Extra Mortgage Payments

by FrugalBabe on November 10, 2007

For the last few years, we’ve been sending about an extra $100 to our mortgage company each month.  Our main mortgage is $1070/month, and we would just send in $1170.   Last month, we decided to start increasing that amount by $10 each month.  My logic is that $10 isn’t an amount that you miss, but over time, it will add up.  So I sent in an extra $110 in principal last month, and this month I’ll send an extra $120. 

When we first got our mortgage, almost 5 years ago, the amount that went towards principal each month was about $150 (we weren’t paying any extra in the beginning).  Last month, $220 went towards principal, plus the extra $110.  I love seeing the amount that goes towards principal increasing every month.  It usually only goes up by a dollar or two, but I like it anyway. 

Obviously we’ve got a long way to go, and paying off our mortgage is not our number one priority.  But we would like to pay it off in about 10 more years, and every little step helps. 

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  • http://blog.midnightskyfibers.com jenn

    What is scary to me (depending on the mortgage type) is how long it takes for the principal you are paying to actually equal the interest.

  • http://Iadded10.00amonthtomine Mary Ann Kimbler

    I added just 10.00 a month to my payment and ever 5 months was a full payment My interest was also charged on a daily basic too so paying one day ahead each month saved us 19,00 a day in interest.
    if you don’t need to get ahold of the money great way for your money to grow is to pay extra on your mortgage. You get around 300% interest on the money

  • http://tiredbuthappy.blogspot.com TBH

    I was overpaying ours for a while, but we are so far from maxing our retirement accounts that I decided it was foolish to pay down a debt that’s fixed at 5.25. I still round up to the nearest 100, so I’m paying about $15 extra per month, but no more.

    But I so want to pay it off early! It’s taking a lot of will power to keep from prepaying it.

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