Mortgage-Free!

Today I paid off our mortgage after just about 15 years as a homeowner.

Here preparation made the difference. I'd stopped in a couple of times at the bank to make deposits and made a point of asking the lady at the loan desk if I could just "phone it in" or would have to come in person. "Phone it in" would be fine.

Today when I called and asked for the "loan" area, the receptionist's response was "Matt's not here, he'll be in later today would you like to leave a message?" I was pretty sure the lady's name wasn't Matt so I physically described the person I was thinking about. That cleared up the confusion, as she thought I was calling to refinance.

When she put me through to Vicky, I was told that it'd be no problem... just drop by and make the payment. To which I replied "If I have enough in my checking account, can I just have you draw it from there?" Sure, no problem.

Preparation saved me what could have been several wasted hours waiting for Matt to tell me that I should be talking to Vicky, and also a needless trip to the bank.