text: My wife and I paid off our 1982 1st mortgage (16%) in 5 years, 9 months, at age 34. We found not having a mortgage made our lives less stressful and gave us more options about spending post mortgage.
  
  Oh, we also bought a minivan without a loan while paying off the mortgage. They would only let us pay 10% of the Principle, once a year,  in addition to the regular mortgage payments. That 1986 van lasted us until the oil pump broke in 2006, although we bought a 2nd mini-van in 1992. Buying a new vehicle every 3 years or less is insanity, despite it being a common bad financial habit. I used transit from 1985 on, when I didn't bike to work.
  
  One employer even let me expense my monthly transit pass, as a cheaper alternative to subsidising a parking spot by $100 per month plus tax. My kids and wife could also use the pass, when they didn't have a youth pass or College Student Card as Bus Pass of their own. An Express bus stops next block, something we considered when buying our home.