Your Mortgage is Debt

We are paying off our mortgage with full-hustle, and none of the communities we are a part of advocate for that.... So, why are we doing it?

Group Number One: Financial Independence Retire Early

This group is all about budgeting, saving, and investing. I love having a space where I can gain advice and learn about tax laws and life optimization. These people are purely logical. Mmm. My kind of humans.

People in the Financial Independence Retire Early crowd would not recommend paying off your mortgage aggressively because you make more money in the stock market than you save in mortgage interest.

Group Number Two: Dave Ramsey

You thought we had camaraderie here? Nope. Yes, Dave Ramsey recommends paying off your mortgage, but he recommends slowing down after you get your other debts paid off. His advice would encourage us to allow vacations etc. and put "left-over" money towards the mortgage. "Take your foot off the gas."

The Dave Ramsey crowd would not recommend that you pay off your mortgage aggressively, so you can "Start to live" or "Lighten up a bit" instead, while you continue to put some money towards your mortgage.

Group Number Three: Friends and Family

We are loved by hundreds and hundreds of people, but the general response we get from people about our passion to pay off our mortgage debt is: "Why?" "What's the hurry?" "Are you making this an idol?" "You're working too much." "I wish I made as much money as y'all do." "I'll never get my house paid off."




So, why are we paying off our mortgage like our hair is on fire? Why are we working extra jobs, making more money than we've ever made, and throwing every penny of it at our mortgage at the end of each month? Why are we ignoring the logic of paying it off at regular speed while investing the difference? Why?

Matt and I believe that the Bible is God's Word, given to us to light our path. Some of the Bible is easy, direct commands. Do this. Don't do this. 

Here is what God says to us at the beginning of Proverbs 6.

6 My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,

2 Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.

3 Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend.

4 Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.

5 Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.

The word "surety" in verse one is an old English word, and it simple means "One who enters into a bond for payment of debt." Easy enough. So, if you've received money from someone and agreed to pay it back (this is the difference between debt and bills), this applies to you.

In verse one it mentions friends and strangers. No matter who you owe the money to, this applies.

Verse two just says, "You promised." When they gave you money you gave them your word.

Verses four and five are the ones we can't ignore. Those two verses fuel this journey. Don't sleep. Don't rest. Run, like you are being hunted.

If I told you there was a man hunting you with a gun, how fast would you run?

That's all that happened. We read these verses and couldn't pretend we hadn't seen them.

The fact that passionately paying off the mortgage isn't popular, doesn't change what those verses say. The fact that some people think mortgage debt is "different," doesn't change what those verses say. So, we're hustling out of mortgage debt with all the speed we can muster, because we believe that God's Word is a lamp for our feet.