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How I Paid Off My $400,000 Mortgage In 7.5 Years, Before I Was 32

August 25, 2017 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 55 Comments

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Today, I have a great article from a reader, Rob from Mustard Seed Money. Rob was able to pay off his $400,000 mortgage in just 7.5 years, all before he was 32 years old. Below is his story, enjoy!

Rob was able to pay off his $400,000 mortgage in just 7.5 years, all before he was 32 years old. Here is his mortgage payoff story. I was one of those weird kids that couldn’t wait to graduate from college. I’ve always had a long-term focus and viewed college as a stepping stone. One day during my freshman year, I remember walking to class with a friend saying that I couldn’t wait to graduate and start making some money.

My friend turned to me with an incredulous look and confessed he planned to live it up while he could.

Needless to say, I probably didn’t enjoy college as much as others did.

I had too strong of a focus on life after college to ensure that I'd reach the life goals that I had set up for myself. I wanted to obtain a good job, get married, buy a house and fill it up with some kiddos.

Of course, what actually ended up happening did not follow the order that I had envisioned. But, I can honestly say I love the way things turned out. [Read more…]

20 Ways I Saved a 20% Deposit To Purchase My First Investment Property At 20

May 26, 2017 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 33 Comments

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Michelle's quick note: Today, I have a great blog post on how to save money for a large deposit from Rachael, who is a long-time reader of Making Sense of Cents. Rachael purchased her first investment property at the age of 20 by saving for a deposit and found many great ways to save for the 20% deposit. Below is her blog post. Enjoy!

I bought my first property with a 20% deposit when I was 20. I started saving for a deposit with my money, my parents never gave me a cent. How did I do it? I bought my first investment property with a 20% deposit when I was 20 years old (admittedly I was 2 weeks shy of turning 21!). I accomplished saving for a deposit with my own money, my parents never gave me a cent. So how did I do it?

1. The first thing I did was start applying for jobs as soon as I turned old enough to get a job. I started working when I was 15 as a checkout chick at Woolworths. Not very glamorous, a bit boring and repetitive but I was earning money! I worked about 10 hours a week during my last 2 years of high school, and worked around 20 hours per week during the school holidays. I worked at Woolworths for 3 and a half years and saved a good chunk of the money I earned.

Related: 75+ Ways To Make Extra Money

2. When I worked during high school the only time I would ever say no to a shift is if I was sick or had an exam the next day. It didn’t matter if I didn’t want to go to work (does anyone ever actually want to go to work?) I hated that job but I wanted a property so I went to work. [Read more…]

6 Important Questions To Ask Yourself Before Buying A Home

May 15, 2017 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 51 Comments

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The spring and summer months are usually the most popular months for buying a house. And, buying a house is probably the largest purchase a person will ever make.

Before buying a house, you should ask yourself questions. These questions are for first time homebuyers, or even those who are on their second or more! According to Zillow, the median U.S. home value is $195,300 and the median price of homes currently listed is $234,900.

Nearly everyone says that a house is a good investment. Many people will even go as far to say that doing anything other than owning a house would be a complete waste of money.

However, I don't agree with that at all.

Buying a house isn't for everyone. You shouldn't jump at the opportunity to buy a house, especially any ol' house. And, you should think about all of the factors before deciding that buying a house is the best and only decision for you.

Deciding to buy a house is a huge commitment, and problems may arise if you don't fully think about how this big purchase will affect your life.

There are many questions to ask yourself before you buy a house, and not everyone will have the same answers. This is why it's important to analyze your situation first.

Whether you are a first time home buyer or if this is your second or third house (or more!), you should still ask yourself these questions. [Read more…]

11 Tips For Renovating An Abandoned 115 Year Old House On A Budget

March 17, 2017 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 30 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Michelle's quick note: Today, I have a great blog post from Elizabeth about renovating a fixer upper. She writes about designing a beautiful life on a budget, and today she is going to talk about the ways she saved money when renovating a fixer upper – an abandoned 115 year old house. Her before and after pictures are amazing. Enjoy!

