Yeah, I don't understand what he's talking about, either. We paid off the last car loan in 2009, and we are still putting $200/month in a replacement fund. We're hoping it will be full-up by the time one of our cars dies.

Also,... current mortgage balance: $102,255.

We're getting there!

My husband sold a few of his more valuable coins from his collection this month, which helped keep us in the three year pay-off category. He also has some gold jewelry we will be selling next month, I guess the price of gold is really high right now.

Current Mortgage balance: $97,622.

We are still (barely) on track to payoff the mortgage by the end of 2014. We are budgeting a huge percentage of our income toward the mortgage, we still have a housemate to help out with it as well.

For the reward of the goal of hitting the $100k mark, we bought a groupon for a really fancy restaurant in our town that we have never been to (because its SOOO expensive!).

But recently... I've been feeling really lazy... my job is getting on my nerves, and I'm feeling stressed out. I bought a new dress, and got my hair all cut off, and joined a yoga studio. what?! A 3-4 year debt free date is not motivating to me anymore... now what?

Congrats on getting under the 100K barrier.

Maybe you need to shift a little from the debt repayment to the want category. Budget something for date night maybe? Or maybe you'll feel better about it after yoga class, lol.

Mortgage: $95,346

Okay... we're seriously falling behind on the 2014 payoff goal. Which was pretty crazy ambitious and we knew would never happen. Having gotten rid of that and just focusing on beating the 5 year interest rate reset (in 2016) has been much less stressful. Our actual payoff will most likely be somewhere in the middle. Best guess: Spring 2015.

I am however, looking for a new (better paying, hopefully) job. I'm feeling the opposite of motivated in my current position, and need a change! If that does happen, we may make the 2014 goal after all! Wish me luck...

Good luck on the job search!
How was the fancy restaurant for which you had a Groupon?

Play head games with yourself. How many different ways can you track the progress? I get discouraged, too: my mortgage payoff date is still 5.5 years away. So I started tracking how much more principal I am paying each month than I would have been if I had just made the regular payments. Or I look back at the original loan amount and pat myself on the head for how far I've come. Or I snowflake an extra teeny amount to make the current balance a palindrome or some silly thing.

They say discipline is like a muscle. Muscles get tired every once in a while! I think that's why I have the occasional urge to shop, too. Hang in there! You can do it! We can do it!

Wowser... A lot can change in 6 weeks! I got a new job, yay! It pays more than the old one with a little more responsibility, too. So excited! Starting there in August, so we'll update our budget when we know a little more about the insurance, pay schedule, etc.

And now for the bad news... two things. My Mini Cooper is dead. We decided to put off the purchase of a new-to-us car for as long as possible. We are carpooling to work, and we bought my grandpa's old, old car for $500 for emergencies and just in case. Also, we are losing our roommate at the end of September... so we have to have a few conversations about if we're going to get another one, when, how, etc.

There's a new dog park near our home, so we've been having a busy and fun summer with our four legged son. Apparently, we're DINKs, haha.

And lastly... current mortgage balance: $91,061. Well within our goal of 2015 payoff and just short of the 2014 streeeeetch goal.

Almost forgot!

@Peachy: honestly, we haven't used the Groupon yet! We decided that my joining the yoga studio, and hubby buying a large tool for his current project were going to be the $100k celebration, and we're going to the fancy french place for the $85k celebration which will hopefully be in September.

@Cecily: You're right, we can do it! haha. I have made an awesome chart shaped like a house and I fill in the little boxes with every $100 paid off. Its just not exactly instant gratification. And its hard when you don't know anyone "living like no one else". I wish we had a group of frugal friends!

Well, its the end of my first week at the new job. I love it here. Everyone is so helpful, and the company actively encourages a team mentality. Completely different than my last organization. Its one of those companies where everyone is like, "I can't believe I get paid for this!"

Unfortunately, I won't get my first pay check for two more weeks! Today was pay day, for last week and the week before. So I will get paid on the 24th for this week and next week. Basically this equates to losing an entire paycheck, because of a week of not working, and now a week being held back. That means when I do get my first check, it will all go toward re-filling what we took out of the emergency fund to cover bills and things.

But we have sold a few things on eBay (old gold jewelry and blue jeans) and I have a few other things to list (DS games).

Current mortgage balance: $89,778. Hanging in there for a 2014 payoff.

Good for you on both counts! Eyes on the prize.....

Its pay day! So time for another update! yay! I haven't gotten paid in a month!

Current mortgage: $88,170.

We are falling behind our 2014 goal, but this month had some large expenses, plus two weeks of no income for me with the job changeover. The expenses were somewhat expected: we paid $150 to a fee-based financial adviser (a first for us), and $150 for volunteer training for me (which I am SO EXCITED about... can you tell?!?!).

A bit about the adviser: a great guy, CFP and all that, seems very objective because he gets paid from us hourly rather than trying to sell us products. The $150 was for the initial overall financial check up and general retirement fund advice. I think we'll go back to him in two years when the mortgage is paid and we have a lot more money to invest each month, for more specific mutual fund advice.

Current Mortgage Balance: $85,942.

We will most likely hit our goal of $85,000 this month which means we are back on track. We're going to go to the SUPER fancy french restaurant to celebrate (the one we bought a groupon for, and were originally going in the Spring when we hit $100k but decided on other rewards). This will be the most expensive meal we've ever eaten... it will probably run us $200 but I hear it's worth it. This will also be for our 2 year wedding anniversary so I don't feel guilty because we have not taken a vacation since our honeymoon.

Our next goal will be $68,500, which is exactly half of our mortgage! We just need to decide on a goal date we can strive to hit. I'm thinking next Spring...

Well, we did it!

Current Mortgage Balance: $84,722!

And we had our anniversary dinner last night at the famous french restaurant -- it was amazing. We spent almost $200, but it was hands down the best dinner we've ever had. All of my favorite things: goat cheese, scallops, wine and chocolate!! And we could have spent MUCH more: there was a caviar appetizer for $125, and the most expensive bottle of wine was $5,600. Yes. Five THOUSAND.

Anyway... we have taken a look around and now we are looking ahead! As of today, we have $20,000 in cash between our emergency fund and various sinking funds, and $32,000 saved for retirement. (I know... pitiful!) After we pay off the mortgage, our goal is to max out all retirement options and then beef up our sinking funds: the "Car Replacement" and "Home Repairs" funds are both woefully inadequate right now. As we make short-term sacrifices, we have been putting off things that need done, like an upgrade to our home's electricity.