Many of us have debts and there are often people that say that we should be making as much effort as possible to repay them. However, it is important to give this some thought as, although it will normally save you money in interest, there may be disadvantages to doing it.

Might be Cheaper to Keep the Debt

Sometimes you may be lucky to have a really cheap loan. If interest rates are really low, for example, you might be better off keeping the loan, especially if you can find a savings account that pays a better rate. You will need to research this carefully and make sure that it really is cheaper to keep the loan. When you are working out the cost of the payday loan make sure that you allow for charges and fess and well as interest and ensure that you are making the required repayments and always covering those. Check how much it is to put the money elsewhere and compare. Make sure that you allow for any tax that you might have to pay of the interest, dividends or whatever you get as a result of wherever you have put the money.

Might be an Early Redemption Chard

With some loans there is an early redemption charge. This sounds really complex but basically it is a fee for repaying the loan early. Lenders often put these in because they want to discourage their borrowers to go elsewhere. Sometimes, it is just a small admin fee that has to be paid, but sometimes it is really significant sum of money. It is therefore really important to find out if there is a fee and if so how much it is. Then you can calculate how much you will save if you repay the loan early and that will allow you to calculate whether it is worth paying the fee or best to keep the loan.

Might Need the Money for Other Things

It is also worth thinking about whether you might need the money. It might be that you might need it soon or that you might need it in the future. It is wise not to pay off a loan speedily if you are not sure if you might need that money. If are too hasty then you might find that you need the money again and have to reborrow and you may not get such good rates this time. It is usually the case that it will be cheaper for you once the loan is repaid and therefore it will be in your advantage to repay it early but it is worth making sure that there is nothing obvious that you will be going without if you repay it early.

So, you can see that it is not a straightforward decision. Although it is nice to think that you could have a paid off loan and that will be great, you do need to be careful that you have thought it through. Consider the advantages of having less interest to pay and less responsibility but also think about the fact that you may need the money elsewhere and you might find there is an expensive charge to repay it early. So, make sure that you are prepared to take some to do some research before you make a decision about this. A few phone calls should be enough to help you find out about any charges and to calculate how much you will save by paying it off. However, you may need to explore your household finances in more detail to decide whether you feel you might need the money for other things.

We may have heard the phrase before that we need to ‘make our money work for us’. It sounds quite odd though and you might wonder what it means and whether it is something that you will be able to do.

What Does it Mean?

Making your money work for you means that you use your money to earn you some extra money. This might sound odd but it is something that is possible for everyone to do. For example, if you put you money in a savings account you will be paid interest. Your money is then working for you and paying you an income. However, savings do not pay out a lot of money and the phrase is more often used for investments. With investments the money is used to buy an item which may bring in an income, increase in value or both. For example, you might buy a property which you can rent out and get an income from and hope will also increase in value. You could also buy shares which you might get paid regular dividends for but will also get the increase in value. However, there is a risk with investments as they may go down in value as well as up. This means that your investment could actually do the opposite to working for you. However, if you keep an investment for a long time, such as decades, it is more likely to increase in value, although there is a still a risk that it may not increase.

Is it Something I Can Do?

So, everyone can make their money work form them. This is because anyone can take out an investment or save some money. Many people already have some savings and so are already doing this. However, you may find that these are not that big. With an investment, the return tends to be much higher. Not only will you get a payment regularly with some of them, but the value can increase which means that you can make quite a lot of return. However, savings might make some interest but the rate tends to be less than inflation some of the time and the money you have saved will not increase in value, in fact it is more likely to decrease in value although the lump sum amount will remain the same. As inflation will rise so you will be able to buy less with it.

Investments can give a big return though. In the short term they might fluctuate a lot in price and so it is easy to sell them for less than you bought them for if you sell them quickly. However, if you hold on to them for a long time, then these fluctuations will be less significant and hopefully you will see an increase in value. However, a long time can refer to at least ten years if not longer and so you will need to be prepared to wait.

However, investments are risky and you need to decide if you are prepared to take on that risk. You need to think about whether the potential return is worth the risk of potentially losing some or all of the money. You may also need large sums of money to invest in some things, such as houses. So, if you do not have that much available then you may not be able to invest. This means that you may just be more comfortable with savings. You will need to think about what you feel will work out for the best for you, depending on how much money you have and how you feel about risking losing it to get a better return.

Many people would love to get a pay rise. They will often wish that they have more money to spend and that they could buy a lot more than they normally do. However, this is something which will not happen without finding a way to get more money. One way of getting a pay rise is to try to get a promotion. However, you will find that there are advantages and disadvantages to doing this.

Advantages of Getting a Promotion

• A promotion will normally mean more pay. This means that you will be able to get the extra money that you want and/or need by doing this.
• Once you have one promotion, you may be able to then get further ones in the future and have your pay go up even more.
• You may get to work on things that are more interesting and enjoyable. You may be more challenged, which if you enjoy, will make the job a lot more fun. Even if you just do something a bit different, this can be more fun for you.
• You may get to work with a different team of people that you might get on better with.

Disadvantages of Getting a Promotion

• You may find that you will be expected to work more hours for the extra money that you are getting. This might suit you but you may not be able to work more hours if you have family commitments or you may not be able to cope with working longer hours.
• You are likely to have more responsibility which could mean more stress. Some people can cope well with responsibility and do not feel the stress or they enjoy it, so it will depend on your personality.
• You may have an increased workload. This could make the job harder for you.
• You may have to do extra training to learn the role. This may be needed to do outside of work and therefore take up leisure time. You may enjoy learning new things though.
• You may have to work with different people and find you do not get on with them so well. Alternatively, you may have to stay with you own team but now be in charge of them which could make things a bit awkward.

