If you're trying to pay down some debt, you might be wondering what the impact would be if you simply increased your monthly payment each month. When you increase your monthly payment, the amount of the increase gets applied directly to reducing the amount owed, or principal. Reducing the amount of money you owe will reduce your interest charges each month as the interest rate will be applied only to the outstanding loan balance. An increase in your monthly payment will reduce the amount of interest charges you will pay over the repayment period and may even shorten the number of months it will take to pay off the loan. A note of caution – Before making any increased payments, be sure to notify your lender to apply any extra payments to the principal balance of your loan.
Use this calculator to determine the advantages of increasing monthly payments.
