby Step #2:  Debt Snowball - Paid off our only debt ($12,000 student loan) in 2 months

Baby Step #3:  3-6 Month Emergency Fund - Saved $10,000 in about 6 months

Baby Step #4:  Invest 15% for Retirement - Started this immediately after Baby Step 3B (see below)

Baby Step #5:  College Funding - No kids at the time (now we fund our 2 kid's college savings)

Baby Step #6:  Pay Off Home Early - This is where we currently are

Baby Step #7:  Build Wealth and Give - This is where we're heading

When we completed Baby Step #3 (3-6 Month Emergency Fund), we were renting a little two bedroom apartment and were ready to save toward purchasing a house.  Brittany was REALLY ready.  She hated our apartment.  We chose to use the Baby Step #3B option of saving a down payment for a house.  In February 2008 we purchased our first home.  A great little 1,400 square foot house for $131,000.  

At this point we did something I really regret.  We took our foot nearly completely off the accelerator and put our life on cruise.  Yes, we did the smart thing by getting a 15 year mortgage, but we weren't intentional nor intense about paying it off sooner.  

Fast forward to July 2012.  A lot has changed!  With the addition of our second child, we decided that we would like a larger house.  We sold our 1,400 square foot home for $140,000 and rolled our equity into a 2,300 square foot home we purchased for $179,900.  This left us with a mortgage ("Morty" the elephant) of $130,000.  With the purchase of the new house, we decided to once again be both intentional and intense about paying off the mortgage.  It was time to get rid of "Morty" for good.

We've been in our house now for 21 months and "Morty" has been on a consistent diet of low interest and big, honkin' principal payments.  He is down to 72,850 lbs and we are giving him a stricter and stricter diet in order to get him OUT forever.  Our goal as of now is to have his bags packed and kick him out by November 2015.

Here's where you come in.  We need your encouragement.  When you are pushing as hard as we're pushing, sometimes it's easy to get discouraged or lose hope.  Leave your comments of encouragement, telling us we're crazy, telling us you don't care or whatever else you'd like to say.  I will be creating a new updated blog every month after we make our big, honkin' payment to keep you guys updated on our progress, wins and struggles.  

Again, leave us a comment so we know we're not crazy or reinforce that we are!