What it is To set up biweekly mortgage payments, you pay a few hundred dollars up front and then $10 or so a month.

What's so bad You can do the same thing on your own for nothing.

Ouch! Companies hold the extra payments, earn interest on the cash all year and then send in the additional money at year-end.

What you can do Add an extra 1/12 to your mortgage payment each month. That's one extra payment a year - the same as with biweekly payments but without the fees.