Here is how to save money when renovating a fixer upper - an abandoned 115 year old house. Renovating on a budget, fixer upper homes, is possible! HGTV darlings, Chip and Joanna Gaines, have captured the hearts of millions of viewers and serendipitously inspired people across the country to go out and purchase a “Fixer Upper” of their very own.

My husband and I fell into this camp when we inherited his late Grandmother's 1901 cottage. With my background in interior design and my husband’s affinity for carpentry & construction, we were smitten with the romantic idea of fixing up an old family house.

We dove head first into the renovation with rose-colored glasses and an unrealistic budget.

In the end, our misguided renovation estimate QUADROUPLED over the course of the three-year project. We had inherited what you would call a “money pit“. 🙂 (If you guys haven’t seen the movie, The Money Pit, it is so good.) This forced us to get really creative when it came time to finding affordable finishes. [Read more…]

7 Lessons I Learned From My Short Sale

February 3, 2017 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 32 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Hello! Today's post is from Alaya and what she learned from experiencing a short sale. Alaya is the blogger behind Hope+Cents. After dumping her own debt, she has become passionate about helping others do the same and shares tips, encouragement, and hope for those looking to take control of their finances.

Over nine million Americans lost their homes between 2006 and 2014 to a short sale or foreclosure during and after the housing crisis, according to the Wall Street Journal. I have the dubious honor of being a part of that group.

My family and I purchased a home in 2006 at the height of the housing bubble. In 2012, as a result of a job loss that led to employment in a new state, we needed to sell our home. Because we owed more money on our mortgage than our home was worth, we chose to do a short sale.

Losing or giving up your home is a tough pill to swallow. Home ownership is after all “the American Dream,” and when it doesn’t go quite as planned you can kind of feel like you failed. When it comes to dealing with our mistakes and failures, we have two choices: we can wallow in them, or we can learn from them. I have chosen to learn from the mistakes that led to my short sale (after maybe just a little wallowing).

Related blog posts:

These lessons can be applied to making any significant financial decision. Here are seven lessons I learned from my short sale. [Read more…]

Downsizing Your Home? Here’s How I Went From A 2,000 Square Foot House To An RV

May 23, 2016 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 71 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Downsizing your home can be a big process. And, less and less people seem to be doing it these days.

The average home size in 1950 was less than 1,000 square feet. Fast forward to 2013, the average home size has increased to nearly 2,600 square feet, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

We were fairly close to this size when we owned a house. The house we owned in the St. Louis, Missouri area was around 2,500 square feet if you included our finished basement, and it was just for myself, my husband, and our two dogs. Our home in Colorado was almost as big, at slightly over 2,000 square feet (with no basement).

More and more people seem to be purchasing large homes, but that's not the case for us. We sold our home last year and moved into an RV.

We made this decision for many reasons, but the main reason was that traveling nearly full-time added to the stress of owning a home. So, we figured why not just take it a step further and actually travel full-time?
[Read more…]

Downsizing Our House Has Allowed Us To Pursue Our Dream Life

April 22, 2016 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 27 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Hello! Here's an awesome post from my friend Emma. As you know, we recently downsized and we now live in our RV. Life is awesome!

In August of 2015, we returned from 15 months of travel through Mexico and Europe with our young son.

We saved hard throughout my pregnancy and were able to fund 15 months of travel with our savings.

However, eventually our savings ran out and we had to go home. Although the savings account was decimated, my attitude to life was completely altered.

I was hooked and wanted to make travel a core part of my everyday lifestyle. I came up with a slightly crazy goal of chasing the summer around the world, traveling for months at a time – between hemispheres, across oceans. Cruise ships. Train travel. Driving an RV across the US.

Wherever we wanted to go. [Read more…]

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