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Are you ready to get out of debt and pay your mortgage off early?
Getting out of debt is a dream of many, but can seem hard to reach.
I’m here to tell you that you can pay your mortgage off early and get out of debt once and for all.
We paid our house off in August of this year, in just 5 years total. Our home was not the most extravagant or expensive home, but we love it. And we own it outright!
Being mortgage free is the best feeling and we feel so proud of ourselves for accomplishing this huge goal early in our lives. It’s never too late to work on your dream of getting out of debt and paying your house off!
These are my favorite tips to pay your mortgage off early.
20 Tips to Pay Your Mortgage Off Early
Related Post: Becoming Debt Free: We Paid Our House Off!
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Read helpful books and develop your own unique debt payoff plan.
There are tons of debt payoff books out there, with many different plans to follow. Find what works best for your unique situation.
Related Post: 11 Books to Help You Save Money (And Make Money)
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Make goals and commit to them.
Having specific goals can make a world of a difference. Get super specific about how much you want to pay by what date.
Related Post: Debt Free by 30: Our 10 Step Plan to Pay off Our House in 6 Years
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Track your progress.
Tracking your debt payoff progress is a must to stay motivated and on track. Use these free debt payoff tracker printables or make your own chart. Visually seeing your progress is extremely motivating to me and will help you keep you focused.
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Open a separate bank account.
I’m a huge fan of having at least 4 bank accounts to keep my money separate. Having an account specifically for paying off debt is very helpful. Transfer all of your side money and budgeted amount from your check to your debt payoff account. Then, you can easily make payments from that account, without affecting your regular account. Knowing this money is for debt payments will help keep you organized, and also keep you from spending your debt payment money.
Related Post: Why You Need At Least 4 Bank Accounts
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Start an emergency fund.
Nothing can wreck your plan to pay off debt quicker than to have an emergency come up with no way to pay for it. You could easily get off track, and never get back on track. Set up a separate bank account for emergencies, and add a little to it each paycheck.
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Quit buying unneccessary things.
Now that you have this big goal to pay off debt quickly, it’s the perfect time to cut your spending. Cut cable (take the money you would have spent on cable and put it towards your mortgage), stick to your grocery list, cancel subscriptions, find free things to do, and only buy what you need. These savings will give you a little extra cushion during this strict budget season.
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Make extra money.
We can only work with as much money as we make, and sometimes we just don’t seem to have enough. I’m a huge fan of having a side job or extra way to make money. You don’t have to pick up a second job, but find a way to make money from home. Just make sure the extra money you make is put aside to pay off your debt.
Related Post: 30 Side Job Ideas
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Declutter your home and sell what you can.
Sometimes when we have big goals, we have to get creative as we work to reach them. Decluttering your home has many benefits, and extra cash will be nice to throw towards our debt. Sell your items at a yard sale, on Facebook marketplace, on Craigslist, or on the Letgo or OfferUp apps.
Related Post: 20 Ways to Make Money From Home + Earn Extra Cash!
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Make a realistic budget.
Knowing how much you are spending in different categories will help you understand your own spending habits. Track your spending for a month or two, then make a specific budget. Use this free yearly budget planner workbook to get started!
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Stay home more.
This is such a simple tip, but when you are trying to save money and pay off debt quickly, staying home can be the best tip of all. Stay home and enjoy spending time with your family, relaxing, working on a project, or reading helpful books. Just stay off the computer too, so you don’t get sucked into online shopping!
Related Post: 15 Tips to Pay Off Debt Quickly (Even On a Low Income)
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Use cash back apps when you shop.
When you do have to make purchases, make sure to use cash back apps to save as much as you can. Use Ibotta when you grocery shop and Ebates when you shop online. Use the cash back to help pay off debt.
Sign up for Ibotta here and get $5 when you upload your first receipt!
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Use bonuses and raises wisely.
If you receive a bonus or raise at work, or even a tax refund, you may be tempted to just live a little more and spend it as you wish. What has worked really well for us, is calculating how much of your paycheck comes from that raise, and transferring it to your savings or debt payment account.
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Save wherever you can and apply it towards debt payments.
Save as much as you can, either by not spending at all (maybe a no spend week), using coupons, cash back apps, shopping at different stores, whatever you can do to save money. Do the math and calculate how much you are saving. It will probably surprise you! Take the money you would have spent and apply it towards your debt payments.
Example: If your normal grocery bill for a week is $200, and you shop at Aldi and only spend $80, transfer $120 to your debt payment account.
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Learn new skills.
When you are trying to pay off debt quickly and need to save as much money as you can, learning new skills can be a huge savings to you. Learn basic DIY repairs to save you from a large service bill.
Teach yourself to cook new frugal recipes so you aren’t tempted to go out to eat. Learn a new hobby that can turn into a side job, like flipping furniture. You could also learn to coupon, practice not wasting food, or become a budgeting pro.
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Use loan amortization calculators
Try a free online loan amortization calculator like this one to do the math for you. You can enter your loan information, and see your personalized payoff schedule. Notice how much less you will pay in interest by paying your loan off as quickly as possible.
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Make a plan for other large purchases
Your priority is paying off your mortgage, but that doesn’t mean you have to say no to all other large purchases. You may need to buy a new car, or your spouse may want to make a large purchase. Don’t fight over money! Instead make a plan.
My husband really wanted to buy a tractor and a side by side (off road vehicle) in the years we were working to pay our house off. I realized these were important to him, so we made a plan.
The plan was to save part of his check each week and any side money he made into a separate savings account specifically for this purchase. Having the money set aside just for this meant we wouldn’t be spending our house money.
Related Post: How to Save Cash for a New Car
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Start small
It’s better to start small than to not start at all. So, make a plan to start gradually increasing the extra amount you pay on your mortgage. It may be just $20 a week for now, but you can increase the extra amount you pay as you work toward your goal of becoming debt free.
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Save on groceries
Food is the easiest area in your budget to cut back on. You can do 3 things to save big on groceries and food expenses.
- Stop eating out – Or add a small amount to your budget and don’t go over it.
- Change the store your shop at – Search discount grocery stores in your area.
- Start meal planning – Plan what meals you are going to eat each week, so you know exactly what to buy. Buy only what you know you will eat.
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Break your big goal down into small chunks
When you look at how much you owe on your mortgage, you might get discouraged at the large number. Breaking that big number down gives you a realistic plan.
So, what is your pay off date goal? Do you want to pay your home off by a certain age, by retirement? Then, divide the amount owed into the number of years remaining to that date. Then, divide that into 12 months (make sure to include interest). Can you make that payment each month?If not, what costs could you cut to afford it? Or, could you make some side money to afford it?Related Post: The 4 Step System to Pay Off Debt Faster
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Have a positive attitude.
A positive attitude can make all the difference. Celebrate small wins, like when you reach your monthly payment goal or when you stay in budget the month. Realizing when you are successful and celebrating it will keep you motivated and determined to keep going. Paying off debt quickly is a huge goal, so don’t give up when it gets hard.
Paying off our home early was such a dream come true. I hope these tips can help you make a plan to conquer your debt and pay your mortgage off early.
The journey to debt free can be challenging, but so worth it. Because we were able to pay off our mortgage early, I was able to quit my job and stay home to work for myself.
If we still had a mortgage, this would not have been such an easy decision. Being debt free gives you the freedom to live the life you dream of and do things you wouldn’t be able to do with a mortgage to pay.
Related Post: Quitting My Job to Work From Home
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