I'm eight years into a 30 year mortgage, having paid off about 10% of the total amount of the original loan. Does it make sense to refinance now if I can get a rate that is about 5/8 of a point lower than my current rate? This would shave about $250 off of my monthly payments. But then I'll still be paying for this loan for eight additional years after the original one would have been paid off, right? How do I calculate how much additional $$ I'll owe overall, and how do I decide whether paying more later is worth saving money now?
posted by ericbop on Oct 26, 2009 - 16 answers

I’m in grad school and work full time. I have several Federal student loans in deferment, all of which are subsidized or unsubsidized with different interest rates. I have an extra $500 each month that I'd like to use towards my loans. If I want to have lower monthly payments when my loans go into repayment, should I make extra payments now towards the interest from unsubsidized loans with a lower interest rate or the principal of subsidized loans with a higher interest rate? Or is there a better approach? [more inside]
posted by yeoja on Sep 22, 2009 - 9 answers

I recently started graduate school supported by a National Science Foundation IGERT Fellowship and I just received my first paycheck--without any taxes taken out of it. Am I exempt from paying tax (state and federal) on my fellowship stipend because it's from the government? [more inside]
posted by Aanidaani on Jul 31, 2009 - 14 answers

How to determine how much I'm owed by someone who's not going to pay regularly ? (in Excel preferably). [more inside]
posted by southof40 on Jun 22, 2009 - 7 answers

Having bought a house, I'm now faced with paying a mortgage. You save a few bucks (and the effort of remembering to mail a check each month) if you have the payments deducted automatically from your bank account; is there any reason I shouldn't do this (assuming I keep enough of a balance to cover it)?
posted by languagehat on Jan 2, 2004 - 12 answers