Is this correct thinking about principal and interest?

[CathyA]

We have a home equity loan. Every month on the statement, the minimum payment is the amount of interest for that month. I paid a bigger portion off this month, and meant to tell them to put it towards the principal and not the interest, but I forgot. But then I realized that this was sort of silly, since we pay the interest off as we go. This is unlike other types of loans, like college loans, that you don't have to pay back until 6 months after you graduate. In this latter case, the interest has built up and if you want to pay more one month, then its appropriate to say "use this extra on the principal", right?
So........if we're paying the minimum every month (or more) on our Home Equity loan, that extra will always, naturally, go to the principal.
Am I correct in my thinking?
Thanks.

[Polliwog]

We have a home equity loan. Every month on the statement, the minimum payment is the amount of interest for that month. I paid a bigger portion off this month, and meant to tell them to put it towards the principal and not the interest, but I forgot. But then I realized that this was sort of silly, since we pay the interest off as we go. This is unlike other types of loans, like college loans, that you don't have to pay back until 6 months after you graduate. In this latter case, the interest has built up and if you want to pay more one month, then its appropriate to say "use this extra on the principal", right?
So........if we're paying the minimum every month (or more) on our Home Equity loan, that extra will always, naturally, go to the principal.
Am I correct in my thinking?
Thanks.

Cathy,

You are correct. I do the same thing. I always pay more than the minimum which brings down the principal. Otherwise, i would never get paid off. Ugh.

[CathyA]

Thanks Polliwog.

[RosieTR]

Regular mortgages usually require you to specify principal, but not sure about HELOCs. Maybe double-check your next statement to be sure...it would be a nasty surprise to find out it's not going to principal for whatever technicality.