Paying off your mortgage early is a decision many homeowners contemplate; after all, the allure of being debt-free sooner and saving on interest can be mighty tempting. If you’re ready to start paying your mortgage more aggressively, you should know that not all paths to financial freedom are created equal. There are right ways – and wrong ways – to go about reducing your mortgage burden. Here we share the pros and cons of paying off your mortgage early, and some helpful tips.

The current US personal debt, including mortgages, has reached $14 trillion, with a total annual income of $19.68 trillion. That works out to a median household yearly income of $79,900 with total debt of $145,000. So is there a magic formula for paying off debt? The answer is yes, but how each household approaches this will vary, depending on the details of their interest rates, duration of loans, income, other expenses, opportunities for relief, credit available, and level of debt.

When you create a personal or household budget it is the starting point to effective money management and laying a solid financial foundation. Follow the steps to create a worksheet with columns that give you an accurate look into all aspects of your resources and the demands on them. The resulting document empowers you to discover what you have, how much you need to make, how well you’ve been managing so far, and how to adjust so that you stay ahead with your financial goals.