A mini celebration

I received in the mail they documentation proving that the primary loan on my house was paid in full!  Such a good feeling.  So why did I pay the primary loan off before the home improvement loan? There were a few different factors.  The home improvement loan was about $9,000 more than the base mortgage loan (that is what happens when you buy a fixer-upper.) So the obvious is that there was more to pay off.  The home improvement loan was also a lower interest rate. I chose to pay off the higher interest rate first.  Here is my mini celebration, "Wooo-hooo!"

It can be difficult to focus on paying down our debt instead of buying new things.  One of the things Americans are brainwashed about is that "he who has the most toys when he dies wins."  In actually he who has the most toys when he dies, leaves those he left behind with a bunch of "stuff" to go through.  That is if he leaves anyone behind.

I've noticed that those we are significantly wealthier than I am are most often in the news for broken relationships.  It is sad.  The reality check is that happiness does not come from more things.  But I can find some happiness and excitement in knowing that one of my major loans has been paid off.

It leaves me contemplating, "should I take the step this summer and have the next major renovation done to my house?"  The next thing on my list is to have skilled workers come into my basement and pour concrete on the floor, tuck-point the walls, tear down the staircase to the basement and upstairs and re-build them.  It is very difficult to get a quote for work like this because there are so many variables even for my itsy-bitsy tini-tiny basement (more of a root-cellar than a basement.)