Become A Smarter Borrower


With a nation that has in the region of a Trillion pounds of debt one could say we are serial borrowers. Before you consider borrowing money it is wise to consider a few important points.

· Shop around for the best deal

This may sound like a no brainer but many people still use their high street bank to borrow money. These are usually the most expensive and with the Internet you can spend 30 minutes in your home finding the best deal.

· Make sure you understand the APR

Although the lender will outline the APR charges this may not be the actual amount you will be paying. Make sure you get the true cost of your loan.

· Keep the repayment period as short as possible

The longer you take to pay off your loan the more expensive it gets. Try and limit the repayment period to less than 5 years. For example, a £5,000 loan borrowed over five years at an interest rate of 9% will cost you £103 each month, this may sound affordable. But overall, it will cost you £6,176 - £1,176 in interest. If you borrowed it over three years, your monthly payments would be £158 an increase of 53% in payments however you would only be paying back £5,694, which is substantially less.

· Make sure you read the fine print

Lenders make a fortune in charging their customers payment protection. There are usually several conditions attached to this kind of protection so make ensure that you get the protection you want should you not be able to keep up the payments. There are usually redemption penalties if you pay your loan off early so make sure you are aware of these charges before hand.

· Avoid Secured loans if possible.

Loans of this type are commonplace in the UK are commonplace following the increased equity value arising from the house price boom of recent years. It is only advisable to release equity if you are going to be adding value to you home. If you fail to keep up payments you can be at risk of losing your home. This again will be mentioned in the fine print, although you should be aware of this.

There are hundreds of loan companies in the UK at the moment. With our low interest rates it has been quite affordable to borrow money. This is one of the reasons we are a nation in the grip of a debt epidemic at the moment. If you can reduce your interest payments then take action now.

If you have between 6 - 9 months left to pay on your loan you could transfer this balance to a 0% balance transfer credit card. You can then pay this balance off from your new credit card at no cost over the 6 or 9 month period depending on what the introductory rate is.

Do your homework there is more than enough information and loan comparison websites to make sure you make the right choice when it comes to taking out that loan.

Grant Marwick is a freelance writer and owner of www.1st-in-loans.co.uk">http://www.1st-in-loans.co.uk where you will find advice and more articles on 1st-in-loans.co.uk ">personal loans


MORE RESOURCES:

Fed's Direct Loans to Banks Climb to Record Level (Update2)
Bloomberg - 6 hours ago
By Christopher Anstey and Steve Matthews May 15 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve's direct loans of cash to commercial banks climbed to the highest level ...
Investment firms' borrowing at fairly steady pace The Associated Press
TABLE-US M-2 money supply up $1.1 bln May 5 week Reuters
Panic control Washington Times
Bloomberg - Reuters
all 58 news articles


The Consumerist

Cash America shuts Ohio stores as lawmakers ban payday loans
Houston Chronicle, United States - 9 hours ago
2008 AP The announcement Thursday comes one day after the state Senate approved a bill that would ban two-week loans that support the payday lending ...
Ohio lawmakers approve payday lending cap Bizjournals.com
Payday lenders likely doomed Columbus Dispatch
Ohio Senate Approves Payday Lending Restrictions Bill WTOV9.com
Forbes - Bizjournals.com
all 78 news articles


Telegraph.co.uk

Deutsche, Banks Selling $4 Billion of Boots LBO Loans (Update6)
Bloomberg - 12 hours ago
The banks offered to help the LBO firms pay for the purchase and cut the price of the loans to 91 percent of face value, they said. ...
Deal to sell £2bn of Boots' debt Telegraph.co.uk
PRIVATE EQUITY'S EXODUS New York Post
Deutsche, Banks Selling $4 Billion of Boots LBO Loans (Update1) Bloomberg
Bloomberg
all 10 news articles


US leveraged loans have worst ever quarter - Fitch
Reuters - 7 hours ago
Loans made to fund leveraged buyouts were scarce, with only $5.4 billion being issued in the first quarter, down 89 percent form $47.8 billion in the fourth ...
Fitch: Q1 Results Demonstrate Full Extent of Slowdown in Leveraged ... Business Wire (press release)
all 7 news articles


Banks set to push home loans
Malaysia Star, Malaysia - 4 hours ago
By DALJIT DHESI PETALING JAYA: Banks are mapping out strategies to garner a larger slice of the home loans market as intense competition continues to exert ...


AFP

Japan plans 4.8-bln-dlr loans for climate change: report
AFP - 7 hours ago
TOKYO (AFP) — Japan plans to extend up to 500 billion yen (4.8 billion dollars) worth of low-interest loans to developing countries over the next five years ...


RLPC-CS sells 135 mln euros of European leveraged loans
Reuters - 11 hours ago
VX: Quote, Profile, Research) sold a 135 million euro portfolio of high-quality European leveraged loans in a secondary market auction on Thursday, ...
RLPC-Endemol restarts sale of hung 2.2 bln euro buyout loan Reuters
all 5 news articles


The Southern Ledger

Bill would make new loan caps permanent
San Jose Mercury News,  USA - May 14, 2008
The loans from the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. , Federal National Mortgage Association and the FHA were raised to $729750 for a single-family home as ...
Jumbo mortgage rates becoming affordable San Francisco Chronicle
US can't continue to take on risk to underwrite bad loans The Patriot-News - PennLive.com
Package: More cash, bigger loans Chicago Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune - MortgageNewsDaily.com
all 535 news articles


RBI relaxes lending norms for housing loans
Economic Times, India - 13 hours ago
"It has been decided to enhance the limit of Rs 20 lakh to Rs 30 lakh in respect of bank loans for housing in terms of applicability of risk weights for ...
Easier ECB rules may fire up industry Economic Times
all 3 news articles


Prospects of cheaper loans hit as inflation forecast sends Libor ...
Times Online, UK - 8 hours ago
Three-month sterling Libor, the benchmark rate used to price many loans, soared by 0.04 percentage points to 5.84 per cent, bringing the rise to 0.08 ...

loans - Google News

site map
Nocommentweb.com © 2000 - Partners

psychology help | snus | ekspress lån | express loan | Santander Spain | cheap insurance | snus|