Is your mortgage payment taking a bite out of your budget? Realtor.com suggests using these methods to make it easier to pay each month, as well as to speed up the repayment of your loan.

1. Share your space

You can get someone else to pay the bill for you if you’re willing to share your living space with others in exchange for rent. A roommate also can help share other expenses. Just be sure you’re prepared to be a live-in landlord. Renting out space in your house not an option? Look to other idling assets you may be able to monetize.

You can share, and charge for access to, bikes and cars.

2. Use a mortgage accelerator

Mortgage equity accelerators work by opening an account with a line of credit into which you automatically deposit your paycheck each month. You can pay all your bills and living expenses out of the account. At the end of the month, whatever is left in the account is applied to your mortgage payment. The idea is that you’ll spend less than you earn—and much less than the cost of your mortgage—so the “extra” cash is automatically applied straight to your loan.

That helps you pay it off faster. The downside: You may need to pay a third party to set up a mortgage accelerator for you, which could outweigh the potential benefit.

3. Cut your living expenses

If you can do away with some of the costs that come with owning a home, you can reduce your overall expenses and make it easier to pay your mortgage. Think about dropping or replacing expensive products and services with less-expensive options. For example, you could switch to streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime instead of paying for traditional cable. You could even go in with friends or a sibling on a family plan to cut the costs for your cell phone, streaming and other services in half. If you can’t cut the cord entirely, call your cable company and ask about different packages or service tiers that can help you save money each month.

Another savings opportunity? Skip the expensive gym membership and use free alternatives such as streaming workouts online or taking a run outdoors. Making swaps such as biking to work rather than driving or cooking at home instead of dining out also can benefit your wallet. Signing up for a grocery pick-up or delivery service can help you cut back on impulse buys. Digital coupons, cash-back sites and apps can make it easy to save on your necessities.

4. Use your tax refund and other bonus money

Do you normally get a tax refund? Apply that money to your mortgage rather than spending it this year. Or look at your withholdings. You can adjust those to pay less in taxes throughout the year and keep more money in your paycheck. With this small salary boost, you’ll have more cash to pay on your mortgage every month. You can use the same method with cash from gifts, work bonuses or any kind of windfall.

Dedicate a portion of bonus money to your mortgage payment. And if the thought of using all this extra cash on a mortgage pains you, set aside a small amount—even just a dollar a day—for splurges and fun spending. Then use the rest to knock down the balance of your loan. 

5. Put extra funds toward your loan’s principal

When you begin using these techniques to pay your mortgage each month, you want to make the most of your savings. Do that by using the money you save to pay down your home loan faster (as long as there’s no penalty for prepayment). You can apply your extra funds in one of two ways: by making an extra payment on your mortgage each month, or adding the extra money onto your regular payment and paying more than what you owe each month. Either strategy will help you pay your mortgage faster, which can save you tens of thousands of dollars in interest during the life of the loan. Just make sure any extra payment is applied to the loan’s principal and not just interest payments.

To do so, you’ll need to be current on all your payments. Then call your loan servicer and ask if they have a process for putting extra payments toward the principal balance of your mortgage. Follow the steps they provide to make sure your money goes to the correct portion of your loan.