For all that money just lying around

I had previously written about how I'm saving money in the short term by shaving my head in the new year. But I am also thinking about how I can save some money in the long term as well, one of those ways is making additional payments to the principle of my mortgage. It is really scary how much money we're all paying in interest charges to own our homes, so anything we can do to reduce that amount of interest is welcome advice.

Here is an example. Let say the mortgage is $250,000 and the interest rate is at 5% on a 25 year term. Your monthly payment towards the principal and interest is around $1462. Over the life of the mortgage, you'll be paying $188,443 in interest. Yikes!!!

Now here is the awesome part, if you make just one additional payment of $1462 at the beginning of each year you have the mortgage, you will save yourself $29,590.26 in interest charges. Plus you'll have it all paid off over 3 years earlier.

Alternatively if you make a monthly payment of $122 ($1462/12), you can save $30,021.21 and have it paid off 3 and a half years earlier.

Note: I do not work for a bank nor do I have a degree in accounting, I just know how to do math and fill out a spreadsheet.
Another thing to keep in mind that some banks might charge you for making extra payments and that there is usually a limit of how much you can pay straight to the principal. But I am willing to bet that even if you have to pay a bank fee, that you'll be saving thousands of dollars in the long term.

Don't believe me. Let your numbers and the math do the talking!!