Paying your mortgage off ahead of schedule is one of the most powerful money moves you can make. Because mortgage interest is front-loaded — most of your early payments go to interest, not principal — even small extra payments early on can save a surprising amount. Here are five ways to do it, and how to see the impact for your own loan.
1. Make extra principal payments
Every dollar you pay above your required payment goes straight to the principal, which lowers the balance that next month's interest is charged on. On a $300,000 loan at 6.5%, adding just $200 a month can cut roughly six years off a 30-year term and save well over $80,000 in interest. Use the extra-payment field in our mortgage calculator to see your exact savings and new payoff date.
2. Switch to biweekly payments
Instead of 12 monthly payments a year, pay half your monthly amount every two weeks. That works out to 26 half-payments — the equivalent of 13 monthly payments — so you make one extra payment a year without really feeling it. Over a full term this typically removes four to six years and saves tens of thousands in interest. Toggle biweekly in the calculator to compare it against monthly.
3. Refinance to a lower rate (or shorter term)
If rates have dropped since you bought, refinancing can lower your payment, your total interest, or both. The catch is closing costs, so what matters is the break-even point — how long it takes the monthly savings to recover those costs. Our refinance calculator shows your break-even and, importantly, whether a longer new term would actually cost you more interest overall.
4. Put windfalls toward principal
Tax refunds, bonuses and gifts are ideal for lump-sum principal payments because they shrink the balance immediately, with no change to your monthly budget. A single $5,000 lump sum early in a 30-year loan can save several thousand dollars in interest and move your payoff date forward by months.
5. Round up your payment
Rounding a $1,847 payment up to $1,900 is painless, but that extra $53 a month compounds into real time and interest savings over decades. It is the simplest version of the extra-payment strategy and easy to automate with your lender.
One caution before you accelerate
Paying off a low-rate mortgage early is not always the best use of cash. If you carry high-interest debt (like credit cards at 20%+), clear that first — see our guide on the snowball vs avalanche methods. And make sure you have an emergency fund and are capturing any employer retirement match before overpaying the mortgage.
When you are ready, open the mortgage calculator, add an extra payment, and watch the payoff date and total interest update instantly.