My Debt Blog

In the Land of Lincoln (Illinois) we pay our property taxes a year behind. The tax bill for 2007 came in back in May and has two payment due dates. The first installment is typically due at the start of June, and the second is due at the start of September. I have an escrow for my property taxes, which is basically an extra chunk of money I pay along with my mortgage payment to be set aside in an account to pay this bill. The first payment was made back in May, and the second payment will be made this month. As it turns out though when they recalculated my escrow account, I have actually overpaid my escrow. The bank sent me a refund check for overpayment.

In addition to this bit of positive news, because I have overpaid in the past, I have a new mortgage payment going forward. I will pay about $23 less per month that can go towards other things, this saves around $276 a year. This new payment will come effective next month as I have already paid my mortgage this month.

It’s been a concern of mine this month regarding running out of money before 8/15. After the bills get paid there was very little remaining for food and gas. Even though $140 doesn’t make a huge difference, it will make it easier. At the same time with the EF gone, I’m considering putting this $140 into the EF since it wasn’t something that we planned on having.

As sad as it sounds my stress level went way down after reading the mortgage paperwork and receiving this check. It might be psychological but I have a strong need to make sure my ducks are in a row or I get really stressed out. Another thing that reduces my stress level and gets me fired up is paying off a credit card.