How we achieved a mortgage-free life?

Lately, a lot of people have been asking how we managed to achieve a mortgage-free life.

There’s no simple answer to this question. This has been a 10-year journey for us.

But we will share as much as we can and include some tips if You are just starting out!

First, it started separately.

At the time, Terje was traveling and working in Australia. Although she was „living the life“, she started saving up for a place of her own in Estonia when she understood that she was going to return back to her home country.

When she came back, she invested the money that she had managed to save in an apartment that was reasonably priced at the time in Estonia.

While Terje was saying „How are You mate?“ in Australia, Ian was back in Estonia working in a corporate job during the day and playing poker and sports betting during the night (among other things).

Investing some of his profits into ETFs, crypto, crypto mining, and his education.

Moving forward together

When Terje returned to her motherland, we became lovers and friends. Soon we decided to move in together into Terje’s apartment.

Terje worked a corporate job, and Ian continued along a similar journey. Although, sports betting and poker were substituted with spiritual counseling and astrology.

As time moved on, the price of the property we were living in at the time increased. The real-estate bubble kept growing and growing in Estonia. We decided to sell and buy a bigger, as well as newer place in the suburbs.

This was partially an investment decision and a life decision. We wanted to start a family together and get married (thus the bigger place).

Ian used his profits from ETFs, crypto, sports betting, and poker for the upgrade. And Terje used her income from the sale of the apartment. Both had also saved some extra to put into the apartment.

The slow grind toward a mortgage-free life

A couple more years passed. Terje had also started her own business, was a freelancer, and worked in some corporate positions. While Ian continued his work in the IT sector during the day and created a consulting business during the night.

This continued for a while.

Until…

Sudden events toward more freedom

The sudden events in Ukraine rolled around. We then wanted to move our family to a safer place. But there was also a hidden financial agenda.

The real-estate bubble in Estonia and in the world had continued. The price of the new property we had only lived in for 3 years had almost doubled!

We had also invested in a plot of land – we sold that when we left Estonia. This added to our budget quite a bit!

This meant that if we sold the place, and moved to the Canary islands = we could be mortgage free because of the property prices in Spain.

Basically, pay back the mortgage to the bank and have enough money to buy property in a foreign land.

This was an extremely hard decision but once we made it = everything moved really quickly.

What were some of the key points for us in „making it“

1. Work in a place where the wages and incomes are higher.
   • Choose markets, employment, and businesses in areas where there’s more money.
2. Invest Your money into tangible assets, financial assets, and into Yourself.
   • We invested a lot of time and money into ourselves. Schooling, certifications, etc.
   • We also decided that real estate for us is a good investment = tangible, people need it, and somewhat safe. Although it doesn’t always produce crazy returns like crypto or stocks = it’s much safer. And there’s a need for real estate in human society. There’s a market for it!
   • Invest some in riskier assets. We went small here and it was good that we did. The ups and downs are quite a lot to take. There’s a lot of air in the markets, and there’s no real need for crypto for example in real human society. A maximum of 10% of our net worth was in riskier assets. Mostly it was even less than 5%. Most were in real estate.

More useful tips for a mortgage-free life

1. Do it together!
   • We had so many discussions about what we are going to do and how, and when. But always – decisions were made together. Sometimes it was difficult and we had disagreements. But in the end = it’s better to be in the same boat and work towards similar goals.
2. Save 10% of what You make during the month.
   • Use that money later to invest in Yourself (degrees, certifications, and most importantly = skills that You can use in the real world).
   • Sometimes this money was used for also investments.
3. Live in a place where it’s cheaper to live but work in a place where they pay You more.
   • For example the East vs the West. Or Spain vs the United States. Live in Spain but have Your market and clients in the US. Or Canada. Or western Europe for example. Or live in Thailand and have clients in the US and Canada.
4. Make smart decisions with Your money.
   • We skipped some vacations and put the money into real estate for example.
   • The entertainment budget was at times smaller and we put the money into our education.
5. Have a certain budget still for fun.
   • We like to travel and have fun, and go out to eat. We still did those things but less.

The mortgage-free life pro tip list goes on

1. Work a lot! But work smart.
   • Ask for proper compensation for Your work.
   • Repetitive tasks need to be and will be automated in the near future. Make sure You choose work that considers that fact!
2. Choose industries that are enjoyable for You (otherwise You will get bored and don’t want to put in the work) and that You can work remotely!
   • Extremely important if You want to work from abroad. You can’t be a freelance plumber for example in Estonia while You are living in Spain.
   • Come to think of it – You might be able to do it if You transition Your plumbing business online and start teaching others how to do plumbing!
3. Cut stupid expenses.
   • We had a really old car for a couple of years. Ian got even made fun of behind his back at his workplace at the time for driving that car. People looked at him funny because he was driving a small and very old car. But that decision helped us save money to make better investment decisions (what others think of You is not that important if You have a goal in mind).
   • Then we had another small car. Ian got again made fun of. Annoying and painful but it was worth it in the end.
   • You don’t really need a fancy car but people think they need it. Especially in Estonia.

Even more tips

1. Think of Your investment and money decisions as the following:
   • Will it bring in more money in the future?
   • Is it an expense or an investment? A car, 99% of the time is not an investment. It’s an expense that takes money out.
     • Only if You are going to drive Uber or Bolt = then it’s an investment. Or if it’s an antique for example.
   • Will it create more freedom for us? Will it give us more skills that are needed in the marketplace?
2. If the money is for fun and enjoyment = have a certain budget for it. And then enjoy it! Money is to be used as well.
3. Start businesses, invest, and make Your money work for You.
   • Spending all of it each month will not get You out of that vicious cycle of either mortgage or rent. Have to cut something at first in order to make more in the future. Or to have more freedom in the future.
4. Make sacrifices at times that have Your end goal in mind.
   • Cut back on entertainment.
   • No real need for fancy brands – at least until You are working towards Your financial goals.
   • Sometimes these things are necessary to get what You want.

As You can see, it hasn’t been an easy journey. Lots of hard decisions, and sacrifices for liberty.

Let us know in the comments below what You think and where You are personally with Your mortgage-free journey!