Right now we owe 13 house payments. :)

Last payment is due Feb 09.

I'm thinking when income taxes come back ... I could make three payments... so that it would be paid off in Nov 08 instead.

Or I could put more toward it ...maybe 4-5 total.. Because some bills have to be paid with the tax refund. (dental care that NEEDS to be done, insurances, and taxes)

Would you pay more toward it, to get it paid off sooner, then have "extra" each month?
Or just keep paying the house payment like normal, then put the refund money back for the other stuff. (other insurance due every 6 months)

*house payments are $350 a month

Does this make any sense? LOL


*and while it does sound good ... we are 5 people in a small two bedroom house lol so we need to get a bigger house soon ... so the plan is .. when the house is paid off, put that house payment into savings for a downpayment/ closing costs on a new house.

* even though the house is small, it would be a huge relief to also own it and not owe the payments. ykwim

are the payments all principal? I would call and get a payoff amount as of feb 1 (or whenever you think you will have the tax refund). You may be surprised that the amount is lower.

are the payments all principal? I would call and get a payoff amount as of feb 1 (or whenever you think you will have the tax refund). You may be surprised that the amount is lower.


They did give an amorization ... it shows

Date Principal Interest Principal Balance

2/08 $313.31 $35.69 $3,969.77

3/08 $315.92 $33.08 $3,653.84

4/08 $318.56 $30.45 $3,335.28

5/08 $321.21 $25.12 $3,014.07

6/08 $323.89 $22.42 $2,690.18

7/08 $326.59 $22.42 $2,363.60

8/08 $329.31 $19.70 $2,034.29

9/08 $332.05 $16.95 $1,702.23

10/08 $334.82 $14.19 $1,367.41

11/08 $337.61 $11.40 $1,029.80

12/08 $340.42 $8.58 $689.38

1/09 $343.26 $5.74 $346.12

2/09 $346.12 $2.88 $0


So in March 08 the pay off would be $3,653.84

We have to many other things that HAVE to be paid, to pay the full amount.

*Dh is supposed to get a settlement for the scars on his hand from workmans comp ... don't have a clue what it will be though. I've tried searching and can find how they determine the amount, but it doesn't really help give an idea of the actual amount.

I have no suggestions mama... just envy over your house payment. :drop: Mine is $1400/ month!!

We made extra payments of whatever we could whenever we could. We wrote one check for the mortgage payment. we wrote a seperate check for PRINCIPAL ONLY for whatever extra we had when bonuses/refunds/etc came our way.

Why would you have to pay off your house to get a new one? Are you not going to sell this one when you get another one?
(I am asking because I can't envision being able to pay off a house before buying another one...at least before I am 70 :p) We have bought and sold three houses and used the proceeds from the previous house as a downpayment on the next house.

Why would you have to pay off your house to get a new one? Are you not going to sell this one when you get another one?
(I am asking because I can't envision being able to pay off a house before buying another one...at least before I am 70 :p) We have bought and sold three houses and used the proceeds from the previous house as a downpayment on the next house.

Low-income with poor credit..... we filed bankruptcy in 05. Can't get any credit to rebuild our credit. ykwim

One place said they would be able to give us a loan if we came back and reapplied in Nov 08.

Couldn't afford two payments if we bought a house before ours sold.

But untill we pay this off, we have no money to save toward closing costs/other costs.

The $350 payment is about all we could afford, unless we find a house that would have cheaper utility payments, right now on budget billing we pay $230

This house is insured at $32,000 ..... Not sure how much it would sell for.
What ever we sell this for will go toward the next house.... minus a bit for a new couch and the like. :)
Probably looking at at least $65,000 for the number of bedrooms and condition we'd like. ykwim

Just looked because I was thinking about it... Two houses on our block are for sale, about the same size, they are listed at $37,000 and $42,000.

So I'm not sure where ours would fall ....asking price and what they get different though.

I'm with you now.

Do you itemize on your taxes? If you do, you can deduct that mortgage interest. If you pay it off early, you won't be able to do that.

It is amazing to me that there are still homes in that price range!

Well, personally, I think 13 payments isn't too big of a deal. I wouldn't pay it off early. Instead, I would save a BIG chunk of that tax refund after having the necessities done (like the dental work!) and then you'll have that for when the next crisis strikes.

Paying your house down early isn't of huge benefit to you right now. You aren't going to earn much interest on any savings in 13 months and chance are, if you have the $350, it will get spent instead of saved.

HTH!

If you have other obligations or debt, I'd take care of them first. The mortgage would be last on my list. (but I'm coming from a quasi-Dave Ramsey viewpoint)

If you have extra money at all each month and your savings is where it should be, I'd put that extra on the house as a second principle only payment. (make sure you note that on the payment)

I hope I was reading your post correctly. *lol*

Michelle

Only debt we have right now is to the hospital, we pay $35 a month, interest free, we owe about $500 right now..... Thought about paying it off, but it is "only" $35 a month and no interest.

No money in savings, we live pay check to pay check with nothing extra for saving.

We take standard deduction on taxes, I always do it both ways to check... its always higher.

I'd use the tax refund to get the dental care for the family, insurances, & taxes and put some money ($500?) in savings. Then if there was money after that I'd put it toward the mortgage. But the hosp. bill would be bugging me so I'd want to pay that off.

I think that the best thing to do would be to pay off whatever you owe with the tax return, and then put the rest towards your dental bills (I need that too!)... Let the house lie. It is hard to fit 5 people into a small house (trust me, I know), but at the same time, another 2 months wouldn't be worth the extra stress it would take to have to wait for the other stuff. You know?

Congrats on being so close! It looks like you are doing a great job of not making the same mistake twice with your debt! That is completely wonderful and inspiring!

Val

I would just keep paying as you are and not worry about paying it off sooner.
Plus it will be a tax break for this year and a little bit of a deduction for 09.
I really am jealous of your house payment tho lol.Our first house was that low till we had to refinance and do a 2nd mortagage and then we consolidated them and had a payment of like $580 per month. I loved that payment our new payment is double plus some. We owe 12 years here and cant wait till we are down to only 13 payments lol.

If I did my math right LOL I think the interest for the year will only be $246.20
Right now we just take the standard deduction, I try it both ways each year, but it is always higher.

I'll pay all the important stuff first, then see what is left over.

I've been playing around with all the numbers. I think I'll be able to pay 4 months on the house. . Then it would be paid off before the Holidays .... it would be really nice to shop for gifts and buy dinner stuff without taking away from other things. (this end of the year was rough)

I've been trying to think of other things we need, but my brain is stuck. LOL