April Money Madness
It has been another chaotic month for Frugal Frank but I couldn’t miss out on my monthly money madness update as many of you seemed to enjoy the last one. Here is April’s update..
Discover self Control
Don’t make a habit of relying on credit cards each month to make your purchases. You will find you are forever paying off items you bought years ago. After all do you really want to pay interest on a pair of jeans or your weekly food shop? It’s much better to restrain yourself till you have the cash to make your purchase in full.
Take responsibility for your own financial future
Instead of relying on others to handle your finance for you, why not buy a few finance books and join a few financial blogs. You would be surprised how much you could learn with just 30 minutes reading a week.
Save for the unexpected
Not only will this help you sleep better at night but this will ensure any unfortunate unexpected financial difficulties that might (and usually do) occur, you have covered with a small reserve if needed.
Please let me know your money secrets by emailing Frugal Frank on mail@frugalfrank.co.uk
Build a deposit by taking out a loan
Taking out a loan is often the most realistic option for financing the purchase of more expensive items such as cars and even an agreed bank overdraft or cash loan can go a long way to help maintain a preferred lifestyle. But for a bigger commitment such as a house purchase, where finding the deposit is the first hurdle to overcome, a range of options needs to be considered in order to get the best deal and keep the eventual outlay as low as possible.
Of course, the ideal option would be to get friends or family to provide you with a loan and not expect any interest in return but failing that pleasant arrangement you still have a spectrum of options for securing a good deal. If you’re lucky enough to find a 100 per cent mortgage you can pay this off on completion so it doesn’t have to run alongside the mortgage itself but in the case where you have a mortgage as well as a running loan the lenders will need to be informed of this.
Taking out a personal loan to be used as the deposit on a property is one of the more straightforward types of loan you’ll come across. Banks and building societies basically offer two types of such loans, secured and unsecured. With a secured loan your property constitutes the security and it will be forfeit if you are unable to meet the repayments. It’s not an appropriate loan for first-time buyers and anyone offering to take out such a loan will need to be aware of what’s at stake in the event of payment defaults and look at your responsible lending options.
Unsecured loans tend to be more complex and there are many types available, both in terms of loan size and monthly repayment terms and conditions. As with all types of loans, failure to repay in line with the agreed terms can result in court proceedings for recovery of the full amount. This type of loan can be used to provide the deposit for a house, the full amount with interest being repaid on completion of the purchase.
Remember when choosing a loan for a deposit to take into account the APR (Annual Percentage Rate) which can vary substantially between providers and which will play a major part in dictating the amount you eventually end up having to repay. You should speak to a responsible lender about the different options available to you and the rates of interest that are applied to them. For more information, visit this website.
Using social deal sites to shop smart and save big
Social deal sites are fast becoming essential tools for the savvy online bargain hunter, these community based sites like smartpound allow users to share deals and discounts with other shrewd consumers. Here are some bargain hunting tips to get the most out of such sites.
Don’t miss a deal
Check for bargains regularly, deals are often breaking all the time every day of the week and the best deals tend to sell out or expire quickly making regular monitoring essential. Sites like smartpound make it easy to find the best deals at any given moment by listing todays top deals as voted for by their users.
Be price savvy
Research and know the price point of the product you want by searching for previous deals. Knowing the price a product has been on offer at before means you can act quickly when you see a good deal.
Know what your buying
Use the community’s knowledge to help with purchasing decisions, you have the collective brain of many savvy shoppers at your disposal when you use a deals community so use it to your advantage and read comments and opinions of other users to ensure your get the best deal.
Use voucher codes to maximise savings
Often voucher codes will be available at retailers enabling further savings on top of the initial deal, these codes will normally be listed along side the deal to ensure you don’t miss out on any potential extra savings.
Be prepared to go offline and buy in store
Sometimes the best deals are available in store only, often these are loss leading deals designed by the retailers to get more shoppers through their doors. Normally these deals wont last long so use the deal sites to target the best offers and go offline to bag a bargain.
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