Our Spring Clean your Finances Challenge is perfect for anyone who wants to save money each month and reduce their mortgage, loan and insurance payments.
Spring is a time of renewal when many of you will be planning to de-clutter your homes and start afresh. This positive mindset can be applied to all areas of your life, including your finances. Too often we put off spending an hour or two to sit down and review our finances because we’re too busy or perhaps don’t know where to start. Taking the time to check out the latest deals and seek expert advice can reduce your monthly payments by hundreds, possibly even thousands of pounds, providing you with extra money to spend on the things that matter to you.
Take our three-step Spring Clean your Finances Challenge to find out how much you could save.
Let’s start by creating a list of any credit commitments you have. This could include credit cards, car loans, personal loans, store cards etc. The list should include columns where you can write the type of credit, the monthly cost (if applicable) and the total amount left to pay. If you borrow money on credit cards or store cards but pay them off each month then you can simply insert ‘£0’ for the monthly cost and total amount to pay.
| Type of credit | Monthly cost | Total amount to pay |
| Credit card | £50 (minimum payment) | £1200 |
| Car Loan | £165 | £5200 |
| Store Card | £25 | £600 |
| Total | £240 | £7000 |
Notice we’ve used the final row to add up the total cost of the different credit commitments each month and the total amount to pay.
Now take the time to look at the list carefully. Do you have any extra money left in your bank account at the end of each month that you could use to clear some of the credit commitments quicker and therefore reduce the level of interest you are paying?
If you only have a few small credit commitments that you pay off each month and you don’t have any extra savings that you could use to reduce the debt sooner then keep going as you are.
If however, you’re struggling to meet your monthly payments or have a large number of credit commitments then you might want to consider consolidating the debt into one simple loan payment. Often this can work out cheaper than making payments to separate providers, especially if you’ve borrowed money on credit cards or store cards with high interest rates.
Homeowners with large amounts of debt to consolidate may be better off remortgaging or taking out a second charge mortgage (a loan secured against their home). In many cases, remortgage and second charge mortgage rates are often much lower because they are secured against your property. If this is something that you wish to consider, then our Mortgage Advisers will be able to provide you with a free no-obligation quote and advise you on the best option available for you.
Before paying more off your credit commitments or consolidating them into a separate loan, it is important that you review your credit agreements carefully to ensure that you won’t be charged any early repayment charges or fees for paying them off early. If you are unsure then speak to your credit providers for further advice.
If you’re a homeowner or a landlord, then dig out or download your latest documentation and look at what type of deal you’re on. With base rate remaining at 0.25%, mortgage and buy to let rates are at the lowest they’ve ever been. If you’re on a standard variable rate or your current deal will be soon coming to an end, then now is a great time to secure a cheap deal. Plus, it’s not just interest rates that are being cut, in recent months many lenders have introduced cashback incentives, free legal work and free valuations, which massively reduce the cost of remortgaging.
Here are a few questions to ask yourself when looking at your paperwork: –
When a fixed, tracker or discounted mortgage comes to an end it usually transfers to a standard variable rate which tends to be more expensive. The rate is determined by your bank and does not track the Bank of England base rate.
If your mortgage or buy to let deal is due to come to an end within the next 3 months, then now is a great time to shop around and arrange a new mortgage or buy to let to transfer to. Our best buy tables are a great way for you to start exploring what options may be available to you.
Many people prefer to keep all of their finances in one place and therefore book an appointment with a Mortgage Adviser from their local bank branch. It is important to bear in mind though that your bank can only advise you on the products which they offer and these products may not be the best priced or suited to your needs. If you’re not tied into a product then it’s well worth shopping around to see if you can get a cheaper deal.
If you are considering remortgaging or taking out a loan to allow you to raise funds for home improvements, a deposit on a buy to let property or any other legal purpose, then don’t just approach your current lender, make sure you shop around to get the best deal.
If you are tied to your current lender until the end of your fixed deal then we may be able to help you raise funds through a second charge mortgage instead (a loan secured against your property). We can compare a remortgage and second charge side-by-side to work out which is the cheapest option.
In summary, if you’re on a standard variable rate, your current deal is coming to an end or you want to borrow more, then now is a great time to remortgage onto a cheap deal. Contact our Mortgage Advisers on 01702 533 400 to get a free no obligation quote or use our best buy tables to start exploring 1000’s of products.
Look through your insurance policies and find out exactly what you’re covered for. All too often, we receive an insurance renewal document through the post, consider shopping around to check our deal is still competitive but get distracted and never do so. Maybe you took out buildings and content insurance and life cover when you first took out a mortgage but have never reviewed any of the policies since. In many cases, our circumstances change every few years, so the original policy we took out ten years ago now doesn’t sufficiently protect us should an unfortunate incident occur.
For example, the original high-value items you listed on your contents insurance may be outdated and you may have made some other large purchases since which you want to protect. Or perhaps, you have no cover in place for yourself but would like insurance to ensure your financial commitments are maintained or your family receives a cash payout if you suffer from ill health or pass away.
There are thousands of insurance products out there and it can be very confusing to know where to begin. We don’t like to brag but we do consider our Protection Specialists to be experts in their field. If you would like some assistance reviewing your policies and finding the most cost-effective products to suit your needs, then call us on 01702 533 400 or arrange a callback. Our whole of market Protection Specialists will search every deal in the marketplace and provide you with a free no-obligation quote.
Once you’ve completed our Spring Clean your Finances Challenge and saved yourself some extra money each month, make sure you make it a yearly event by scheduling it into the calendar on your laptop, phone or diary. Deals change all of the time but by setting aside a few hours once a year, you can make sure that you’re not paying more than you need to.
We’d love to hear how much you saved at the end of the challenge, connect with us on Facebook or Twitter and share with us your story.
