Mortgages
What does paying a little extra actually save you?
A mortgage is the largest interest bill most people ever agree to — and the one most responsive to paying early. Set your loan details, add whatever extra you could realistically manage, and watch the two versions of your life diverge.
Your loan
Term
Your head start
Anything you add here goes straight at the principal.
Interest saved
$114,979
Money that stays with you
Time saved
6 yr 3 mo
Debt-free 6 years and 3 months sooner
Total cost of this plan
$702,255
Instead of $817,234 on the original schedule
Adding $56,800 of your own money over the life of the loan buys back $114,979 of interest — a return you get simply by paying sooner.
As scheduled
30-year loan, minimum payments
- Payment (principal + interest)
- $2,270.09
- Paid off
- Sep 2056
- Time in debt
- 30 yr
- Total interest
- $467,234
- Total paid
- $817,234
With your head start
+$200/mo
- Payment (principal + interest)
- $2,470.09
- Paid off
- Jun 2050
- Time in debt
- 23 yr 9 mo
- Total interest
- $352,255
- Total paid
- $702,255
Same house, same loan, same rate. The only thing that changed is when the money arrived.
You're paying for this house more than once
On the original schedule the interest ($467,234) is larger than the amount you borrowed ($350,000). That is normal for a 30-year loan at this rate — and it is exactly what extra principal payments attack.Your schedule, with extra payments
285 payments · $352,255 interest
What this calculator assumes
- How are extra payments applied?
- Every extra dollar goes straight to principal in the month you pay it, which is how nearly all US mortgages work. Confirm with your servicer — a few require you to designate it, and a very small number charge a prepayment penalty.
- What does the bi-weekly option actually do?
- Paying half your mortgage every two weeks means 26 half-payments a year, which is 13 full payments instead of 12. We model that as one extra payment spread evenly across the year. Some servicers hold the half-payments and apply them monthly, which removes most of the benefit — ask before you enroll, and never pay a third party to set this up for you.
- Are taxes and insurance included?
- Only in the 'with escrow' line, and only for display. Escrow is not borrowed money, so it earns no interest and is excluded from the interest and payoff math.
- When does PMI drop off?
- We remove it once the balance falls to 80% of the home value you enter. Lenders must cancel it automatically at 78% of the original value, and many will drop it on request at 80% — extra payments get you there sooner.
- What isn't modeled?
- Rate changes on adjustable loans, recasting, refinancing costs, late fees, and the interest you might have earned investing that money instead. This shows the loan, not the whole financial picture.