I did the same thing. I paid cash for my vehicle and I have no debt beyond my mortgage. I bought a smaller, but nice brick home. My actual principal an interest were very reasonable at my fixed low rate. Here's what you left out. My property taxes have skyrocketed beyond any stretch of the imagination. That alone has jacked my mortgage payment to a ridiculous level. Please don't come back with, "well you have to plan for increases in insurance and taxes," because I actually did way before I closed on the home. No one could have predicted the amount that appraisals and tax rates jumped in just a few short years. No one has a crystal ball.