Loans
Let Evensum calculate your loans' remaining balance, interest, and payoff date automatically, and understand the effect of extra repayments.
Adding a loan
In the Loans section you record each ongoing loan once:
- Name: a label for recognition, e.g. "Mortgage"
- Loan amount: the original principal
- Nominal rate p.a.: the nominal annual rate from the loan contract (e.g. 3.49 %)
- Monthly payment: the fixed annuity made up of interest and principal
- First installment on: the date of the first payment
- Effective annual rate per contract (optional): informational only – Evensum also computes the effective rate itself
- Notes: space for contract number, bank, etc.
An active loan that isn't paid off yet automatically gets its own managed item in Recurring costs (e.g. "Mortgage – installment"). The amount follows the monthly installment; you configure split, account, and category there like for any other item — which is how the installment flows into settlements and the monthly transfers per account. Once the loan is paid off, paused, or deleted, the item disappears automatically.
Nominal rate vs. effective annual rate
The nominal rate is the rate used to calculate monthly interest. Because interest accrues monthly rather than annually, the actual effective annual rate ends up slightly higher due to compounding:
effective annual rate = (1 + nominal rate / 12)^12 − 1
Example: at a nominal rate of 3.49 % p.a., (1 + 0.0349/12)^12 − 1 ≈ 3.55 % effective. Evensum shows this figure automatically for every loan. If the contractual effective rate deviates noticeably more, it usually reflects extra costs such as processing fees.
Balance and payoff date
Evensum simulates the loan month by month as a classic amortizing (annuity) loan:
- Interest on the current balance:
interest = balance × nominal rate / 12 - The rest of the payment is the principal portion, which reduces the balance
- As the balance shrinks, the interest portion shrinks and the principal portion grows accordingly
- Once the balance reaches zero, the loan is paid off – this date is shown as the payoff date
From this simulation, Evensum automatically derives: today's balance, progress as a percentage, total interest paid over the lifetime, and the months remaining. If the payment doesn't even cover the first month's interest, the loan can't be created at all – the balance would never shrink otherwise.
Extra repayments and their effect
On top of the regular payment, you can record any number of extra repayments per loan – unscheduled payments that directly reduce the balance. The effect is twofold: a shorter term and less interest, since a smaller balance accrues interest from that point on.
Example: a loan of €10,000 at 5 % p.a., payment €200:
| Scenario | Term | Total interest |
|---|---|---|
| Without extra repayment | ~57 months | ~€1,237 |
| With a €2,000 extra repayment after 1 year | ~45 months | ~€896 |
The one-time extra repayment shortens the term by about a year and saves roughly €341 in interest. Once you've recorded at least one extra repayment, the loan's detail view shows exactly this comparison against the projection without extra repayments.
Balance history
The detail view charts the projected balance history over the entire term, including all recorded extra repayments. For very long terms (e.g. mortgages), the curve is thinned to a readable number of data points.
Disclaimer
All calculations are for guidance only and don't replace individual financial advice from your bank. Before making an extra repayment, always check your loan contract for annual caps or prepayment penalties.