Big Interest Savings: Available to Anyone with a Mortgage
Making consistent extra payments on the principal will provide enormous returns. You can accomplish this in various ways. For many people,Perhaps the simplest way to keep track is by making 1 additional mortgage payment per year. Of course, many people won't be able to pull off this huge extra expense, so dividing an additional payment into twelve additional monthly payments works as well. Another very popular option is to pay half of your payment every two weeks. The result is you make one additional monthly payment every year. Each option produces different results, but each will significantly reduce the duration of your mortgage and lower your total interest paid.
Additional One-time payment
It may not be possible for you to pay down your principal every month or even every year. Keep in mind that most mortgage contracts will allow you to pay extra on your principal at any point during repayment. You can take advantage of this rule to pay down your mortgage principal when you get some extra money.
If, for example, you were to receive a large gift or tax refund five years into your mortgage, paying a few thousand dollars into your mortgage principal will significantly shorten the repayment period of your loan and save enormously on mortgage interest over the duration of the mortgage loan. Unless the loan is very large, even a few thousand dollars applied early can yield huge benefits over the life of the loan.