Making regular additional payments on your principal will yield enormous savings. Borrowers pay more on principal in various ways. Making a single additional full payment one time per year may be the simplest to keep track of. If you can't afford to pay an extra whole payment all at once, you can divide your payment by 12 and pay that additional amount monthly. Another option is to pay a half payment every other week. The result is you make one additional monthly payment each year. These options differ a little in reducing the total interest paid and reducing payback length, but each will significantly reduce the length of your mortgage and lower your total interest paid.
Some people can't manage any extra payments. But you should remember that most mortgages will allow additional payments at any time. You can benefit from this provision to pay extra on your principal any time you come into extra money.
If, for example, you were to receive a surprise windfall three years into your mortgage, investing several thousand dollars into your home's principal will reduce the repayment duration of your loan and save a huge amount on interest over the life of the loan. For most loans, even a modest amount, paid early enough in the loan period, could offer huge savings in interest and in the duration of the loan.
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