Since today is a company holiday, I decided to use it to jump start my quest to cut the 5.5 years down...WAY down, to a hopeful 2 years!
1st up - verify bank accounts (which led to the previous post)
2nd - pay the remaining bills due this pay period
The mortgage was first on that list. Unfortunately, I put it off too long. I had the money in the account, but just didn't get around to mailing the payment before the grace period was up. That means I am adding a late fee of $26.80 to the payment.
Completely my fault, completely avoidable. So, I have to spend less in another area of my spending plan this month or put $26.80 less towards the remodeling project. Given my goal, I'm voting for the first option.
While in the area of mortgage, I decided it was worth a few minutes to make sure everything else was neat and tidy with this creditor. Apparently, their records show I've been late 1 other time at some point over the last 6 months, so a phone call to the company is next on my list.
................................
Okay, after a call to verify, I agree. They show my December payment was late and my bank records agree. Family came in town and I got side-tracked. So, another check has been written to take care of that - all caught up!
While on the call, I also verified my new payment amount (effective beginning March) and was excited to find it will only increase $6.77 a month!
Last item to resolve while on the call...access to their website. With the remodeling going on, I've misplaced the little card they sent to use for log in. A new one will be mailed tomorrow. Once received, the information will be added to my Emergency Information Worksheet.
My homeowner's insurance and property taxes are included with my monthly payment. Both have been reviewed and verified to be reasonable. The only way to keep this cost low(er) is to avoid that pesky late fee.
Now, my largest monthly bill is all nice and neat.
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