An intriguing concept, proposed by René Carayol MBE, is that almost anybody could pay off their mortgage in just two years in his ground-breaking television show, screened in Jan 2006, entitled (unsurprisingly) “Pay Off Your Mortgage In 2 Years”, in which he gave advice to 8 families on how this might be achieved.

In a follow-up series (“Did They Pay Off Their Mortgage In 2 Years?”), screened in Jan 2007, he revisited these same 8 families to find out if they achieved their goal – with, it must be said, somewhat variable success.

The advice itself isn’t exactly rocket science (minimise living expenses and maximise income). What made this new and different was the almost fanatically single-minded approach, where families were encouraged to devote all their activities to money-making schemes while simultaneously cutting out all the little luxuries and creature comforts we all take for granted.

So, is his advice valid? – Well, probably yes, if perhaps a little too single-minded for some people.

After all, for most of us money is merely a means to end (it buys us what we really want – a comfortable lifestyle), but Mr Carayol’s advice transforms money into the primary goal.

So the question is not whether or not the technique is valid (because it clearly is) but more whether or not you’re prepared to essentially put your life on hold for two years, which is by no means an easy proposition.