Want to pay my damn mortgage off quicker!

After reading some good advice on mortgage questions I have my own. I will be completely direct! How can I pay my mortgage off quicker. I know the obvious answer is make overpayments but are there any tips or tricks that people are aware of to pay the outstanding balance off. I have approximately $300k which I need to pay off. My mortgage rate is 2.99% fixed.

Any tips or tricks would be appreciated!

I usually make 13 payments every year rather than 12. This makes a small difference and should shave a few years off my mortgage terms. I know some couples who make an extra payment every quarter to shave 25% off their mortgage term.

If you're determined to pay off your mortgage quicker you should consider using any savings you have to make a lump sum payment. I don't mean use your emergency fund I mean using any surplus savings you have wondering around. Even small lump sum payments could reduce the term by a several months. Think of it as crossing the finishing line sooner.

Great idea. I usually round my payments up to the nearest $100 to make more payments every month. I guess making an extra few payments would reduce my term further and save me money at the same time.

We have a small jar on top of the freezer where we toss in some coins from time to time. We are able to make an extra payment to our mortgage every year doing this. If you're already making several extra payments towards your mortgage this could be another way to add an extra payments. Just keep the jar in a visible place and write on it mortgage. Every time you have some spare coins just toss it in.

Get a free copy of your credit report and see if you can improve it. The better your credit history the better mortgage product offers will come your way. I was stuck with a high rate mortgage. I spent 24 months fixing my credit after which I was offered a cheaper rate. If you're credit history is holding you back fix it and you'll save thousands over the long run.

If you've got extra space you could rent it out to tenants or use it as storage space. I know a lot of people who have extra room or have a basement which they've converted into a room. The extra income that they generate from the space is used to pay the mortgage off soon. I guess it makes sense to use all the area in the home to create income. This way you know the home is contributing to pay it's own mortgage off.

@hamza great idea. Never thought of this trick I will also be rounding up my mortgage payments. Thanks for sharing.

Just read through the excellent suggestions and want to thank everyone. I will be making an extra few payments every year and I will be rounding up the monthly payment amount. I've just downloaded a copy of my credit report and I'm going to be looking at ways to improve the score and apply for better cheaper mortgages.

You should consider Offset Mortgages. Basically any savings you have can be used to offset the interest on the mortgage. Suppose your mortgage is for $200k and you have $50 in savings. You could forego the interest on your savings account and avoid paying interest on 25% of your mortgage. As savings rates are really low at the moment offsetting makes sense especially if you have a high interest rate on your mortgage.

Some banks have fee based current accounts which offer discounts on their mortgage rate. A while back RBS offered 1% off mortgage rates if you were a Royalties Gold member. Membership fees were £12 per month so the total yearly subscription charge would be £144. If you can shave 1% off your mortgage rate the annual savings could be thousands. If you are able to lower your interest rate and keep the payments the same you would be paying off your mortgage rates sooner.

If you have loans or other credit card debt you could try and consolidate the debt into your mortgage. You could then divert all your loan and credit card payments towards your mortgage. Suppose you pay $400 per month on loans and credit cards with APR of 30%. By switching this loan into your mortgage you could divert that $400 into the mortgage overpayment instead. Bearing in mind your mortgage is 2.99% you could pay off the loan sooner and once you do you could take the surplus income to make rapid overpayments. This is how I was able to wipe my debt off quicker.

Have you tried switching to cash back mortgages? Once your fixed period is over you could try to switch to a mortgage which pays cash back. You could get 1% on your mortgage payments which is essentially free money. You could then use this money to make overpayments to reduce the capital. Santander 123 account in the UK offers this. I am sure there's a US company which offers these too. Good luck on paying the monster off!