It's not always easy, and never fun, to keep track of how much you owe on a loan. Still, tracking your progress on paying down a loan keeps the loan picture -- and therefore your financial picture -- in sharp focus. You just need to do some basic arithmetic to calculate what remains on a promissory note.
Interest-Free Loan
Step 1
Get out the promissory note. Find the original amount to be repaid. For this example, suppose the loan amount is $12,000, where the principal equals $10,000 and the interest equals $2,000.
Step 2
Find your payment records either in a payment booklet, through an online account, or using cancelled checks or bank and credit card statements.
Step 3
Tally up your payments to date. For example, if you have made 10 payments of $700 each, your total equals 10 times $700, or $7,000.
Step 4
Deduct your total payments amount from the original note amount. For example, if your payments so far total $7,000, then your balance owed is $5,000.