So, there is a lot to think about. Obviously, circumstances will be different depending on the specific promotion that you are thinking of. If you are really desperate for the money then this could be the overriding factor and you will prepared to forget about everything else and just go for it. However, it is important to check whether you will be able to cope with the pressures of the new role. Think about what impact it might have on other people around you as well. Of you get really stressed then this could not only impact those you are working with but also those you live with as well. If you have to work more hours then this could also have an impact on your family as well as you. It is important to recognise how stress can impact us negatively if we do not find a way to cope with it. It can impact our mental health and physical health and can lead to disease. Therefore, if you do think stress will be increased, then it is wise to try to think about ways that you will use to manage it so that you can be sure that you will not negatively impact your health. Having extra money may not be worth it if your health is poor. However, you may be stressed due to your financial situation and so you might decide to go for the promotion to eliminate this stress.  

Most of us buy extra things at Christmas. We will normally buy gifts for friends and family as well as buying extra or more extravagant food and drink. It is possible that we will also buy new clothes for parties and visiting, buy decorations and have to pay to travel more. We may even have a holiday. This means that we will have to spend a lot of money. It can be really wise to think about how we will afford to pay for all of those things.

Some people might borrow money to pay for this. Some may find that they will be able to pay it from their normal income, perhaps over a few months and some people will buy things throughout the year to spread the cost. However, there will be some people that will decide to save up the money to pay for it. They may wonder how long they will need to save for.

Calculate How Much You Need to Spend

To start with you should work out how much you will need to spend. It is not always easy to work this out as we may not spend out the same each year and we may not stick to a budget but just spend until we run out of money. However, there are ways that you can work it out. Firstly, count up how many presents you are likely to be buying and how much you are likely to spend on each. Add in some extra for wrapping and for cards. Consider whether you will be buying more decorations. Think about whether you will have any parties and if so, how much that might cost. Decide whether you will be buying new clothes. Think about whether you will be buying anything else such as a holiday, a few nights away, travel to different houses etc. You will end up with an approximate figure but it will give you something to work with.

Calculate How Much you Can Afford to Save

Now you need to take a look at your household expenses and work out how much you will be able to afford each month. Take a look at how much money you have coming in each month, whether form salary, interest, benefits and things like this. Add it all up together. Then work out how much you will spend in a typical month and add that in to it. You may not spend a regular amount each month so you will need to work out an average amount and use that. By taking away the amount of money that you spend from the amount that you have coming in, you will be able to calculate what you will have left to save in a typical month.

Come up with a Plan

Now you will know how much you need to save each month and how much you can afford to save each month. These figures are very unlikely to be the same. If you have more available to save than you need then this will be fine and if you save the amount you need to each month, you will have money left to do with what you wish. However, if you do not have enough money left to save enough each month, then you will need to figure out what to do. You could decide to not save anything and borrow it all instead. However, there are alternatives.

You could save less and reduce the amount that you spend at Christmas or save less and make up the difference by borrowing. Another option is to see whether you can reduce the amount that you spend or increase the amount that you earn so that you have more money available to spend. It may be easier to do one of these than the other but trying to do both will be the way that you will be most sure that you will be able to get the money that you need.

If you are thinking of getting any sort of pet, it is well worth thinking about the cost of doing this before you make up your mind. Of course, some pets will be much more expensive than others but they will still all have some expenses and it is good to think about these. Consider what sorts of costs there might be and calculate how much it will cost you for the specific pet that you want so that you can evaluate whether you feel that you will have enough money available to afford to have one.

Home or Bed

Most animals will require some sort of bed or cage or possibly both. Some of these will just need to be bought once and will be a reasonable price. Others might be more expensive and may need to be replaced from time to time. You may even find that you will need to replace bedding regularly particularly for caged animals. You may also need to provide a litter tray some animals too which will need to be cleaned regularly too.

Food and Drink

All animals will need to be fed and some may need to drink something other than water to drink. This will be something that you will have to pay for all of the time as they will need feeding at least daily. The cost of the food will vary a lot and it will be different between different types of pets as well as sizes of animal. You may also find that there are different brands to pick between and you may find that there are big price differences between these but some animals only seem to like the dearest one.

Entertainment and Toys

A lot of animals need some sort of entertainment or toys. This could be a lead or ball or more sophisticated items. They do not tend to be that expensive but some animals will need more than others. Some animals need to be entertained and kept fit, whereas there are some that need very little interaction and this will make a difference as to what you need to buy for them. Some will be happy with the same things all the time and others will need new things to stimulate them every so often.

Vets Bills

This can be one of the most expensive costs of having animals. If they need operations, treatments or anything like that it will cost money. Some animals need vaccinations and worm treatments regularly and so you will need to pay for this. These costs will be high and so some people take out insurance which helps towards the cost of the treatment but it may not cover everything. It is worth researching what these sorts of costs will be so that you have some idea as to what to expect. So, it can be worth doing some calculations. It can be hard because we often feel quite emotional when it comes to getting a pet and we might be drawn to a specific type of animal, a particular breed or even a very specific animal that someone is selling or giving away. However, it is really important to make sure that we are confident that we know how much it could potentially cost us and whether we are sure that we will be able to afford that much. It is important to make sure that we calculate our household expenses so that we are aware of how much money we have and what we will be able to afford so that we can be sure we will always be able to afford to keep the pet. It would be heart breaking if we had to give them away because we not afford them anymore so it is well worth making the decision before you get them rather than waiting until you do have them and it is too late.