4 Savings Strategies to Pay Off Your Mortgage — Once and For All
It’s true. A mortgage is a marathon, not a sprint. But any marathon can turn into a sprint when you know the finish line isn’t far or realize your pace has been too leisurely.
Financially, there are things you can do to increase your pace, even without necessarily increasing how much you pay monthly.
1. Make Your Money Go Further
Make your money go the distance with a high-yield savings account, rather than settling for the stingy interest most big banks pay.
We like the Betterment Cash Reserve account. It’s a high-yield savings account that pays a whopping 5.50% APY (annual percentage yield) for new customers.
And no, they don’t try to take money back from you with fees. And it’s federally protected, FDIC insured up to $2 million ($4 million for joint accounts).
2. Invest your passive income
High-yield savings will only get you so far alone. You can invest your yields and add a welcome bonus to your investment dollars.
With SoFi Checking and Savings, you can earn up to 3.60% APY on savings and 0.50% on checking, plus a 0.70% APY boost for your first 6 months when you set up direct deposit or keep $5K in your account. That’s up to 4.30% APY total.
We also like SoFi Checking and Savings because you can transfer passive income right into your investment account with the SoFi Active Invest* app.
3. Making Money Online Sharing What You Know
We know — picking up a side gig is obvious. But is it work if you love what you do?
Consider being an online tutor. We all have certain subjects we excel at, things that just come easily to us.
And with a need for virtually every subject somewhere, the internet can be a great way to find where you’re needed.
You can get paid to tutor students online. Take notes from this former teacher, who makes up to $75 an hour.
If you’re not sure where to start, we’ve rounded up a list of companies hiring online tutors.
4. Give Your Money the Cold Shoulder
One way to recalibrate your spending habits is to participate in a spending freeze.
Step 1: Pick a month — or even year. Penny Hoarder Jamie Cattanach chose November in hopes of taming her holiday spending.
Step 2: Don’t spend money on nonessentials during the freeze. Definitely still pay rent, your utilities — all those responsible grown-up bills — but don’t spend anything on entertainment, clothing or dining out.
Sure, it’ll be difficult; you’ll face temptations. But Cattanach finished the challenge and saved at least $600 in one month.
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