Paying off Mortgage

Yes I know what I said in the past about not paying off mortgage and leverage and gearing and returns and alternative investments. Shoot a girl for trying to please a man in her life!
Before getting to this financial decision, let me disappoint you further with my holiday season spending news. The past few weeks of my less than perfect health lead me to "not so cool places" like gynecologists and even heavier names like endocrinologists. These overwhelming few weeks left me yearning for a holiday. I took a short trip with my son and I did spend quite a bit of my hard earned cash. My son scored new games and I even got me a nail grooming kit. Its promising to save me on salon manicure costs.  I guess after the illness you can get yourself into a state of "money disrespect". But at least I am now back only to plan another holiday to Swaziland for next week.

I vow to not overspend on this trip. It will be a lovely holiday for my family. I don't promise not to behave like a tourist though. I may get a few memento items.
On the mortgage news, we decided to just work on paying up our one mortgage. That's the only mortgage standing. After the hubby has begged and begged, and against my better judgement we are paying the darn mortgage up. Debt no more! This whole mortgage pay-up process is made exciting by the tier kind of interest we are charged. We are in the last and lowest interest rate tier. Our minimum mortgage installment has dropped remarkably and I couldn't be happier. This makes it even easier to kill and bury this debt faster.

The reasons I decided against my "never paying off mortgage" position are:

1. I am never going back to work. That means we will be having one salary and other income sources we created over the years. Paying up the mortgage will mean cutting down on our monthly expenses. That should be great news right? It also mean that the hubby can be able to decide to also have his job being optional. He doesn't hate having to have a job as much as I do though.
2. My hubby was nagging me all the time about paying off this debt. He hates it and I think its only fair to make him happy this once. Its not everyday that a girl gets married to a guy who is happy driving an old car and paying up all his debt. I love him again for that.
3. The most important reason is that we CAN. So why not?

I have a suspicion that I will keep thinking about what this extra mortgage payment would have translated to in alternative investment returns. I don't think I should worry about it though as the funeral of this debt will be as rewarding as having a winning lottery ticket. We will try to to have a "paying off mortgage" trip to the Mediterranean parts of Europe next year (2012). That will coincide with our 10 year marriage anniversary. Time flies dear friends. Its amazing how our marriage survived the worst of conditions including tons of relocations even across countries, renovations and more of those, two pregnancies and strong cravings and debates on whether to pay or not to pay debt off. What kept us so happy is having a common goal and values.

If you are a parent, remember that, investing in your health and spirituality is even more important than ensuring a better financial future for your kids. Our children don't need money but us alive for long.

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