Layout:
Home > HELOC Progress and Frustration

HELOC Progress and Frustration

February 18th, 2013 at 04:52 am

First, the progress: DH has finally decided that he's sick of the HELOC and wants it paid off! We opened it a few years back to do some capital improvements on the house. We got a good deal, prime minus 1/2% from BOA, so it currently sits at about 2.74%. Works out to about $100/month, on a balance of just under $45k. All this time, hubby has been fine paying the interest, because there's never been any compelling need to pay the principle. Being the more frugal of the two, it drives me nuts, so I'd throw some snowflakes here and there.

Well this weekend, he was in our bathroom (one of the projects) and was annoyed that we're still paying for it. So he's on board to get it down. I had set the goal of getting it to below $30k, which will be a much easier goal with him on board.

Here's the frustration: I closed my BOA checking account a while back and opened an account at a credit union. I've been meaning to set up auto bill payment so I could pay the HELOC electronically, instead of having to go to the branch. I figured I'd test it out with the $55 in snowflakes I have so far this month. So I set it up, hit the send button, and *duh*, realized that there was no way for me to indicate that it was for principle only, and not my regular payment.

It's not the end of the world; I'll just go to the branch and hand in the payment as I always do, but it's so much less convenient than I'd hoped. It also means I paid the March bill a few weeks early but that's ok too.

I will be *SO* happy when I terminate my relationship with BOA for good!

3 Responses to “HELOC Progress and Frustration”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    1361194337

    That is frustrating! It just might get you to pay it off even sooner. Smile

  2. Petunia 100 Says:
    1361205173

    Before giving up on bill pay, I suggest you give B of A a call and ask how your payments will be applied. You may find that once the accrued interest is paid, all else is applied to principal. If that is the case, then you're fine. Even if your extra payment should hit before the regular payment, that's OK. Your extra will go to interest, but then when the regular payment is applied, there is that much less interest to pay, so more of the regular payment goes to principal.

  3. rob62521 Says:
    1361206023

    It is easier when the hubster gets on board for savings...my DH finally realized that my scrimping is to free up money for bigger and better items and is now fully on board.

Leave a Reply

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)
*
Will not be published.
   

* Please spell out the number 4.  [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]