The key is to specify to your lender that you want your extra payments to be applied to your principal. If you don't make this clear, you may find the extra payment going toward the interest you owe rather than the principal.
Ideally, you want your extra payments to go towards the principal amount. However, many lenders will apply the extra payments to any interest accrued since your last payment and then apply anything left over to the principal amount. Other times, lenders may apply extra funds to next month's payment.
When you split your payments like this, you're making the equivalent of 1 extra monthly payment a year (26 bi-weekly payments totals 13 monthly payments). This extra payment may be applied directly to your principal balance.
For anyone who pays their student loans via a check in the mail, include “Apply to principal” on the memo line for any extra payments. You should also try calling your lender directly if you can't specify online how extra funds should be allocated for a given loan.
Making an extra mortgage payment each year could reduce the term of your loan significantly. The most budget-friendly way to do this is to pay 1/12 extra each month. For example, by paying $975 each month on a $900 mortgage payment, you'll have paid the equivalent of an extra payment by the end of the year.
Options to pay off your mortgage faster include:
Pay extra each month. Bi-weekly payments instead of monthly payments. Making one additional monthly payment each year. Refinance with a shorter-term mortgage.
Refinance into a shorter term
When you refinance your home, you can pay off your home faster by replacing your 30-year mortgage with one that's a shorter term. With a mortgage refinance, you can shorten your loan term by selecting a 20, 15, or even a 10-year loan.
The money you send is meant to apply directly to the loan principal, not the interest. And paying additional principal on a mortgage means saving money. When the principal amount shrinks, the dollar amount of interest on it declines, too. This slashes the total interest you'll owe over the life of the loan.
1. You might have little to no savings. If you're putting all your extra cash toward your student loans, you miss out on setting that money aside to build a savings fund. Having an emergency fund is crucial because life happens — as do sudden bills, repairs, and expenses — when you least expect it.
A principal payment only lowers the principal balance of a loan. Making principal-only payments is a financial strategy you can use to pay down your loan faster. When you make a principal-only payment, your money only goes toward the principal balance. It does not pay down any accumulated interest.
You decide to increase your monthly payment by $1,000. With that additional principal payment every month, you could pay off your home nearly 16 years faster and save almost $156,000 in interest.
Making extra payments of $500/month could save you $60,798 in interest over the life of the loan. You could own your house 13 years sooner than under your current payment. These calculations are tools for learning more about the mortgage process and are for educational/estimation purposes only.
Even one or two extra mortgage payments a year can help you make a much larger dent in your mortgage debt. This not only means you'll get rid of your mortgage faster; it also means you'll get rid of your mortgage more cheaply. A shorter loan = fewer payments = fewer interest fees.
Your car payment won't go down if you pay extra, but you'll pay the loan off faster. Paying extra can also save you money on interest depending on how soon you pay the loan off and how high your interest rate is.
The 10/15 rule
If you can manage to pay 10% of your mortgage payment every week (in addition to your usual monthly payment) and apply it to the principal of your loan, you can pay off your 30-year mortgage in just 15 years.
Your Double-Up payment is applied directly against the principal balance of your mortgage, which cuts down the life of your mortgage and saves interest costs.
1. Interest. When you take out student loans, you don't just repay the exact sum you borrowed. For example, if you take out $20,000 in student loans, you're generally going to end up spending well more than $20,000 by the time your student debt is paid off due to accrued interest.
Certain lenders may capitalize on your interest or charge interest on top of interest, which results in higher charges. Capitalized interest can make it challenging to make a dent in your total student loan balance.
Experts said paying off student loans won't tank your credit score. But it can cause a temporary dip in the number because the effect of that is closing out what is likely one of your oldest credit accounts.
When you pay an extra $100 on your monthly mortgage payment, that entire amount goes to principal. You'll reduce your total balance much more quickly when you make an extra payment that goes directly to repaying your balance. You could cut around four years off your repayment time with just an extra $100 per month.
The additional amount will reduce the principal on your mortgage, as well as the total amount of interest you will pay, and the number of payments.
This is equivalent to 12 slightly-higher monthly payments of $1,252.85 — but this small difference is enough to pay off your full debt in just 22 years and cost you only $129,712.85 in interest. In other words: two extra mortgage payments per year will save you eight years and $56,798.72 in interest.