Paying regular extra payments on your principal balance will yield singificant returns. You can do this using a few different techniques. For many people,Perhaps the simplest way to keep track is by making one extra payment per year. If you can't pay an additional whole payment in one month, you can divide your payment by 12 and pay that additional amount monthly. Finally, you can commit to paying a half payment every other week. Each of these options produces slightly different results, but each will significantly shorten the length of your mortgage and lower the total interest paid over the life of the loan.
Some people can't manage any extra payments. Keep in mind that most mortgages will permit you to pay extra on your principal at any time. You can take advantage of this provision to pay extra on your mortgage principal any time you get some extra money. If, for example, you receive a surprise windfall three years into your mortgage, investing a few thousand dollars into your mortgage principal can reduce the duration of your loan and save a huge amount on interest over the duration of the loan. Unless the loan is very large, even small amounts applied early can yield huge benefits over the life of the loan.
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