How much do I need to pay on my mortgage?

Hello - I assume your original mortgage was for $120,000 taken in November 2007. This means your outstanding balance is now approximately $117,600.

If that is the case, then if you want it paid off 15 years from now, then you would need to pay an extra $217 per month toward the principal balance (and make sure to write that on your payment coupon). If you did that, you would be paid off in November 2024. If you wanted it paid off 13 years from now (November 2021) you would need to add an extra $335 per month.

Hazard Escrow is the amount they set aside for your property and hazard insurance. ($98.17 x 12 = $1,178 per year). This amount for a property insurance bill seems unusually high. My insurance bill is about one half of that amount, so you may want to talk with your insurance agent to see if increasing your deductibles or changing your coverage might reduce your policy costs.

Also, you are paying $41 a month for PMI insurance, which is insurance that only benefits the bank if you lose your house to foreclosure. Under federal law, if you can get to a point where your mortgage is only 80% of the value of your house, and you have 20% equity in your house, then you can ask for the PMI charge to be removed. That would be some very quick savings if you could get to a a point where housing values recover and you have some equity in the house again. If you are negative right now, it's not applicable, but something to definitely watch for in the future.

However, as much as not having a house payment is a good thing, you should keep in mind that a 6.5% interest rate is a very good one, and paying your mortgage off faster might not be your best financial strategy. For example, if you have other kinds of debt, such as a car loan or credit cards, you are better off paying those down faster than paying down your mortgage. And, if you have a retirement plan at work (401k plan) and you are not contributing the most you can to that plan, you would be better off in the long run maximizing that contribution, because it saves a lot in taxes. And, if you don't have an emergency fund in the bank of at least three months' worth of living expenses in case you get laid off, I would put money there before putting it into the house.

As you are finding out, refinancing is very expensive and once you prepay a mortgage, they won't give it back to you without a refi. So, look at your budget and financial plan in total before paying down your mortgage more quickly. Most financial advisors recommend keeping your mortgage as the last thing you pay off, because getting money out of the walls of your house is expensive, hard and time consuming.

What I would do is the following:

1. Talk with your insurance company about maybe ways to lower your house insurance costs, and use those extra funds to pay down debts other than your mortgage.

2. If you normally get a tax refund, change your withholding at work to get more take home pay.

3. Make sure you are contributing the maximum you can to 401k plans and IRA plans (both you and your spouse) so that you build retirement savings and lower your income taxes.

4. Make sure you have an emergency fund set up in a savings account of at least 3 months' living expenses in case of emergency.

5. Pay off any extra debt you have, especially credit cards or car loans, and save up for your next car in a savings account, so you don't have to take on another loan when the time comes to buy a car.

6. Watch housing values in your area, and the minute your loan balance drops below 80% of the house's market value, apply to have your PMI cancelled.

Then, only then, if you still have extra cash, pay down your mortgage with extra payments toward the balance.

Good luck.

there are tons of mortgage calculators on the internet.

the easy way to do it is to just pay extra each month on the "principle" equal to the current months principle portion of the mortgage payment - that will pay off the loan twice as fast - that amount WILL increase each month and the balance goes down