House Mortgage -- Countdown

[Gailete]

Markr - starting with that first payment round up your total to the nearest $1-5-10-25 that you can afford. and be sure it is applied to the principle. Even really small amounts add up over time and the more principle you pay sooner than later, the less interest you will owe over time.

[snafu]

markr, since you are just starting your mortgage payments, I suggest paying attention to how your money is allocated. How much goes to principal, how much to interest, taxes and other costs. If you can eek out a small extra amount to apply directly to principal regularly, it makes a difference long term.

[markr867]

Our first mortgage payment is due next month... yikes!

So... $304,000 and 360 payments to go

[Gailete]

tTanks folks! It is nice to be able to share with people that understand! For much of his last 14-15 years he has worked FT plus PT besides being heavily involved in church, a city wide young adult group, and helping me with groceries, etc. Doesn't own a credit card, so his whole life is cash paid. He has been influenced by reading the Dave Ramsey books and even though the SL and his car are the only loans he has made, he still wanted to get out from under them ASAP! So proud of that boy. For those that don't understand what it is like to raise an autistic child - they come in all shapes and sizes and abilitites. It took him till he was 10 to be able to tie his shoes, 'kindof'. I was never sure he would even be able to get a job and I might have him at home (or his dad would) forever! So to me he is a living, breathing miracle.

[snafu]

Gailete, thank you for sharing these details with the SA community. You certainly started my day on an uplifting positive note that I sorely need. Please pass along my congratulations to son when he get's SL paid off.

[disneysteve]

That's awesome, Gailete!

[Gailete]

Good for you with knocking out the student loans!

Last night my son called up sobbing into the phone. He is my autistic son for whom the path has rarely been smooth or easy. He has been working like a dog for years now to get his student loans paid off. Turns out he was getting down to the last year or so of payments and with our financial difficulties, I haven't been able to help, but my mom and step dad sent him a check yesterday for what was left owing on his student loans. I didn't even ask how much it was, but I remember hearing her ask him a few weeks ago how much he owed. I cried too. Not something that happens everyday and it certainly isn't because they are wealthy--no way at all could they do the same for ALL their grandkids, but my son has impressed them big time over the last few years. He asked me one thing as he wanted to be sure that they could afford to do this and I knew if I didn't answer right, he would give them the check back no matter how much he wanted to keep it. Just so thankful for this. His paying back his student loans has kept him from having enough cash to move out of his current low cost apartment into one that is a lot closer to his current job and would save big on gas thus of course helping his whole budget.

I know this a thread on mortgage countdowns, but for sure a school loan count down is every bit as important. I'm so happy

[disneysteve]

I don't think I've posted for a couple of months.

Mortgage balance stands at $34,265 at the moment.

I don't greatly accelerate payments at this point. I just round up to the nearest hundred.

We're focusing extra money on the Parent PLUS student loan we took out for college last fall. We borrowed $15,000 and the current balance is $9,618 so we're trying to knock it out pretty quickly. We're paying $1,000/month but missed December and only paid $500 in January. Back on track now since I changed the job status and boosted my income so it should be gone by December. We will need one more loan for next school year but should be able to throw $1,000/month minimum at that also.

[snafu]

Back to previous rumination...If you rented @ $ 1K per month, at this point you would have a pile of receipts, no tangible value; house adds $ 225K to your net worth while providing 'a roof overhead.'

BTW, when calculating value/expense, what deduction for income tax? Is that sum when defined, transferred as a lump sum payment directly to principal? Property/municipal tax & HOA if applicable are more personal choice category for location.

[Randomsaver]

I don't know what the TIP would be, but most of the times over the years when I have seen an amortization chart for a loan. For a 30 year loan, you usually end up paying 2 times the amount of the loan in interest! A 15 year loan is less.

I would think 25% is a lot better than 200% (or whatever the math is) Sorry rather fuzzy headed today. Had a bad fall and am on more than usual pain meds. Glad to still be alive though!

I seem to have taken out far too many mortgages over the years and have been appalled at how much interest would need to be paid even at fairly low interest amounts. Never was able to get anything extra against it until this year.

For sure, you should not kick yourself if at most you can only save a couple hundred or thousands $$$ as you are doing far more than many who not only never seem to make a dent in the mortgage, also keep taking out HELOC on the equity in their homes for trips to Disney, a new car, jet skis, redecorating every 10 years, etc.

You're right. Thanks and hope you're feeling better from the fall.

[Gailete]

I don't know what the TIP would be, but most of the times over the years when I have seen an amortization chart for a loan. For a 30 year loan, you usually end up paying 2 times the amount of the loan in interest! A 15 year loan is less.

I would think 25% is a lot better than 200% (or whatever the math is) Sorry rather fuzzy headed today. Had a bad fall and am on more than usual pain meds. Glad to still be alive though!

I seem to have taken out far too many mortgages over the years and have been appalled at how much interest would need to be paid even at fairly low interest amounts. Never was able to get anything extra against it until this year.

For sure, you should not kick yourself if at most you can only save a couple hundred or thousands $$$ as you are doing far more than many who not only never seem to make a dent in the mortgage, also keep taking out HELOC on the equity in their homes for trips to Disney, a new car, jet skis, redecorating every 10 years, etc.

[Randomsaver]

This 2015 article said American will average $280K of total interest payment over lifetime.

http://time.com/money/3669026/lifetime-interest-payments/

[Randomsaver]

My research shows this is called TIP, Total Interest Percentage.

[Randomsaver]

So my projection is I would pay 27.5% of my loan to the banks as interest.

When I started this loan, I told myself I would aim to keep it below 25%. Looks like I failed that.

Is 27.5% too high to pay? How is your experience? I'm researching today if I can find any survey or study on this.

[Randomsaver]

Focused Debt : $15K

Focused Debt : $14K

Happy April Fool's!