How to Pay off your Mortgage Quicker

Do you currently have a mortgage on your home? How many years do you have left to pay it off? If you have 20, 25, 30, or more years left of mortgage payments - you should think about paying it off quicker. How can I do this you may ask? Paying off your mortgage takes a planned set of tasks that are not all that difficult to implement. The basic concepts around paying down any debt are to make additional payments every month on your principal so that you pay less interest. It is just that simple! Want to learn more? Here are a few steps that you can take to help pay off your mortgage sooner - which will save you a lot of money over time.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Figure out how much principal you have remaining to pay off as well as the interest that you will incur along the way. There are basic online mortgage calculators available for you to use at no charge that can help assist in this analysis. You should review your most recent mortgage statement to find the remaining principal on the loan, current monthly payment, interest rate, etc. Once you have this information, visit websites like bankrate.com and run some of these calculations.

2. Using one of the free online mortgage calculators you find, plug in an extra payment amount that you believe you can afford to pay each month. This amount will be on top of your current monthly payment and should be set at something that you can maintain for several years. Be sure to find an online mortgage calculator that allows you to see the amortization table and calculates how much money you will save by making these extra payments.

3. Review your monthly budget (or create it if you don't have one) for expenses that you can cut back on. Freeing up additional funds that can be used to make extra payments will help you pay off your mortgage quicker. It is important to identify areas that you can cut back on, but don't go overboard in the areas you possibly cut.

4. Identify ways to earn extra monthly income that can be used to add to your extra monthly mortgage payments. Earning more and allocating it to your mortgage payments will help you pay off your mortgage sooner, Be creative when creating extra income and try to make it as passive as possible. One option is to begin writing "How To" articles on eHow.

5. Continue to revise the online mortgage calculator using updated extra payment amounts. Try to attack your mortgage debt using several tactics - which include reducing other expenses while earning extra income. Paying off your mortgage sooner requires a little sacrifice and some planning but can be well worth it.

Tips & Warnings

• Consider refinancing if the interest rates are low enough moving from a 30 year mortgage to a 15 year mortgage for example.
• Be sure to check with your mortgage lender that there are no penalties for paying off your mortgage early.

Resources

• Earn over $1,000 per month on eHow

[IcyCucky]

on 6/17/2009 Great ideas and advices!