Paying consistent extra payments on the loan principal yields huge savings. People use different methods to accomplish this goal. Making a single extra payment one time a year is probably the simplest to track. If you can't pay an additional whole payment all at once, you can split that large amount into 12 smaller payments and write a check for that additional amount monthly. Another popular option is to pay half of your payment every other week. The result is you will make one extra monthly payment every year. These options differ a little in lowering the total interest paid and reducing payback length, but each will significantly shorten the length of your mortgage and lower the total interest paid over the duration of the loan.
Some people can't manage extra payments. But it's important to note that most mortgage contracts will allow you to make additional principal payments at any time. You can benefit from this provision to pay down your principal any time you come into extra money. If, for example, you were to receive an unexpected windfall just a few years into your mortgage, you could apply this money toward your mortgage loan principal, resulting in huge savings and a shorter payback period. For most loans, even a relatively modest amount, paid early enough in the loan period, could offer big savings in interest and in the length of the loan.
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