Free tool · standard amortising loan

Principal & Interest, across the term.

Monthly repayment, total interest paid, principal paid down year-by-year. Excludes fees, redraw, offset, lender LMI. For exact lender quotes, talk to a broker — for ballpark planning, this is the math the banks use.

Your loan

Same loan, different frequencies. Fortnightly + weekly pay off slightly faster — there are 26 fortnights vs 12 months × 2, so you effectively pay an extra month's worth a year.

Repayment monthly
$3,961
$640,000 at 6.30% over 30 years
Total interest over loan$786,099
Total paid (principal + interest)$1,426,099
First repayment: interest vs principal$3,360 int / $601 prin
Year-5 balance owing$598,000
Year-15 balance owing$465,000
What is P&I

Principal & Interest — the standard home loan.

P&I (Principal & Interest) is the most common Australian home loan structure. Each repayment includes both the interest charged that period AND a small chunk of the principal you owe. Over a typical 30-year term, your loan amortises — meaning the principal balance reduces to zero by the final repayment.

The alternative is Interest Only (IO), where you only pay the interest for a set period (typically 1-5 years). IO suits some investors during the accumulation phase but doesn't build equity and means a higher loan balance at the end of the IO period.

How amortisation works

The early years are mostly interest

On a $640,000 loan at 6.30% over 30 years, the first monthly repayment is $3,961. Of that, roughly $3,360 is interest and only $601 is principal. As the loan progresses, the principal portion grows and the interest portion shrinks — the "amortisation curve."

By year 15, you've paid off about 27% of the original principal. By year 25, you've paid about 70%. The final 5 years repay nearly half of the entire loan because almost all of each payment is now going to principal.

Fortnightly vs monthly trick

If you split your monthly repayment in half and pay fortnightly, you'll make 26 fortnightly payments per year — equivalent to 13 monthly payments instead of 12. That extra month per year shaves about 4-5 years off a 30-year loan and saves tens of thousands in interest. Many lenders let you set this up automatically.

What changes the repayment

The four levers

  • Loan amount — linear effect. Halve the loan, halve the repayment (at the same rate).
  • Interest rate — non-linear. A 1% rate increase on a $640k 30-year loan adds about $400/month. A 2% rise adds about $830/month.
  • Loan term — longer terms reduce monthly repayment but cost more in interest overall. A 25-year term on the same loan adds ~$210/month but saves ~$120k in total interest.
  • Repayment frequency — fortnightly/weekly slightly accelerates payoff vs monthly (see above).
Common questions

Frequently asked

Should I get a 25-year or 30-year loan?
30 years gives you the lowest monthly repayment and the most flexibility. If you want to pay it off faster, just make extra repayments on a 30-year loan — most lenders allow this with no penalty. The 25-year route locks you into the faster pace; the 30-year-with-extras route gives you the same speed AND a safety net.
Does the calculator include fees?
No — this is principal + interest only. Application fees, annual fees, and ongoing charges add to the real cost. Use our Loan Comparison Calculator for full cost-of-loan analysis.
What about offset accounts?
An offset account reduces the balance the bank charges interest on — so $50,000 in offset against a $500,000 loan means you pay interest on $450,000. The loan amortises faster because more of each repayment goes to principal. Not modelled in this calculator.
What's "comparison rate" on a loan ad?
A standardised rate that includes the interest rate PLUS most ongoing fees, calculated against a $150,000 loan over 25 years. Useful for comparison but doesn't reflect your specific loan size or term.
Disclaimer: P&I calculations assume a fixed rate for the entire term. In practice, variable rates fluctuate; fixed-rate periods typically last 1-5 years before reverting. Talk to a mortgage broker for a precise quote against your specific loan profile. This is not credit advice.