Five simple tips to help pay off your home loan sooner

With a few changes you can pay off your home loan sooner and save money.

Behind the freshly painted walls and newly potted plants in your new home, is a home loan.

It’s a simple fact of property ownership that, for the vast majority of us, home loans will be a necessity. Fortunately, there are several steps you can take to work towards paying off your home loan quicker.

Pay fortnightly

Consider switching to a fortnightly repayment. The great thing about switching to fortnightly payments is that you shouldn’t even notice a difference. Your payments are exactly half the size of what they would be if you paid monthly; you just pay twice as often. Because there are 12 months in a year, but 26 fortnights or 52 weeks, swapping to fortnightly or weekly repayments means you could an extra months’ worth of repayments each year. Check out the BCU Bank home loan repayment calculator to see how much you could be saving with this one simple change.

Budget

Having a budget is essential to stay on track financially, but it’s even more important when you want to find extra money to pay down your mortgage. If you know what your debts and expenses are every month, there’s a good chance that you can pay off your mortgage sooner by making larger payments. Small purchases can add up quickly and your budget will help you determine where you can cut back.

Pay more than your minimum

Any extra repayments you make above the minimum go towards the principal of the loan, rather than the interest. That means you will pay less over the life of your loan by reducing the interest charged on the balance. If you can afford to, paying more than the minimum required each month is worth considering, and even a small amount can make a big difference over the term of the loan. Use the extra repayment option on the BCU home loan repayment calculator to see how much time and interest you could save by making extra repayments where possible.

Make a lump sum payment

Another strategy is to make a one-off lump sum payment when you have some extra money, such as your tax return, a work bonus or an inheritance. By reducing your principal, you’ll pay less interest in the years ahead.

Use an offset account

An offset account is a great feature offered on some home loans that can help you to save on interest. An offset account is a transactional account linked to your home loan. By depositing funds into your offset account, you could reduce the balance of your loan that interest is calculated on, which means you pay less interest. If you need to access these funds for any reason, you could still withdraw the money. Find out more about offset accounts.