Mortgage Extra Payment Calculator
Find out how much sooner you'd pay off your mortgage, and how much interest you'd save, by adding extra principal payments. Compare extra monthly amounts, a one-time lump sum, or switching to biweekly payments against your standard schedule.
- Interest Saved
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- Paid Off
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- New Payoff Date
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- Monthly Payment (P&I)
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- Total Interest (Standard Schedule)
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- Total Interest (With Extra Payments)
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- Original Payoff Date
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Outstanding balance over time
- Standard schedule
- With extra payments
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Rates and figures last updated: July 23, 2026
Assumptions
- Extra payments must be designated as principal-only when you send them. Otherwise your servicer may apply the extra amount to your next scheduled payment instead of reducing principal, which would not produce the acceleration shown here.
- Property tax and homeowners insurance escrow is not part of this calculation. Escrow covers a separate account your lender manages on your behalf and does not reduce your loan principal, so it is excluded from the payoff date and interest savings shown here.
- The new payoff date assumes your first payment starts this month. If you're partway through an existing loan, enter your current remaining balance as the loan amount and your remaining years as the loan term, not the original figures.
- Biweekly here means 26 half-payments a year, equivalent to one extra full payment annually, simulated on its own actual payment schedule rather than approximated as a fixed extra monthly amount.
- The interest rate and payment amount are assumed fixed for the life of the loan, as with a standard fixed-rate mortgage. This does not model adjustable rates, refinancing, or PMI removal.
- Results are estimates for planning purposes only, not financial advice. Actual savings depend on your lender's exact payment application and any fees a third-party biweekly payment program might charge.
Sources
- Freddie Mac, Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS), 30-Year Fixed-Rate Mortgage Average in the United States, accessed July 23, 2026 (6.55% as of July 16, 2026).
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, "How does paying down a mortgage work?", reviewed May 28, 2024.
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, "Mortgage answers: key terms" (bi-weekly payment plan and escrow account definitions), updated December 28, 2022.
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, "Your mortgage servicer must comply with federal rules", updated June 4, 2025.
Why extra principal payments save more than they cost
A mortgage payment is mostly interest early on and mostly principal near the end, because interest is charged each month on whatever balance is still outstanding. Every extra dollar you put toward principal removes that dollar from every remaining month's interest calculation for the rest of the loan, not just the current one. That's why an extra payment made in year 2 saves far more total interest than the same dollar amount paid in year 25: it has more remaining months left to keep saving on.
Choosing between extra monthly, lump sum, and biweekly
Extra monthly principal works best if you can sustain the habit every month; it produces the steadiest reduction because it starts compounding immediately. A lump sum is a good fit for a bonus, tax refund, or other windfall, and matters most when applied early, while the balance and remaining term are still large. Biweekly payments automate one extra payment a year without you having to pick an amount, but confirm your servicer applies each half-payment to principal right away and doesn't charge a setup or per-payment fee, since paid third-party biweekly programs have drawn regulatory scrutiny for overstating their savings.
Worked example
A $350,000 loan at 6.55% for 30 years, with an extra $200 applied to principal every month.
The standard monthly payment (principal and interest) works out to $2,223.76. Left alone, the loan pays off in 360 months with $450,553 in total interest. Adding $200 extra to principal every month pays it off in 286 months instead, 6 years 2 months early, cutting total interest to $341,100, a savings of about $109,453.
Frequently asked questions
How does an extra payment actually shorten a mortgage?
Your regular payment already splits between interest and principal each month. An extra amount you add goes entirely to principal, which lowers the balance interest gets calculated on for every month that follows, so the loan reaches zero sooner and skips all the interest it would otherwise have accrued in those final months.
Is a lump sum or steady extra payments better for paying off a mortgage early?
Both reduce principal, so the real difference is timing: a lump sum applied early in the loan removes a large amount of principal while the most future interest is still ahead of it, which can outperform smaller recurring payments spread over the same period. Steady monthly amounts are easier to sustain without a windfall. Try both modes above with your own numbers to compare.
How much do biweekly mortgage payments actually save?
A biweekly plan collects half your normal payment every two weeks, which adds up to 26 half-payments, the equivalent of 13 full monthly payments instead of 12, over a year. That one extra payment a year is what drives the savings, and this calculator simulates it on its own biweekly schedule rather than treating it as a rough monthly estimate.
Can I use this if I'm partway through my mortgage instead of just starting one?
Yes. Enter your current outstanding balance as the loan amount and the years you have left, not the original loan term, along with your actual interest rate. The math is identical either way: it's just amortizing forward from whatever principal and remaining term you give it.
What amortization method does this calculator use?
It uses the standard fixed-rate amortization formula to set the monthly payment, then rebuilds the full schedule month by month, tracking interest and principal separately for every payment. It runs that simulation twice, once as your standard schedule and once with your chosen extra payments, and compares the two directly rather than estimating the difference from a formula shortcut.
How is the new payoff date calculated?
The calculator counts how many payments it takes each schedule to reach a zero balance, then adds that many months to today's date, assuming your first payment starts this month. If you're starting from a current balance partway through an existing loan, the resulting date reflects payments counted from now, not from your original loan's start.
Does this include my escrow payment for taxes and insurance?
No. Escrow is a separate account your lender uses to pay property taxes and homeowners insurance on your behalf, and it isn't part of your loan principal, so it plays no role in the payoff date or interest savings calculated here. Only the principal and interest portion of your payment, and any extra principal you add, affects those numbers.