While generally the most logical option is to match your repayments to your income frequency, if you want to save on interest or pay your loan off quicker, then there might be a better way. Here, we take a look at the different repayment frequency options so you can choose what the right repayment frequency is for you.
Weekly
If you get paid weekly, then making your mortgage payments weekly probably works well with your budget.
As interest is usually calculated daily on your outstanding mortgage balance, by making more frequent payments you will usually be saving on interest costs. Making a payment each week means you are paying off the principal owing more quickly than other repayment options.
While it might not seem like a lot, every bit helps. By making four weekly payments, you will save interest compared to paying once a month. However, it does depend on how your mortgage repayments are structured to be repaid.
If they are structured to be paid weekly, then you probably won’t be making much in the way of interest savings, as that will already be factored into the total interest and repayment cost; the interest savings can be made where you have a fortnightly or monthly repayment, which you then pay on a weekly basis.
Fortnightly
If you get paid fortnightly, you have a few options on how you could manage your mortgage payments. You could have your loan repayment set up as fortnightly from the start, and just pay the loan payments as scheduled.
However, you could have your mortgage repayment frequency set up as monthly, and then pay half the monthly mortgage payment each fortnight (which will save on total interest).
Another way you could make the payments is to pay the full amount every second fortnight and pay your other bills (which are often monthly as well) on the alternative fortnight. If you decide to make your payments fortnightly with a monthly loan schedule, paying half of your required monthly payment each fortnight will give you two benefits: (1) you will save on interest from making more regular payments, and (2) and your loan could be paid off quicker as you will end up making an additional full repayment each year, with 26 fortnights being more than 12 monthly payments.
Monthly
If you get paid monthly, it probably makes sense to have your mortgage payments monthly as well; making your payments late will cost you more in interest and fees.
However, you can still shorten your loan term and save a bit on interest by paying a little bit extra each time you make your mortgage payment, rather than just sticking to the minimum payment required.
Take some time to think about what repayment frequency suits you best – and remember that paying a little bit extra, or more frequently, can save you in interest and shorten your loan term.
