Mortgage interest rates have jumped more than a point in the last month and the number of people refinancing has dropped dramatically.

Have you missed the boat? Perhaps not.

At the end of the last week, mortgage interest rates rose over 6 percent for the first time all year. But rates are still lower than where they were a year ago when the 30-year fixed rate loan averaged nearly 6.5 percent.

Is there still time to refinance? If you fall into one of these categories you might want to try.

Take a look at your mortgage rate right now and then compare it to current rates. If you can drop your rate 1/2 to 3/4 of a percent or more than you should probably try to refinance. When else should you think about refinancing.

If you plant o stay in your current home for only 5 years or less and you’re willing to take the risk that your interest rate may rise if you stay longer, you may be able to significantly lower your interest rate by choosing an adjustable rate mortgage over a fixed rate loan. For example, a 30-year rate is now about 6.2 percent, but you can get a 5/1 arm for just 4.5 percent, according to www.bankrate.com.

There’s one more way to figure out if you can benefit from a refinancing.

If you can trade your 30-year mortgage for a 15-year mortgage and the payments are about the same, you’ll save tens of thousands of dollars over the life of the loan by cutting it in half.

There are a number of places you can go on the web that will help you do the calculations and figure out if refinancing makes sense to you.

Try www.bankrate.com for impartial information about interest rates and www.eloan.com and www.money.com for information and calculators that are easy to use.

For my money saving tip this week, all lenders charge fees that’s how they make their profit. But legitimate fees only become junk fees when they are exorbitant. When you’re getting different quotes, get fees in writing.

Make sure you’re getting them in writing, so you can compare the total amount of fees from one lender to another to make sure you’re getting a good deal.