How Stephanie paid off her mortgage in her 40s! (2024)

Stephanie from Cozy and Calmlet me interview her about paying her mortgage off early! She was able to have a paid off mortgage in her 40s! If you have been wondering about paying off your mortgage early, here is how she did it! It is possible and you can do it.

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About Stephanie:

I’m Stephanie Gatewood and live just outside of Richmond, Virginia, with my husband and two children. My son is 11 and my daughter is getting ready to turn 10.

Age: 47

Highest grade completed: graduate degree

My undergraduate degree is in environmental science. I actually got to use my degree (and geek out a bit) when I homeschooled my kids for two years!

I also have an MBA, which I get to use all the time since I manage two businesses. (Though you don’t needan MBA to run a small business.)

I co-own, with three other partners, a small kitchen design firm. We work with architects and design kitchens mainly for schools, the military, churches, and businesses.

I also have a few side hustles to bring in extra income: I have a book on Amazon about food allergies and I pet sit and blog.

Income range: Since my husband and I both are small business owners, our income varies. My kitchen design business is tied to the construction industry, which is cyclical. And my husband is a freelance editor, so he sometimes has lulls in his workload. Since our income is unpredictable, we have a pretty big emergency fund to cover expenses in our down times.

What are your current financial goals? And why.

I’ve slashed our budget as much as I can, so my main financial goal now is to increase my income with my side hustles. My “whys” are because more money would allow us to:

• Save more for the kids’ college, assuming that’s the path they choose.
• Increase our investments (our nest egg).
• Take vacations as a family.
• Start a charitable foundation. I learned about charitable foundations a few years ago, and although it sounds like something only the super-rich do, it really doesn’t take a ton of cash to start one.

My kids both start middle school this fall, which is freaking me out. I know the “days are long and the years are short,” but now I’m really experiencing this for myself. College is right around the corner, which is a huge expense. And time for family trips is ticking away.

What was your “aha” moment that caused you to change your financial ways?

For a long time, I lived paycheck to paycheck. On the one hand I tried to I tried to be financially smart (I started investing when I was 23 years old and made small contributions), but on the other hand, I still spent most of what I made.

My mindset about money changed slowly over the years as I read more about personal finance and learned more about myself. For example, I always felt a little confined and uncomfortable working for someone else. But I’m also not a huge risk-taker who wants to start a multi-million dollar business. I knew I wanted to work from home and for myself and make enough to not have to stress over finances when the bills arrived. So I looked for opportunities to make that happen.

I had an aha moment a few years ago while playing around with an early retirement calculator. Plugging in different numbers really cemented how keeping monthly expenses low and having a high savings rate can accelerate financial freedom.

Who has been a major influence on your financial decisions?

My husband has had the biggest influence on my financial decisions and money mindset. He’s naturally frugal and looks at life, including purchases and money, logically and realistically. We balance each other out well since I’m more emotional about decisions.

My husband is frugal, not even consciously. It seems to be in his DNA. He doesn’t have expensive wants or feel the need to acquire much stuff.

I remember the day my attitude toward money started to shift because of him. We had been dating for a while. He was doing temp work and was making just over minimum wage. We were both renting small apartments and driving old, pretty beat up cars.

When he received a great job offer as an analyst at a big corporation with a substantial pay raise, I said, “That’s awesome…and now you can afford to get a new car!” He responded, “Why do I need a new car?”

Though it didn’t look great, his car still drove fine and didn’t require constant repairs, so, yeah, why did I think he needed a new car just because his income was increasing?

His attitude toward money started making me realize I might want to change my approach to finances if I wanted to get out of debt, stop living paycheck to paycheck, and eventually acquire financial freedom.

Do you do a monthly budget? Any tips for sticking to it?

Yes, I do a monthly budget and have been using the same one for nearly six years. I don’t track every penny I spend. But I have ballpark numbers for each spending category and I know how much has to go into my sinking fund (for occasional and planned expenses), emergency fund, and investments (529 college savings plans and Vanguard index fund). I review the budget at least once a month to make sure we’re on track.

Related posts:

How to Make a Budget and Stick to It!

11 Things missing from your budget

The biggest mistake I’ve made with budgeting—and that I think others make too—is to not include all planned spending, as well as set aside money for emergencies. It’s easy to forget to include money for gifts throughout the year, birthday parties for the kids, and other things that come up only occasionally.

Since I’ve been budgeting for a long time, I’ve been able to revise our budget through the years and capture all these expense categories, which makes sticking to the budget easier.

The second tip for sticking to a budget is to clearly define your financial goals and keep them top-of-mind. Post them in places you’ll see them before you spend money, such as on your computer if you shop online or in your wallet. Then, you can evaluate whether the purchase you’re about to make is truly necessary and supports your financial goals.

