pay more on house or put more in savings

[me&thegals]

Here's a ?. I should know this but don't. If you prepay on your mortgage, and then later have problems making payments, can you stop paying until those "prepayments" catch up with you?

 

[journey11]

When you make extra payments or even just add a little extra onto your usual payment (and particularly if you specify it as a principle payment only) you are screwing the lender out of interest money they were planning to make off of your loan. However, this doesn't incline them to do you any favors. While you may be able to get them to work with you a little if you fall on hard times, they are not going to credit you in the future for "advance payments".

 

[TanksHill]

Since then we have rebuilt the larder. We went over two months without hitting a grocery store for anything other than milk. (working on that one)

Chicken feed is going to go up so we're stocking that, everything we need to be self sustaining as long as possible first..... Then back to the bank. Then extra on the mortgage. We, too are debt free other than the house.

This is my plan as well. When I get over the hump I will split the extra between stocking back up the pantry and the savings account. Then move forward on deferred house maintenance then finally to the mortgage.

Hopefully it will all go as planned.

 

[me&thegals]

When you make extra payments or even just add a little extra onto your usual payment (and particularly if you specify it as a principle payment only) you are screwing the lender out of interest money they were planning to make off of your loan. However, this doesn't incline them to do you any favors. While you may be able to get them to work with you a little if you fall on hard times, they are not going to credit you in the future for "advance payments".

Thanks So, I would be even more inclined to agree with others on building up a good-sized emergency fund. If your job is at all shaky, I would suggest saving in a safe or rather short-term place rather than paying down the mortgage. Unless your mortgage is super high interest, in which case you may want to pay down the mortgage first...

 

[bornthrifty]

so much good advice here,

I think I am leaning toward a itshtf fund,

and then an emergency fund some cash in the mattress, lol some in the bank

and then a slush fund of sorts for car, repairs and such

and then after those things pay off the house,

and after that I think save 20% down for the next place a farm, sell old place and gooooo

hopefully I wont be to old by then lol

 

[Mattemma]

I would add to savings to cushion any income loss that may occur later.

It will benefit you to make atleast one extra mortgage payment on the home loan each year.That will decrease the amount of interest paid to the bank.Specify it to go on the principal only.

Here is a good example showing what a little extra on the principal can do:http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/DrDon/20060119a1.asp