Do you have a little extra cash each month from refinancing your home? Have you considered what to do with the money? Please don’t be fooled into thinking the amount is too small to make a difference. With time and compound interest on your side, your little bit of savings now could become a much greater amount later.

We all know the struggle—you’re looking at a house, but then find out you can’t really afford it. Here’s a total payment and qualification calculator to see a home’s monthly payment, the amount of cash you’ll likely need to close, and income needed to qualify for the mortgage.

If you’re thinking of selling your home, you’re probably wondering how much you stand to receive as you plan your next steps. Plug in numbers to estimate the revenue from your sale, accounting for your loan balances and expenses. Remember that your home loan payoff amount will be higher than your loan balance. To get the most accurate result, it helps to add a month of interest expense. When you finish, you’ll have a net amount to use when planning for a down payment and closing costs on your next home.

Owning your home “free and clear” may be easier to achieve than you believe. Use this calculator to see how much extra you would need to add to your regular payment so you can pay off your mortgage loan early. As you’ll see, a relatively small extra investment can make a big difference over time.
Just remember that the monetary value of an early pay-off equates to what you save in interest. Since mortgage interest can often be tax deductible, there may be better ways to use your cash to build wealth. Always check with your financial advisor before making these types of decisions.