A mortgage payment can easily be the biggest bill in a monthly budget. A great goal is to pay down your mortgage – to pay off that mortgage – as soon as possible! Coming up with that extra money can be easy in some months and more difficult in others. Turning those difficult months into easier ones is possible with a few tactics.
Here are four hacks to find some extra money to pay down your mortgage more quickly each month so that you can pay it off in less than 30 years!
These tips are meant to help you come up with some extra money to reach the long-term goal of paying off your home loan earlier. If your loan doesn’t have a penalty for prepayment, then add to what you pay each month to your mortgage bill, and be sure to specify that the extra amount goes toward the principal.
It will help you pay off your mortgage faster and will save you thousands of dollars in interest over the life of the loan. You will be amazed how quickly you can pay down your mortgage!
Get a side job
Just earning $500 extra a month — or $125 per week — can generate the funds to pay more on your mortgage each month. To do this, get a side job for one or two hours per day doing something you enjoy.
Consider dog walking, house sitting, driving for Uber, delivering meals or teaching a class at your local community center. Set each paycheck aside. That extra $500 paid toward principal will make pay down your mortgage and make it disappear in no time at all.
Rent out a room
There are several options for renting a room and making some money on the side. You can be a full-time, live-in landlord and rent out a room to a tenant by the month.
Airbnb allows users to rent rooms on their schedule — one day at a time, a weekend, week or longer. Or rent your entire house for a few weeks while you’re away on vacation.
Rent or sell your stuff
From your car, bike, surfboard and other gear, you can make some extra money by renting out your stuff when it’s idle.
If you want to get rid of something you’re not using, then sell your unused books, bike, clothes, furniture and tools, among many other things, on sites such as eBay, Craigslist, Amazon and used book websites.
Use a work bonus or tax refund
A bonus at work or a tax refund can seem like found money, and it’s easy to spend it on a splurge such as a vacation.
Alternatively, you can make an extra mortgage payment and really accelerate your day of freedom from debt.
