Are you thinking about paying off your mortgage early? What’s your target period? Monthly mortgage payments can be a huge burden on your budget. Fortunately, there are ideas to help you work around this problem.
So, if you’re looking for an easy way out of your self-made enigma, consider the following six tips:
1. Loan Refinancing
Loan refinancing is another way of saying get a new loan to replace the existing one, because you're aiming to cut back on the amount on your current loan, as well as lower current interest rates, cash in on equity, or simply switch between a fixed-rate mortgage and an adjustable rate mortgage, and vice versa - provided your circumstances are justified accordingly.
As a rule, you must qualify for a short-term loan with higher monthly payments, as this will help you pay off your existing mortgage quickly, providing the luxury of huge savings in total interest.
For instance, say you have 25 years left on your loan and you decide to refinance it with a 30-year mortgage, obviously your monthly payment may actually go up, but you may pay tens of thousands less in interest over the long run (and you’ll have your house paid off 10 years sooner).
Secondly, ensure you have a good credit score because down the line, you can apply for yet another loan to offset the one before; and with a poor credit rating, you inflame your own undoing.
All in all, the two major reasons to refinance in this scenario are:
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To reduce your monthly mortgage payment or;
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To save on the overall interest you will pay on your house in the long run.
2. Extra Mortgage Payments
Like any other debt, or "dinau", you must pay off your mortgage. So, in order to get it over and done with as soon as possible, every usable alternative counts, such as additional payments on top of your required monthly loan repayments. This is another simple way to pay off your loan early.
When you make extra mortgage payments, not only do you get rid of your debt or “dinau” quickly, but you also end up saving enough in interest payments. The cognition behind this is that, obviously, the more debts that you have, the bigger the interest and the more it will lead to your undoing; and this is one position you don’t want to be in.
Worse yet, if you fail to capitalize on the opportunity to make extra payments, chances are your interest rate will grow and you’ll end up paying huge interest costs.
Remember, your goal here is to pay off your loan early, in order to achieve financial independence. However, this will depend on the type of loan you qualified for and the strategy used in paying off your original mortgage.
Like yin and yang, it should be in your best interest to better understand the condition of the loan, because you don’t want to be paying extra interest costs that come with extra payments. For the most part, there are some loans that restrict extra payments, that’s why it’s essential that you fully understand the type of loan you’re getting.
3. Strategize With Discipline
There are two things that fall into place here: a strategy and the discipline needed to fulfill that strategy.
The essence of establishing a time frame to pay off your mortgage early is that it gives you a target to work towards, and a vehicle (mindset) to reach that target (paying off mortgage early).
As a starting point, use a mortgage calculator online or one that’s offered by your lender. This will tell you how long it will take for you to complete your mortgage payments, and how much you’ll be paying periodically.
You can then use the result to determine if that’s what you’ll settle for, or consider a viable alternative to help you pay off your mortgage quickly.
4. Create Side Hustles To Help Offset Your Mortgage Payments
Unless you’re disciplined to the point where you can manage one or two snacks biscuit and a cup of tea a day for two weeks, and have more than enough saved up, then maybe you won’t have a problem affording extra payments on your loan.
Other than that, in most cases, your fortnightly expenses will exacerbate your ability to make that stretch.
Now, making extra payments is one thing, how to manifest that is something else, and requires a great deal of exploring alternatives apart from loan refinancing. One that sticks out like a sore thumb is a side hustle.
This can be as simple as selling buai and cigarettes, writing CV and cover letter for job seekers, designing book covers or company banners, and the like, for a specific fee; even writing blogs for companies at K1 per word, whichever that works for you, as long as it’s legal and helps you make extra payments on your monthly loan repayments.
There are heaps of ideas for side hustles out there you can use. You just have to explore them and put into perspective one that suits you. Besides, this will come in handy if refinancing your loan is an option if you have a poor credit score rating.
A side hustle will also prove very useful when you no longer have a stable income.
5. Cut Down On Unnecessary Spending
This may result in a smile on your face, but it’s no laughing matter. It’s quite a drag, when you’re in the shops with a list of things to buy but end up with extras because you simply can’t walk pass those reflecting twisties packets, or that shimmering, transparent bottle of Trade Winds Vodka inside a room at the far end of the shop that has a huge sign that reads: Bottle Shop - just some examples of unnecessary spending.
Come to think of it, some of the things that we end up buying, apart from the shopping list we’ve written back home, are things we don’t necessarily need.
So if you have a loan to pay, and you want to pay it off early, there are certain things you will have to sacrifice, and one of them is unnecessary spending. It’s all about being disciplined, that’s all.
6. Lump Sum Payments
Especially when you want to pay off your loan or mortgage early, this another thing you’ll have to work into the equation. Either it’s a tax refund, a bonus, or overtime, try consider those rightful earnings as extra payments.
Of course, we can’t deny the fact that temptations are just that - very tempting. The moment we get some form of bonus or extras, we are tempted to buy this and buy that. Worse when we have a loan to pay and quickly.
But with a strategy in place alongside discipline we'll realize that these additional earnings can be used as extra payments on our loan repayments.
Conclusion
Paying off your loan or mortgage is one of those ideas that help you save money. There are dozens of ways to achieve that and become financially independent, and we’ve six in this article.
You don’t have to take them all in, as you might have an extraordinary idea that will make these tips obsolete. Rather, what you should remember is that you need a strategy and the discipline to get you there.
Disclaimer:
This article is meant for informational purposes only and is not intended to be construed as financial, or investment advice. Hausples encourages you to reach out for professional help regarding your own real estate situation.
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