Pay $200 more per month → save $84,000 and 7 years. See the exact math for your loan, then compare two scenarios side-by-side.
$80,000
Monthly P&I
2,023 $
Total interest
408,142 $
Total paid
728,142 $
Payoff date
April 2056
The math is easy — finding the money is hard. See exactly where your money goes each month and free up the cash to pay your mortgage off years early.
Four quick steps to see exactly what your mortgage costs — and how much faster you could pay it off.
Enter your home price and down payment
Type the home price and either the down payment amount or percentage. Toggle between $ and % whichever feels easier — the calculator converts automatically.
Set the interest rate and loan term
Drop in the rate your lender quoted you (or a market estimate if you're still shopping) and pick a 15, 20, or 30-year term. The monthly payment updates as you type.
Add an extra monthly payment
Try $50, $100, $200, or $500. Watch the payoff date jump forward by years and the total interest drop by tens of thousands of dollars — this is where mortgage freedom lives.
Click "Compare another scenario"
Open Option B to test 30-vs-15-year, two competing lenders, or a smaller down payment. The hero strip tells you which option wins, by how much money, and by how many years.
Small, repeatable habits beat one big lump sum. Pick the one that fits your life — even a single tactic shaves years.
Round up every payment. If your P&I is $1,847, pay $1,900. The $53 extra goes straight to principal and adds up to nearly $20,000 saved over a 30-year loan.
Throw windfalls at the principal. Tax refunds, work bonuses, side-hustle income — earmarking even half of these for one extra principal payment per year cuts roughly 4-6 years off a 30-year loan.
Switch to biweekly payments. Splitting your monthly payment in half and paying every two weeks gives you 13 full payments per year instead of 12 — for free. (Skip lender "biweekly programs" that charge fees; do it yourself.)
Recast instead of refinancing when rates rise. A recast keeps your low rate but re-amortizes around your new lower balance after a big lump-sum payment. Most lenders charge $200-$500 for a recast versus $4,000+ for a refi.
Find the extra cash by budgeting. The hardest part of "pay $200 more per month" isn't the math — it's locating the $200. A simple budget shows exactly where your money goes and where to redirect it. That's what we built MFFT for.
Deeper guides on our blog that build on the topics in this tool.
Baseline: $300,000 loan at 6.5% interest, 30-year term. Numbers rounded for clarity — your actual savings depend on your rate, balance, and how early you start.
| Extra per month | Time saved | Interest saved |
|---|---|---|
| +$50/month | ~3 years | ~$30,000 |
| +$100/month | ~5 years 4 months | ~$53,000 |
| +$200/month | ~8 years 11 months | ~$87,000 |
| +$500/month | ~14 years 5 months | ~$134,000 |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| APR | Annual Percentage Rate — the interest rate plus most upfront loan costs, expressed as a yearly rate; the apples-to-apples figure for comparing lenders. |
| Principal | The portion of your loan balance that's still owed to the lender; each monthly payment chips away at it while the rest covers interest. |
| PMI | Private Mortgage Insurance — a lender-required fee when your down payment is under 20%, automatically dropped once your loan balance reaches 78% of the original home price. |
| PITI | Principal, Interest, Taxes, and Insurance — the four-component monthly cost lenders use to evaluate how much you can borrow. |
| Amortization | The schedule that splits each payment between principal and interest; early payments are mostly interest, late payments are mostly principal. |
| Escrow | A lender-managed account that collects monthly portions of your property tax and insurance, then pays those bills on your behalf when they come due. |
| Points | Optional upfront fees (1 point = 1% of the loan) you can pay at closing to permanently lower your interest rate; worth it only if you'll hold the loan long enough to break even. |
| LTV | Loan-to-Value ratio — your remaining loan balance divided by the home's value; lenders use it to decide PMI, refinance eligibility, and home equity loan limits. |
On a $300,000 loan at 6.5% for 30 years, paying $200 extra each month cuts roughly 8 years 11 months off the loan and saves about $87,000 in interest. The exact savings depend on your rate and remaining balance — plug your numbers in above to see your specific result.
