If you've never considered the origin of the word "mortgage" or other ancient French terms, don't think you're alone. Digging into the history books, the word only first appears in writing in about 1390 and isn't formally defined until 1590.

Although the formal origins are unknown, the word "mortgage" is literally the joining of "mort" meaning "dead" and "gage" meaning "pledge". Therefore, your mortgage is literally a "dead pledge".

If the person who owes money on the mortgage fails to pay, the land "is taken from him for ever, and so dead to him…" However, "if he doth pay the money, then the pledge is dead…", meaning that the debt is paid and nothing else can be done.

Reduce Your Mortgage Principal Most homeowners pay their mortgage once a month. That's once a month - twelve times per year. Let's assume that the monthly mortgage payment is $1,000, so that's $12,000 going toward principal and interest. As with most mortgages, the early years of payments are mostly interest with little going toward principal. That means that very little of the $12,000 is reducing your principal balance.

If you were to switch your mortgage payment to pay half the monthly mortgage amount every two weeks you would end up making 26 payments of $500 (in our example) for a total of $13,000.

The payment of $13,000 versus $12,000 would put $1,000 directly to the reduction of your principal balance, thus making you closer to paying off your mortgage.

A faster reduction in your principal balance can also save you money in other areas. Many mortgages have private mortgage insurance (PMI) that you have to pay until your balance is below a certain level (usually 80 - 75% of the total mortgage amount). When you can get rid of PMI, you can take that amount and also apply that directly to your principal and reduce your mortgage debt even faster.

As with all money matters, be sure to check with your tax advisor and mortgage holder about specific terms, conditions or limitations that may be applicable to your individual situation.