Could you adjust your budget and pay a little bit more toward your mortgage every month? Perhaps you can save a small amount and make a lump sum payment once per year?

It might not seem like it, but paying a little bit extra can actually make quite a big difference over the length of your mortgage. It is possible to take years off the loan by simply paying a small amount more per month or making one extra payment per year. When you shorten your mortgage loan, you also end up saving thousands in interest rates over the years.

You might not feel like you can afford to pay extra money on your mortgage, but there are likely a few adjustments that you can make to your budget so that you can squeeze in more payments.

Paying Biweekly Rather Than Monthly

One strategy for paying more on your mortgage is to change your payments to biweekly rather than monthly. Instead of paying a monthly amount, you will pay half the monthly payment every two weeks. As there are 52 weeks per year, you will end up making 26 payments rather than 24 if you made two payments per month. However, you will not notice the difference to your monthly budget.

Make a Big Lump Sum Payment Every Year

Another way to reduce your mortgage is to make a single large payment from the amount that you owe. When you do this, it will be taken directly off the capital, which will mean that your mortgage term becomes shorter. For example, if you get a Christmas bonus at work you could use the amount to pay off some of your mortgage. By doing this, you can reduce your mortgage loan length by several years.

Round Up Your Payments

Why not round your mortgage payment to the nearest hundred? For example, if your monthly payment is £573.45, you could pay £600 instead. This will not affect your budget too much, but it will mean that you end up paying an extra £26.55 per month, which adds up to an extra £318.60 per year.

To find out more about how you can pay more on your mortgage, talk to a UK mortgage broker such as First Mortgage.

Photo: 401(k) 2013