I also envision my dollars as little worker bots, helping me to reach my goals. If I spend my workers on a frivolous item, they’re gone forever. But if I save and invest them, I not only keep them, but also make them multiply. And then those new workers multiply. And so on. Spending money means the initial dollars are gone, but so are all their “offspring.” And their offsprings’ offspring.

Have you done anything others would think is extreme to reach your financial goals?

Sorry, but I don’t have any super frugal or interesting stories! 🙂 We became debt-free and financially free the boring way: spending less than we make and investing the extra.

I do have a quick story about something cool that happened because we tend to save. A few years ago, we were working hard to pay off our mortgage. We were making double payments, as well as sending off any extra money that came our way. At the time our kids attended a new private school, but it turned out not to be a good fit. Since I set up our budget to always have a full year’s tuition in the bank, when we decided not to enroll them for the next year, I suddenly had a nice stash of cash that was no longer earmarked for anything. I was able to send the unused tuition money to our mortgage and make the final payment.

Do you read nonfiction books regularly? What are your favorites?

My all-time favorite personal finance book is “The Simple Path to Wealth” by JL Collins. I just love his reassuring and practical approach to money and investing. I reread it whenever I need some financial motivation.

I recently started reading “You Need a Budget” by Jesse Mecham and am enjoying it.

How do you stay motivated?

To be honest, I’m not always motivated. Even though I review my budget monthly, (sometimes I review it a lot throughout the month), I still sometimes discover I’ve fallen into complacency and need to remind myself of my goals. Or I find myself making purchases without much thought, which is one of the biggest dangers to budgets. And when you wake up from that mindless spending, the guilt can eat away at self-esteem.

As I said before, my husband seems to have frugality in his DNA. I don’t, so I have to remind myself to be financially responsible often.

And sharing what I know about budgeting, saving, and investing helps me stay motivated. When I give other people advice and then find myself not following my own suggestions, well, that’s a wake-up call!

Related posts:

How to get rid of debt fast

Tips for Paying Off Debt for Millennials!

What advice would you give someone in your situation? Or someone thinking about being debt-free but hasn’t started or don’t think they can do it.

Make a budget. I know budgeting may not sound fun, so try to make it a game. If you do your budget correctly, it’ll show you how much money you can free up to send to your debt. And that’s an amazing feeling. It shifts the power that your debt holds over you and puts you in control of your money.

If being debt-free quickly is something you truly want, be relentless with tightening your belt with spending. Remember that every dollar you spend on something you don’t really need is just growingyour debt since you’re accumulating interest. Every dollar you send to your debt is saving you the dollar + interest.

But you still have to find what works for you. So if giving yourself $20 a month, and permission to spend it however you want, keeps you from feeling deprived and spending $100, then definitely give yourself the $20.

Post your financial goals where you’ll see them. Or make a dream board if that’s your thing. Or find an accountability group. Read personal finance books. Read stories of others who have done it. Imagine how you will feel when you’re debt free and how a burden will be lifted. Find what motivates you and use it to your advantage.

I think no matter your situation, you can achieve your financial goals with time and perseverance.

If you could go back in time, what would you tell yourself?

If I could go back in time to when I worked at my corporate job with my nice salary and benefits, I would tell myself to stop spending frivolously. I would give myself the retirement calculator that shows how quickly anyone can become financially independent if they can live on 50% of their income and invest the rest (about 17 years!). And I’d tell myself, even if you don’t save 20 or 30 or 50% your income, at least spend your money on experiences rather than expensive shoes or handbags.

When I had my corporate job and before we had kids, my husband and I splurged on a trip to Australia. That was the most amazing vacation and I have vivid and fond memories of it. But I don’t own a single pair of the expensive shoes or designer suits I bought back then.

How much debt did you have? How quickly did you pay it off? If you are still paying it off, how much have you paid so far? When should you be debt-free?

We never had much debt. My husband and I attended college from 1988-1992, back when the student loan market didn’t exist, so college tuition was affordable. Neither of us were saddled with college debt because our parents paid for us. We were fortunate.

I had a few thousand in credit card debt when I started dating my husband. Then I financed a car, though I paid it off early. After that car loan, the only other debt we took on was a mortgage, which was extremely scary since neither of us had ever borrowed much money. Now we save for car purchases and always buy used with cash.

What is your biggest financial struggle? What do you do to combat that?

I think my biggest struggle is motivation and curbing mindless spending, which I wrote about earlier. A regular dose of good personal finance philosophy motivates me, either through reading success stories and other blog articles or by picking up a good personal finance book.

Also check out:

5 Tips to Payoff Debt Quick!

How One Couple Paid off $70,000 in 12 Months!

How One Couple Paid Off $130,000 in less than 2 YEARS!

Stephanie blogs at Cozy and Calmwhere she helps moms decrease overwhelm at home and with finances.