I recently decided to take on the task of mastering a subject that has long alluded me despite my previous attempts to understand it.  That subject is, of course, where the heck my money goes!  Specifically, where exactly those enormous monthly mortgage payments get spirited off to.  With the help of an online mortgage amortization calculator I was finally able to figure out just how my monthly mortgage payment gets split into principal, interest, taxes and fees.

Now, this may not seem like too big of a deal to most of you but let me assure you that to me this was a truly monstrous task.  And I couldn’t be more proud of myself.  It has already lead to some very positive effects on my budgeting.  It’s also very satisfying to see that each month the amount of interest that I pay on my mortgage gets smaller and smaller.  Of course this means that the amount of money going to pay off the principal of my loan gets bigger and bigger.  Very satisfying indeed!