Being in any kind of debt can be a burden on both your mind and wallet. Having a mortgage that you must pay off in the next 15, 20 or even 30 years can put a lot of stress on you, and you certainly wish you could pay it off before that loan term is up. Well, now you can finally relax, because that wish is no longer impossible. You can pay off your mortgage sooner and get rid of that burden years before you thought you could. With the following tips, you can do it quickly and easily, so let’s check them out.

Round up Your Payments

One of the easiest ways you can pay off mortgage early is to round up your every payment. Any extra payment that you add to your principal balance means that you will pay less in interest. For instance, if your monthly mortgage payment is $544 and you pay an extra $6 each month, you can save some payments when your loan term is up. You can even round your payments up to $600 and pay off your mortgage a lot sooner, shaving off years from your loan term. Try using a mortgage loan payoff calculator to get an insight into the effect a little extra payment can have on your interest and the length of your loan.

The crucial thing when rounding up your mortgage payments is that you make sure your each extra payment is applied to your principal balance instead of being set aside to be applied to your next monthly payment. Another important thing is that you check with your lender first, to make sure your mortgage doesn’t have a prepayment penalty. Some mortgage companies have specific times set for when they can accept extra payments, so they may charge you a fee, which is usually 1% of the amount of your loan.

Refinance Your Loan

Refinancing can be a great way to shorten your loan’s time frame and to get a lower interest rate. For example, if you have a 30-year loan of $200,000 at 6% interest and, after five years of payments, you refinance your mortgage to a 15-year loan at 2.87% interest, your monthly payments will increase by less than $80. This means that you would pay off your mortgage 10 years sooner and save an incredible $130,477 in interest.

Now, you can refinance with your original lender, but that is not your only option, as you can replace your mortgage company with another that offers better options for your needs. It is very important that you get in touch with your mortgage company first and examine every available option before making your final decision about refinancing your loan.

Switch to Biweekly Payments

If you pay half of your monthly payments every two weeks, you can easily slash about six years off your 30-year loan, thus saving tens of thousands of dollars. All you have to do is check with your lender and see if they will set up a biweekly payment plan for you, but you should know that only a few lenders allow you to switch your payment plan for free, if at all. Therefore, if you opt for biweekly payments and your lender allows it, be prepared for a one-time fee of about $250. If they don’t allow it, you can always add some extra to your monthly payments and apply it to your principal. However, if all goes well, you will have made one extra payment by the end of the year by paying half of your mortgage payment every two weeks, thus shortening the length of your loan and reducing the interest you would have to pay otherwise.

Making plans for paying off your mortgage early is one of the smartest decisions you can make, since it can save you an incredible amount of money. Because it is a shortcut to immense savings, you should seriously consider taking this road and give yourself some peace of mind in the long term. By opting for any of the aforementioned ways of paying off your mortgage sooner, you will successfully achieve that goal.