Earlier this year, my husband and I dropped a major debt we had been carrying around for years — our home mortgage. We decided many years ago that we wanted to be entirely debt-free by the age of 40, and we made it with a few years to spare, as we're both 38 now.

But, we didn't pay off our mortgage the traditional way. Instead of funneling cash via paper checks or online banking, we charged our mortgage payments to a credit card to earn rewards along the way.

Read more at CNBC.