A friend and I were talking the other night about our house payments and how they pay $200 extra a month to knock out the principal. They said they look at their amoritization schedule every month and it's shocking how much goes to interest. I know that is true but I used to prefer to be ignorant about such things. Nowt hat I am not a kid anymore, I've started thinking about retirement and how to best handle my finances between now and then.
I found this really helpful loan calculator that breaks down interest and principal but also provides a year-end recap at the end of each year. Our year one says:
You will spend $8,144.79 on your loan in year 1
$7,372.08 will go towards INTEREST
$772.71 will go towards PRINCIPAL
When you look at it in plain english like that, it gives you a whole new level of insight. Less than a thousand bucks towards actually paying this thing off. YIKES!!! I'm rethinking that new car I want in two years. Go punch some numbers in and be amazed!