How We Got a Mortgage Free Home

Part One

While most people dream of owning a big beautiful home, I dream of owning a small home without any debt. For me the idea of never having to pay rent again and continuing my debt-free lifestyle means being free. Without that simple payment in my life, I am free to do whatever I please and always have a place to go home to. The financial pressures of making a lot of money become minimal. Additionally, owning an off-grid home means that utility costs are also minimal. Having a small home means having a small footprint, buying less things to fill it up with and less space to clean! (I really don't like cleaning.)

My husband and I bought our first home in 2007, right after we married. We used money gifted to us for our wedding on the down payment of a sweet mountain home in Penasco, New Mexico. It was fairly inexpensive for NM at $165K because it was very rural and far from most amenities. The closest village was 5 miles away, but it didn't have more than a gas station, a Family Dollar, a s…