Free and Clear from Mortgage Payment

Free and clear is a nice thought -- just like the thoughts of having a nice and clean office. I don't have either but try to work on it regularly. I've been paying for the mortgages for several years now and here are some strategies I've discovered to get closer to the Free and Clear goal:

Simple Strategies:

• Make extra payments
• This is the most basic of strategies. To reduce your debt -- make a payment. 
• However, unlike a normal debt like a credit card where the payment and interest is calculated daily and bill monthly. The mortgage payment is fixed for the term of the loan until there's a zero balance. Any extra payment you pay to the mortgage will reduce your debt and interests but not your monthly amount. The extra payment will reduce the number of payments you will have to make at the end of the loan. 
• It would be nice if your additional monthly payment could reduce your monthly loan amount instead. Essentially, you would re-amortize your loan everyday - is there a product like this on the market?
• A quick google search reveal a 'recasting' as an option but it's not calculated daily.

Complex Strategy

• Accelerate Payment with HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit)
• A HELOC is essentially a low interest loan backed by the house
• If you money that's not being invested or just sitting around in savings account, you can use this fund to make a prepayment  to the mortgage which would bring down the principal and interests; when you need quick access to cash, you can withdraw from the HELOC (and pay this off also). 
• The HELOC/Savings account -- can save you some money on interests and reduce the number of payment to the loan while having access to emergency funds. Without the HELOC, you wouldn't be able to get cash out of the house without refinancing and additional costs.
• I am currently researching this option and seeing how much I can save with this strategy -- will up date you on the progress from time to time.