Paying Extra Towards your Principal (2024)

FAQs

Paying Extra Towards your Principal? ›

Save on interest

However, if it fits within your budget, paying extra toward your principal can be a great way to lessen the time it takes to repay your loans and the amount of interest you'll pay.

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.

When you pay extra on your principal balance, you reduce the amount of your loan and save money on interest. Keep in mind that you may pay for other costs in your monthly payment, such as homeowners' insurance, property taxes, and private mortgage insurance (PMI).

Throwing in an extra $500 or $1,000 every month won't necessarily help you pay off your mortgage more quickly. Unless you specify that the additional money you're paying is meant to be applied to your principal balance, the lender may use it to pay down interest for the next scheduled payment.

Regardless of the amount of funds applied towards the principal, paying extra installments towards your loan makes an enormous difference in the amount of interest paid over the life of the loan.

But if you have a relatively recent loan, you're likely looking at tens of thousands of dollars in savings and cutting as much as eight years off the life of your loan. Obviously, not everyone can afford to make two extra mortgage payments a year. You're basically increasing your housing costs by 16%.

Shorten the loan term

Making additional principal payments will shorten the length of your mortgage term and allow you to build equity faster. Because your balance is being paid down faster, you'll have fewer total payments to make, in-turn leading to more savings.

Is there a best time within the month to make an extra payment to principal? ›

Rather than delaying credit until the next month, the optimal day within the month to make an extra payment is the last day on which the lender will credit you for the current month.

Biweekly payments accelerate your mortgage payoff by paying 1/2 of your normal monthly payment every two weeks. By the end of each year, you will have paid the equivalent of 13 monthly payments instead of 12. This simple technique can shave years off your mortgage and save you thousands of dollars in interest.

To pay off your mortgage early, you'll need to increase your monthly payments and apply additional funds to your principal balance. For some people, this might involve finding ways to boost their income, or re-budgeting and cutting back on unnecessary expenses.

Both the principal and your escrow account are important. It is a good idea to pay money into your escrow account each month, but if you want to pay down your mortgage, you will need to pay extra money on your principal. The more you pay on the principal, the faster your loan will be paid off.

When you pay extra on a mortgage, you're paying above and beyond the regular monthly installment. The money you send is meant to apply directly to the loan principal, not the interest. This allows you to pay down your loan sooner and save money on interest.

When you make extra payments on the principal, you save on your interest over time. With a simple interest loan — which make up the vast majority of car loans — interest is a percentage of the principal you owe. As you pay down the principal amount, your accrued interest becomes less and less.