We all want to make the most of our money, especially as the cost of living keeps increasing. If you’ve reviewed your budget, and changed your spending habits so that you can save some money (or just redirect it to more important things), you may be wondering if there is anywhere else you can make some savings. Well, there is – your home loan.
Your home loan is likely your most significant debt, and unless you have a fixed rate loan, you’ve probably experienced some increases in your monthly repayments over the last nine months. But, there are still some things you can do to save money on your home loan.
Use an offset account
Linked to your home loan, an offset account can be a helpful way to reduce the amount of interest you need to pay – which will lower your minimum monthly repayment amount. Hooray!
An offset account is a bank account (think a transaction account and savings account combined) and the balance of the offset account is deducted from the amount owed on the home loan. That means interest is charged on a lower amount.
For example, if you had a balance of $600,000 on your home loan and $35,000 in your offset account, you’d only pay interest on $565,000 instead of the full loan balance.
A ‘redraw’ facility on a home loan can also reduce the amount of interest you need to pay. Learn more about offsets and redraws in our Redraw vs. Offset: What’s the difference? article.
Pay fortnightly or weekly
If you usually make your home loan repayments monthly, you could squeeze in a couple of extra repayments each year by paying half of the repayment amount fortnightly instead – or, you could pay a quarter each week.
It won’t cost you more, and here’s how. As there are 12 months in a year, but 26 fortnights and 52 weeks, swapping to fortnightly or weekly repayments means you could make 13 months’ worth of repayments in a 12-month period. Here’s an example:
- $2,000 x 12 = $24,000
- $1,000 x 26 = $26,000
- $500 x 52 = $26,000
This means you’ll not only pay off your home loan faster, but you’ll be saving on interest in the long run.
Reduce your fees
Add establishment fees, annual fees and other account keeping fees together and the charges associated with a home loan can quickly add up. A $350 annual fee on a 25-year loan could mean you pay almost $9,000 extra over the life of your loan.
Finding a home loan that doesn’t charge fees is a great way to reduce the amount you pay on your home loan, and you could even use the savings to help pay off your loan sooner.
With a P&N Bank home loan you won’t pay any establishment or monthly maintenance fees.
Refinance
Refinancing your home loan isn’t as difficult as it may initially seem, and even a small interest rate reduction could save you thousands of dollars over the loan lifetime. By shopping around for the best interest rate and comparing different lenders and their offers regularly, you’ll be able to ensure your home loan is still helping you meet your financial goals.
If you want to refinance your current home loan to P&N Bank, our team is available to help you. We have mobile and virtual lenders who can assist you with your home loan, as well home loan specialists in-branch. If you have a broker, they'll also be able to assist you.
Pay extra
Our last tip for saving money on your home loan may be obvious. Make extra payments towards the principal when you can afford to.
If you can't make regular additional repayments, there may still be times when you can boost the amount you're paying off. For example, if you receive an annual bonus from work or a tax refund, you could put part of it towards your home loan and reduce the amount of interest to be paid.
You could also add any money remaining in your budget at the end of the month to your home loan. Remember, even small additional repayments will help. If you want to make the most of your money and master your finances, you might find our mymo by P&N Bank mobile app helpful. It's like your own financial assistant in your pocket and has lots of handy features to help keep you on track with your finances.
Credit products issued by Police & Nurses Limited (P&N Bank) ABN 69 087 651 876 AFSL/Australian Credit Licence 240701. Any advice does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Lending criteria, terms & conditions, fees & charges apply. Rates subject to change. The Target Market Determination (TMD) for products is available on request.