Math works, kids – or, why I love Excel – or, does adding principal really shorten your loan that much

Update 01/08/2021 A quick update to this post I sent to the internets almost 6 years ago… My prediction on the first home was just about right. I got it paid off in August of 2019 after requesting a payoff amount from the bank. So that one was free 13 years ahead of schedule, just like math said it would be. On the new house, one thing I had not anticipated was the natural increase in my monthly payment due to property tax and insurance premiums going up. Both make perfect sense, because the house has doubled in value (on paper) since I purchased it. That is quite literal. The value it shows now on major real estate websites is about $218,000. When we purchased it, that price was right at $100,000. So the monthly payment was increasing each year as escrow had to account for these things to pay Continue reading Math works, kids – or, why I love Excel – or, does adding principal really shorten your loan that much