The Mrs. and I were super excited about two things on our mortgage statement this month. Sounds like someone getting excited about the new phone book coming it, right? Well, there's no misplaced emotions here. These are actually pretty cool things, and they wouldn't be so had we of opted for the standard issue 30-yr mortgage.


Cool thing number one:
Our balance is below $100,000. We got a great deal on our house (even though it needed a lot of updating). We bought for way under original asking price and had some concessions on top of that. Then we put 20% down to avoid PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance, foreclosure insurance for the lender that you pay for!). It's a mental win really. It just feels great to know that we owe less that $100k, when we know so many spending 3x what we did. With a 30-year mortgage, our payments would have been less, and we would not have as much payed off by now.


Cool thing number two:
Our payment is almost equal parts interest and principle. A year and a half in, and we're nearly split between the two. Again, kind of a mental win as nobody likes to look at these things and see 90% of that monthly payment going to interest. Again, 30-yr notes don't amortize as fast as a 15-yr.


When was the last time you felt good about your mortgage?