If your current rate is already close to market rates, paying extra principal almost always wins because there are no closing costs and the savings start immediately. Refinancing makes sense when rates drop at least 0.75-1.0% below your current rate and you'll stay in the home long enough to recoup the closing costs (usually 2-5 years).
A 15-year loan saves enormous interest (often 60%+ vs a 30-year) and forces aggressive payoff, but the higher monthly payment leaves less room for emergencies, investing, or family needs. A common middle path: take the 30-year loan for the flexibility, then voluntarily pay it like a 15. You get most of the interest savings and keep the option to drop back down to the lower payment if life happens.
Rates move daily and depend on credit score, loan type, down payment, and lender competition. As of mid-2026, conventional 30-year fixed rates have been hovering in the mid-6% range, with 15-year fixed about 0.5-0.75% lower. Always shop at least three lenders — a 0.25% difference on a $300k loan is roughly $16,000 in interest over 30 years.
Extra payments reduce the term, not the monthly payment. Each extra dollar goes straight to principal, which means future months have less interest to pay, which means more of every future payment also goes to principal. That snowball is why even small extra payments save shocking amounts of interest.
Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) is required when your down payment is less than 20%. It typically costs 0.3-1.5% of the loan annually. By federal law, lenders must automatically cancel PMI when your loan balance reaches 78% of the original home price; you can also request cancellation at 80%. The calculator above auto-drops PMI on the first month your loan-to-value crosses that threshold.
Yes — biweekly payments effectively give you one extra full payment per year (26 half-payments = 13 full ones), which knocks roughly 4-6 years off a 30-year mortgage. You can replicate the same effect for free by adding 1/12 of your monthly payment to each month's check. Beware lender "biweekly programs" that charge a setup fee — you don't need them.
If your mortgage rate is meaningfully below your expected investment return after taxes (typical guideline: rate < 5%), investing usually wins long-term. At today's higher rates (6%+), paying down the mortgage is closer to a guaranteed risk-free return — many planners now favor the payoff. The honest answer for most people: do both, since the psychological wins from each are different.
A widely-used rule is the 28/36 rule: your housing payment (PITI) should stay under 28% of gross monthly income, and total debt payments under 36%. The stricter "financially safe" version many FIRE-minded buyers use is 25% of net income on the mortgage payment. Anything higher and the rest of your financial life starts to pinch.
PITI stands for Principal, Interest, Taxes, and Insurance — the four core monthly costs of owning a home with a mortgage. Lenders use the full PITI when deciding how much to lend you, not just the principal-and-interest payment. HOA fees, when they apply, are technically separate but worth bundling into the same mental category.
Amortization is the schedule that splits each monthly payment into principal (paying down the loan) and interest (paying the bank for the loan). Early payments are mostly interest; the split shifts month by month until the final payment is mostly principal. The amortization chart above shows this curve for your loan.
Almost all U.S. mortgages let you make extra principal payments at any time without penalty. Just specify on the check or bill-pay memo that the extra goes to principal — otherwise some servicers apply it as a future regular payment. A few older or specialty loans have prepayment penalties, so check your closing documents if you're unsure.
The interest rate is what you pay the lender for the loan itself. APR (annual percentage rate) is the rate plus most upfront costs (origination fees, points, mortgage insurance) spread across the life of the loan. APR is always higher than the rate; comparing APR is the apples-to-apples way to shop lenders.
Yes, dramatically. An extra $1,000 in year 1 of a 30-year loan saves you decades of compound interest on that $1,000. The same $1,000 in year 25 saves only the interest from the last few years. The earlier the extra payment, the more interest it eliminates — which is why "start small, start now" beats "wait until I can afford a big payment".
This calculator provides estimates based on the values you enter. Actual mortgage costs vary by lender, location, credit profile, and product type, and may include fees not modeled here. Verify all figures with your loan officer before signing anything.
The math says an extra $200 per month wipes out years of mortgage payments. The hard part is finding the $200. MFFT shows you exactly where your money goes — and where to redirect it.
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