Aye Carumba!!! I'm so glad it's been a long time since I've been on the wrong side of P+I payments. I bought my first house in 1999, and moved 3 years after that. Still in the same house - though our runway to moving is going to be about a year or so. Not to rub it in to anyone, but I paid it off last April. THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is the benefit of home ownership - less than 20 years, and no more monthly payments. Ever. I consider myself very lucky in that regard - between the profit we made on the first house, getting the 2nd house for a steal, re-financing with a shortened amortization period when interest rates bottomed out, and my separation package last year ... we had a run of good things happen to get to this point.
Don't get me started on property taxes though.