Getting finances into shape

The first month of 2021 is already in the rear-view mirror, which means we should already be making traction on some of our new year’s resolutions. Right?!

If you’re not making the progress you were planning on, and you have a goal of whipping your finances into shape this year, here are three quick and easy actions you can take to make progress towards more money and less financial stress in 2021:

1. Call your bank for a home loan discount

When you take out a home loan, something can happen known as “interest rate creep”. It’s when the mortgage interest rate you pay slowly but surely creeps up – by amounts so small you barely notice, but that over time, really add up. At the same time, your bank or lender might be offering deep discounts to entice new customers, meaning you’re paying more than they are for the exact same loan.

The ACCC did some research into this late last year and found that the average customer is paying 0.58% more for their loan than newer customers are.

There’s absolutely no reason to pay more than you need to. So pick up your phone, call your lender, and ask for a discount. You have nothing to lose, and thousands to gain.

2. Get your loanScore

Regardless of the interest rate and mortgage repayments you’re paying with your current lender, it’s a good idea to check and see whether you can get a better deal. The good news, you can do this in less than two minutes with loanScore, which is like a free check-up for your home loan.

With loanScore, you fill in a few details, review your score and see how much you could save by refinancing. If the idea of switching lenders fills you with dread when you think about the paperwork, the budgets, the chasing up payslips, then you’re in luck – refinancing these days is much simpler and swifter than it has been in the past.

In fact, our new tech can help you see how much you could be saving in just 2 minutes.

Check your loanScore now

3. Lock in a better deal

Refinancing can help you get on top of your money in two meaningful ways: first, if you refinance to a cheaper home loan, you can start saving money instantly on your repayments. Secondly, if you consolidate high-interest debts into your home loan, you can save a small fortune in interest.

Here’s how your debt consolidation might work in practice - let’s say you have a mortgage, a credit card and a car loan.

If you were able to consolidate these personal debts into your mortgage, your monthly debt commitment drops by almost half:

If you’re able to keep your repayments at the higher amount of $1,279, you’ll be able to make a huge headway in your home loan and pay it off years’ sooner. Otherwise, you can breathe a little easier knowing your monthly financial commitments are a little more manageable than they were.

Keen to consolidate all of your credit card debts into your home loan, so you can start saving money on interest today?

Book a call with a dedicated UNO broker today!