Minor Loan Tweaks Can Bring Big Savings
Authored By: Genisys Credit Union on 12/24/2025 
If you have loans or credit cards, you’re already familiar with interest – it’s the price you pay for borrowing money. While interest is a normal part of almost every loan, it’s only natural to want to minimize how much you pay – allowing you to keep more of your hard-earned money.
Fortunately, you have more control over how much interest you pay than you might think. Most of us want to find ways to pay less, and the truth is, you don’t need a perfect credit score or big budget changes to make a real difference. We’ll highlight a series of steps and minor loan tweaks you can make to chip away at interest costs and pay off debts faster.
Step #1: Consider Biweekly Payments
Most people make loan payments monthly. But if you split that payment in half and pay it every two weeks, you’ll make the equivalent of one extra full payment each year – without stretching your budget too thin.
Here’s Why It Works:
There are 52 weeks in a year, which means 26 half-payments. Multiply the half-payments by two, and you’ve made 13 full payments in a year instead of 12.
That extra payment can be applied directly to your principal balance, reducing the amount of interest that will accrue and helping you pay off your loan more quickly.
In addition to saving money, biweekly payments can make budgeting easier because they align with your pay schedule. Paying smaller amounts more frequently can help improve cash flow and reduce the stress that sometimes can come with making one large payment each month.
Pro Tip:
Check with the credit union first to ensure your loan doesn’t have prepayment penalties and to confirm that any extra payments are applied to your principal, not future installments.
Step #2: Round Up Your Payments
A simple trick that is both easy to remember and surprisingly effective is to round up your loan payments. By rounding your loan payment up to the next even amount, you’ll pay down your principal faster and reduce the total interest owed.
Example:
If your monthly car payment is $365, rounding it up to an even $400 adds an extra $35 per month toward your principal balance. That’s an additional $420 per year – all going directly to shorten your loan term and shrink the total interest you pay.
Even modest rounding adds up quickly. The idea is to train yourself to think in “even” payments, such as:
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$225 instead of $196
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$350 instead of $309
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$500 instead of $457
Over the course of several years, these extra dollars translate into meaningful savings and a quicker path to debt freedom.
Pro Tip:
This strategy works wonderfully with home loans. Since mortgages and home equity loans have longer terms, the total interest paid over the life of the loan can be significant. If you pay an extra $100 each month toward the principal balance, you will make an additional $1,200 payment annually – helping to shorten your loan payoff date and substantially reduce total interest costs.
Step #3: Consolidate High-Interest Debt
If you’re juggling multiple high-interest loans or credit cards, a debt consolidation loan can be a game-changer. By combining multiple balances into one new loan, ideally with a lower rate, you’ll simplify your finances and save on interest at the same time.
Debt Consolidation Provides Several Benefits:
Example:
Imagine you have two credit cards with the following balances:
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Credit Card:
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Outstanding Balance:
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Interest Rate:
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Card A
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$3,500
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21% APR
|
|
Card B
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$4,000
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24% APR
|
By consolidating both into a $7,500 personal loan at 10.00% APR, you could instantly cut your interest rate by more than half. That change alone could save you hundreds of dollars in interest, plus you’ll have a single, structured payoff schedule.
Pro Tip:
You can also consolidate debt by transferring high-interest credit card balances to a lower-rate credit union card. However, debt consolidation loans provide an exact payoff date and set payments, helping you pay less interest compared to making minimum payments on a credit card.
Step #4: Refinance When Rates Drop
When interest rates fall, refinancing can be one of the quickest ways to save money. By switching your existing loan to a lower-rate option at the credit union, you’ll immediately reduce your monthly payment and total interest costs.
Refinancing works especially well for auto loans, personal loans, and even home loans, such as mortgages and home equity loans.
Example:
If you financed your car a year ago at 9.00% APR and rates have since dropped to 6.50%, refinancing could significantly lower your payment and overall cost. Depending on the balance and remaining term, that reduction could save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars in interest.
Refinancing Provides Additional Benefits:
Pro Tip:
Before refinancing, consider your current credit score, remaining loan balance, and any associated fees. Refinancing might sound complicated and time-consuming, but it’s one of the easiest and quickest ways to save money on your current loans.
Every Small Move Counts
The secret of saving on interest isn’t one big change. Instead, it’s a series of small, consistent actions. Biweekly payments, rounding up, consolidating debt, or refinancing at the right time all help you reach the same goal: paying less interest and achieving financial freedom faster.
These strategies work best when combined. For example, you might refinance your existing car loan to a lower rate – then switch to biweekly payments or round up each installment to maximize savings. Each step adds another layer of progress toward eliminating debt sooner.
If you want to learn more about refinancing loans or consolidating outstanding debt, we’re ready to help. Please stop by any of our convenient branch locations or call 248-322-9800 extension 5 to speak with a team member today.
© Genisys Credit Union and www.genisyscu.org, 2025. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Genisys Credit Union and www.genisyscu.org with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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