PAY YOUR INSTALMENT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, PAY IN ADVANCE, AND NOT ARREARS

Interest is calculated every day. Therefore, every day that you delay paying your bond and have the money lying dormant in your cheque account is costing you interest. Tell the bank to take your monthly debit order on the very next business day after your salary is deposited (on the very same day would be even better, but you should allow for delays in salary transfers which can occur, particularly if payday falls on a weekend).

If you change jobs and your payday changes, ensure that you notify the bank immediately. Paying just 2 day earlier could knock as 2 months of your loan term.

If you decided to rent a property, common practice dictates that you would have to pay your rent in advance, and usually a deposit equal to one months rent. This means you would have paid an amount equal to two months rent before you even move in. Why, therefore, are we so quick to agree when the bank says we can pay our first bond instalment one month after registration of our bond? Plus, if we have taken a 100% bond, we do not even have to pay a deposit.

By putting ourselves in the same position as a person who is going to move into rented accommodation, we can knock off about 20 months off our bond term, or as much a 3 years if we pay in advance and a deposit equal to one month’s instalments (as you would do with a rental)