Check Your Financial Accounts Regularly - It Matters!

My mortgage company ate my principal payment for January. I looked at my account online and my $1000 additional principal payment was credited as if it was a regular payment, only early. About half went to interest! And now, because I "owe" so little for my February payment date, the bank is only going to debit $8. Ugh! Arrrgh! I was almost below $127,000 in principal and I wanted to see the number move!

It is so close to the regular payment date that reversing the mid-month payment may not affect the amount set to debit next week, leaving me with a missed payment. According to the nice lady on the phone my best option at this point is to let it ride until the monthly debit is done ($8 instead of the usual $1004), then use the rest of the $1004 I had for the payment and make a principal payment. According to the lady on the phone the difficulty arose because I have a fixed rate equity loan (my second mortgage) and they are "tricky". Sheesh. Everything about banks is tricky!

During the conversation, the phone rep told me that there is a separate address for principal payments and the best way to make sure that my principal payments are indeed credited towards principal is to mail them to this address. I wish somebody had told me that in the beginning!

She also showed me how to make payments online using my account at a different bank. That was neat! I can make free payments at any time. I think that this is how I will make principal payments in the future. When I get paid I pay bills and put money in savings but I put money towards savings in even hundred amounts, usually leaving me with less that $100 that I just roll over into next payday's budget. Instead I could send this money towards principal payments and help my debt snowball. Sweet!