Debt Reduction, Mortgage

Mortgage Payoff Progress for October 2012 with Chart

It has been quite some time since I last updated you guys on our mortgage reduction progress.  First, a couple of reminders: My wife and I have a conventional 15-year mortgage and we recently reduced our interest rate.  Our September payment was the first payment to made at our new interest rate.

My wife and I purchased our first home back in February of 2010. Since then, we have been working hard to reduce our mortgage.  I changed jobs in August of 2011 – and we spent a few months adjusting to my new salary and our new financial situation.  Even with the change, we have managed to reduce our principal.

Our goal is to pay it off our mortgage in less than ten total years.

As of October 1, we have made 31 regular monthly mortgage payments. We have also made several additional principal-only payments.

Our mortgage payment is drafted from our primary checking on the first day of each month. Additional principal-only payments are made throughout each month, as we earn additional income and find ways to decrease budgeted-for expenses.

Here is our most recent chart –

 

The chart shows two percentages.

The blue percentage is how much I still owe – the balance.

The red percentage is how much I have reduced – the paid.

Now that we have lowered the interest rate on our mortgage, a larger percentage of our regular monthly payment will go towards principal, which rocks. Also, if we continue to make our old payment, we’ll pay of our mortgage even sooner, which rocks, too!

We are still sending extra, principal-only micro-payments. (Unlike credit card companies, our mortgage provider does not apply micro-payments throughout the month. Instead, all payments are processed on a single day. However, we send them in, throughout the month, because we like a “hands-on” approach to debt reduction. Being mindful, daily, helps to keep us motivated and focused.)

This chart does not represent how much of my house I actually own. It simply reflects how much of our mortgage balance we have paid.

We have made 31 regular payments and have lived in the house for a little more than two years. Our contractual remaining term is 12 years and 5 months, but our actual remaining term is 12 years. We have reduced the length of our mortgage by 5 months!

View all post related to our mortgage payoff progress.

2 thoughts on “Mortgage Payoff Progress for October 2012 with Chart

  1. Owned a house 2 years ago. I had paid maybe 25% of what it was originally worth at closing, but the value was not even 33% of the mortgage. I was underwater and bad. In looking at that graph, I would like to say all of that is relative to how much you owe and what the change is in the market.

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