Any method works, as long as you do not pay anyone to do it for you. Companies have mailed offers for years to manage extra payments for a monthly fee. Every dollar of that fee is avoidable, because your servicer already gives you the same tools for free. Log into your loan account and you can typically: - Make a one-time extra principal payment whenever you have the cash. - Set up recurring extra payments, either rounding the payment up or adding a fixed amount each month. - Enroll in a bi-weekly plan, paying half the payment every two weeks. That works out to one extra full payment a year and shortens the loan term. How much time this shaves off depends heavily on your rate. When rates are higher, a modest extra payment can cut a meaningful number of years off a thirty-year loan, since interest makes up a larger share of each payment. When rates are lower, the same extra dollars still help but move the payoff date less. Either way, the buttons are already sitting inside your loan account at no cost, so there is rarely a reason to pay a third party to press them for you.