Paying off a mortgage can seem relentless – every payment counts of course, but it can seem to be taking forever to make a dent. Here are some simple ways you can increase the amount you pay off and own your home sooner.

Reducing the principle on your mortgage as quickly as you can means paying less interest, so your future payments are going even further towards reducing that principle.

To find the ideal balance between the extra repayments you can afford to make and the time this will shave off your mortgage term, use a mortgage calculator <http://www.mortgageandfinancehelp.com.au/category/calculators>.

For example, on a $350,000 loan at six per cent interest, a monthly repayment of $2100 will see a total term of 30 years and a total cost of just over $750,000, while paying just $500 per month on top of that will bring the loan term down to just under 19 years and the total cost to just over $580,000.

Boosting these monthly payments by a further $400 to $3000 will see the loan paid off in less than 15 years – halving its term.