Simple Ways to Save on Your Mortgage

Paying consistent extra payments toward your loan principal will provide significant savings.  People employ various techniques to accomplish this goal.  Making one additional payment one time per year is likely the easiest to keep track of. If you can't pay an additional whole payment all at once, you can split that large amount into 12 smaller payments and pay that additional amount monthly.  Finally, you can pay a half payment every other week. These options differ a little in reducing the total interest paid and reducing payback length, but each will significantly shorten the duration of your mortgage and lower the total interest you will pay over the life of the loan.

Lump Sum Extra Payment

Some people can't manage any extra payments. But it's important to note that most mortgages allow additional principal payments at any time. You can benefit from this provision to pay down your mortgage principal any time you get some extra money.

For example: a few years after buying your home, you get a very large tax refund, a very large inheritance, or a non-taxable cash gift  and paying a few thousand dollars into your home's principal will significantly reduce the period of your loan and save enormously on interest over the life of the mortgage loan. Unless the mortgage loan is very large, even a few thousand dollars applied early can yield huge benefits over the duration of the loan.