1. INTEREST RATES

Spring into the season with five easy ways to get ahead on your home loan, writes

Many home loan customers have no idea what their interest rate is so phone your bank, look online or pull out your latest home loan statement.

Figures from comparison website RateCity show the average standard variable rate on a $300,000 30-year home loan is 4.67 per cent and the monthly repayments are $1550.

On the same loan the average three-year fixed rate is 4.46 per cent and the monthly repayments are $1512.

So if you are paying more than this, then you can quickly work out whether you are paying too much.