One of the reasons I think I am so good at savings, is because I can "nickel and dime" my savings and all those little bits really, really add up. If I have $5 bucks to put in there, I can transfer it to savings right away and it's out of sight out of mind. With paying down the mortgage, I only make payments once a month. If I have $5, or $30 or whatever I want to put towards it, it can seem to disappear in checking, at the bar or wherever before its time to put it on the loan.
So I came up with a new strategy that works with my savings style. I opened up a new, free checking account at the same bank as our mortgage, and now I can "nickle and dime" that account for the month, then withdrawl the balance each month and add it to our normal principle payment. I think this will really help me with dropping that balance more and more each month.
I opened the account yesterday with $70 that I had planned on adding to the mortgage principle, and then today I took in our change, $60, and added that to the account. So already $130 extra to add to the principle payment for June! This way if I have $5 or whatever I want to add it will be kept seperate and go to the right place, plus I can easily transfer from my regular checking to the mortgage checking with my internet banking.
Also just for opening the account I got to pick a free gift, I was excited/surprised by that, because I already have an account there, so I didn't think I would qualify for the free gift. I chose a Sunebeam Baking Pan, it also came with a lid.