Making regular additional payments on the loan principal can yield significant savings. Borrowers use different methods to accomplish this goal. Making a single additional full payment one time per year may be the easiest to track. If you can't pay an additional whole payment in one month, you can divide your payment by 12 and write a check for that additional amount monthly. Another option is to pay half of your payment every two weeks. The effect here is that you will make one extra monthly payment every year. Each of these options produces different results, but each will significantly shorten the length of your mortgage and lower your total interest paid.
Some folks can't manage any extra payments. Keep in mind that almost all mortgage contracts will allow you to make additional payments to your principal at any time. Whenever you come into extra money, you can use this provision to pay a one-time additional payment toward principal. If, for example, you were to receive a surprise windfall just a few years into your mortgage, you could pay this money toward your mortgage loan principal, which would result in huge savings and a shortened loan period. For most loans, even this modest amount, paid early enough in the mortgage, could offer big savings in interest and in the length of the loan.
Do you have a question regarding a mortgage program?