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Tuesday, November 9, 2021

Our Journey to a Mortgage Free Home: #19

It's been a long while since I've posted anything about our journey to have a mortgage free home because there really hasn't been anything big to share, until now.

If you're new to my blog or need a refresher as to what our journey has been all about, you can start reading about it HERE.

So ... what's the big thing in our mortgage free journey we have to share?  Since moving into this house years ago we've been heating it with a wood stove and cooling it with window air conditioning units.  It was what we could do and we have been so thankful.  Yesterday and today though, we're getting a central heating and cooling unit installed.


We love our woodstove and will continue to use it as back up and we are so thankful for having had the window air conditioning units to keep us cool all these years (air conditioning is not a luxury where we live, it is a necessity because of the extreme heat and humidity.), but we are praising God today because of the difference this unit is going to make in our lives.  

We are also thankful for each and every small and large decision made in the past that has made this a reality ... 

Yes, our home is still mortgage free ...

Yes, we paid cash for this unit and it's installation ...

Yes, we waited a long time for it to happen.

If you are of a mind, please join us in praising and thanking God for His provision.  One of my constant prayers is that God go before us and prepare the way for what's ahead of us.  At this season in our lives we are considered 'senior citizens.'   My mind doesn't agree but my body sure does ... if you know what I mean!!   This unit is one of the many provisions He has provided at just the right time.   God is faithful to His children!

(Let me insert something here that often leads to a misunderstanding about God.  God did not just 'poof' and this unit appear.   That kind of teaching really is not fair to God and it leaves people asking, 'why doesn't God give me what I want?'  Is God partial, does He love one more than another?  Scripture plainly tells us in Acts 10:34 that God is no respecter of persons.  We prayed, made prayerful decisions, sacrificed and worked hard to make this unit happen.  Sometimes, God's answers to prayers come wrapped up in wise decisions, hard work, in seeking God's will and in waiting on His timing.)

What's next in our mortgage free journey?  We have a couple more big projects we're working on little by little.  How long will it take to complete them, I don't know, it depends on our ability to pay as we go.

In today's economy and uncertainty we are so thankful that we heeded the nudging's years ago to go the route we've chosen.  It's not been easy and as I've said before, it's not for the faint of heart.  But, the peace that comes from knowing that we have a paid for home is more than worth all that we've gone through to get here.

I hope you are encouraged by our journey, yes, you can have a mortgage free home!

patsi

A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27

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21 comments:

  1. Yay! Congratulations on staying debt free!

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  2. What a blessing! I'm going to have to do something about air conditioning before next summer. My large window unit died at the very end of this summer and, like you, I live where air conditioning in the summer is not a luxury but a necessity. I hope to replace the large window unit and possibly get a smaller one for the bedroom. I'm so glad you were able to get a central unit!

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    1. BaggysMama, I'm glad your AC made it through the summer. I hope availability is not an issue when you get ready to replace your unit.

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    2. Oh my. I didn't even consider that there may be a supply issue next spring. Maybe I should go ahead and at least buy a small one for the bedroom. Thank you for bringing that to my attention!

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  3. Congratulations on being AND staying mortgage free. It is life changing to be sure. You'll have some adjusting to do with this unit. It will not be the warm heat you've always lived with but I know you'll adjust in time.

    It is truly awesome to do projects with cash be they big or small. We've lived this way for decades and we're just 60 this year.

    God is good indeed :-)

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    1. Elle, Thank you! It is a different kind of heat isn't it?

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  4. Congrats on being able to take on this project debt free. I'm on the savings train right now. My central heat and air unit is now 15+ years old and, while still working well, the service technician as reminded me for the last two service cycles that the lifespan of these units is 15-20 years. His father's company installed it when my place was built and, through our conversations, we discovered that I am friends with his cousin. He has also learned my story from a a single-family home to a townhome, and both he and his father know of my being widowed in 2014. He originally mentioned this when the blower motor burned out, and said his comments were to help me prepare for the financial "hit" to the budget, should my furnace/AC start having more major issues, ones that cannot be easily repaired in a cost-effective manner. Glad you were able to make this happen and that it will ease the burden on your minds and provide greater comfort to you and your family.

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    1. Lori, Thank you! I hope your unit lasts until you have enough saved to replace it.

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  5. Congratulations! What a wonderful testimony! Thank you for sharing your story. I know you are going to enjoy your central heating and cooling. Glad you have your woodstove as a backup too.
    I listened to some of those prosperity preachers for a while, but their teachings began to bother me.

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    1. Kathy, thank you! Sadly, prosperity preaching is a stumbling block to many.

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  6. Yeah, what an exciting thing for you.

    Though, being new to the blog I don't understand what this has to do with being mortgage free? I skimmed through the posts in this series & they all seem to be remodeling type posts...not about a mortgage? So I guess I'm missing something there.

    I do agree with you on being mortgage free as soon as you can. We bought our first house when I was 23 & paid off the mortgage when I was 33. That was 22 yrs ago now. We started with two incomes, then had a baby & dropped to one income but we lived very frugally & threw every extra penny onto the principal to pay it off early. It was sincerely all God...my husband was diagnosed as a type 1 diabetic & we ended up needing to buy a new (used) car in that decade as well during those yrs.

    We stopped using our central ac & starting using window units because they keep our house so much cooler & for so little money. Even though we can replace the central unit we just can't decide that if we would really get our money back on it. We don't think we'd be able to keep our home as cool as we do now. I'd love to know how this works for you with your new unit. If it runs cheaper than your old window units. We run three & it's still less than our central.

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    1. Jenny, I can see how it might seem confusing if you only skimmed previous posts. In a nut shell, we sold our home in another state while renting in the state we live in now. We wanted another home but not another mortgage so we got creative and purchased a really old and dilapidated house, moved it onto a lot we purchased that had a burned out house on it (we tore down the burned out house) and set about remodeling our new dilapidated house paying as we went. Yes, we could have borrowed the money to rebuild the house but we wanted to do it mortgage free. I hope this clears up the confusion.

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  7. We became mortgage free 5 years ago. When B retired in 2004, we made a goal to have our mortgage paid off by the time I retired in 2014. It took us 2 extra years beyond that to be mortgage free in 2016. It is wonderful to enjoy the fact that our home is ours free and clear and the money paid to a mortgage can be used to enjoy our retirement comfortably.

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    1. peacefulheartopenmind, yes, we're working toward retirement with the same thoughts in mind.

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  8. Congratulations! I guess you now have great tidings of comfort and joy! :^)

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  9. I am so happy for you and yes, for God's provision! I know that certain appliances are hard to come by right now and that the wait lists are long with no guarantee about when the products will be available.

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    1. Debbie, thank you. Yes, we are finding that to be true on several things.

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