What are you willing to sacrifice?

I want to share this article with you guys. It is from a few years back but it is an encouraging story of one couple's journey to mortgage payoff. It begs the question, what are you willing to sacrifice? Here is a small snippet from the larger article - found here.

“My wife and I purchased our house in the fall of 2008 for $300,000. I believe the interest rate was 6%. We used the equity from our old house to pay off three small auto loans and to make a 35% down payment on our new house. The big down payment made it easy for us to refinance it two times since 2008 because we were never under water.

We didn’t want to buy a huge house with a huge mortgage. We decided not to let the bank or agent tell us how much house we could afford. WE did the math, WE knew our budget; therefore, WE decided how much we were comfortable paying each month. We found a house that works well for us within our budget.

Sure, it doesn’t have the desirable three-car garage that we wish we had, but a bigger garage comes with even a bigger mortgage, so we decided we could live with a smaller garage but with the smaller mortgage. [...] Back in 2008 the bank would have let us borrow two times the amount that we borrowed. Ouch!”

Two big take aways for me -

1. Decide early what you can afford, NOT what someone tells you that you can. What are you comfortable with paying each month? I will tell you that Ty and I are uncomfortable in our current house payment. That is a big and hard thing for me to admit but this house buying experience has taught us our limits. 

2. Lately I have had a case of the must-haves. I must have an en suite master bathroom, I must have a laundry room, I must have... and the list goes on and on. It is so hard to maintain perspective and ENJOY where I am living now when I am constantly looking ahead. When I keep the bigger picture of paying off our home early at hand, those things don't matter and once again I find contentment in our wonderful home. 

For this couple, living below their means and having a mortgage that they were comfortable in provided more peace than the fancy home with the big mortgage. Yes, it required sacrifice but it also gave them flexibility and allowed them to achieve their goal of financial freedom.

What do you think of this couple's story? Can you relate? 
What are you sacrificing to achieve your goal of mortgage freedom? Are you driving around your car from high school? (we are!) Are you going out to eat less, and staying in to cook more? Are you living in a place that's not quite your dream home?