An amortization schedule shows how your mortgage will be repaid. It lists the required payment on each specific date, how much of each payment is interest, and how much of each payment is applied to principal. It also shows the principal balance you owe after each monthly payment.

Some mortgage companies include an amortization schedule in the documents you receive at final settlement. These schedules are also available on-line. For example, you can get a very nice schedule for free at the following website: http://ray.met.fsu.edu/~bret/amortize.html

When you create an amortization schedule on the internet, you’ll need to enter the following information:

1. The amount of your mortgage
2. Your annual interest rate
3. The number of monthly payments per year (12)
4. The number of monthly payments you will make over the entire life of the loan. (30 years = 360 months)

You can use your amortization schedule to keep you up to date on your mortgage balance, to verify that your mortgage company has been properly giving you credit for each of your monthly payments, and to make prepayments of principal.

For detailed information about how to use your amortization schedule to make prepayments of principal, see the page on this website entitled “Making Prepayments Of Principal.”