loan at about 7 percent and pay it off at 10 per cent, you won't even notice if rates go up. Best of all, you'll be paying off your loan quicker and saving yourself a packet. 3. Pay it off quickly Time is money. There are all sorts of strategies for paying less interest on your loan, but most of them boil down to one thing: Pay your loan off as fast as you can. For example, if take out a loan of $300,000 at 7.07 per cent for 25 years, your repayment will be about be about $2,134. This equates to a total repayment of $640,126 over the term of your loan. If you pay the loan out over 10 years rather than 25, your monthly payment will be $3,494 a month (ouch!). But the total amount you will repay over the term of the loan will be only $419,290 - saving you a whopping $220,836! 4. Make more frequent payments The simple things in life are often the best. One of the simplest and best strategies for reducing the term and cost of your loan (and thus your exposure should interest rates rise) is to make your repayment on a fortnightly rather than monthly basis. How can this make a difference I hear you ask? It works like this: Split your monthly payment in two and pay every fortnight. You'll hardly feel the difference in terms of your disposable income, but it could make thousands of dollars and