Financial Strategies to Cut the Amount Paid in Interest and Improve Your Credit Score
Make sure to get the lowest interest rate possible. While most lenders offer interest rates close to one another, they can vary and one percentage rate will add up over the years.
Periodically check with banks to make sure everything the bank has to offer is gotten and any unnecessary fees aren’t being paid.
“Ask your bank for a financial assessment to insure you are getting all your bank has to offer,” Wells Fargo store manager Britt Sloan said. “Banks change policies and offer new accounts from time to time so there might be something available that would benefit you that wasn’t available when you first opened your account.”
Making by-weekly payments on a mortgage can potentially save a person tens of thousands of dollars on interest payments and can take seven years off a 30-year mortgage.
By-weekly payments usually have to be set up at closing. A one-month advance payment, which may not be applied immediately, is usually required. There is often an up front fee as well a low per transaction fees associated with a by-weekly payment program but some lenders have done away with the up front and per transaction fees and more are expected to follow. The one-month advance payment is still required, though.
Cutting down on unnecessary personal spending can save you a lot of money, which can in turn, be put into a savings account and add up very fast. The simplest way to do this is to stop eating out. Save all fast food receipts for a month. A meal deal ranging in price from $3 to $6 dollars adds up to $15 to $30 a week, $60 to $120 a month and $780 to $1,560 a year! OUCH!!
Since the money is already being spent, by bringing lunch from home the money saved can be put into a savings account and will never be missed.
“People often think they can’t afford to save,” Sloan said. “By changing habits just a little, they are amazed at how much they were spending and how quickly it all adds up.”
Buying clothes off-season at sale prices is an easy way to save a lot of money and stay in fashion.
Investing in an Individual Retirement Arrangement, purchasing a Certificate of Deposit (also known as time accounts) or a bond can be a good secure way to invest money. These methods verses investing on Wall Street where the gains can be substantial but risky and where losses can come without warning and be devastating are secure.
Another way to save money is to buy in bulk whenever possible but be wary. Make sure the items being sold in bulk are a savings compared to the items individual price. Also, don’t purchase items in bulk not regularly used. Never buy bulk items on impulse.
Making and using lists when shopping can save you money, too. Lists help cut down on impulse buys and help prevent buying items not needed.
With just a little effort and strategy everyone can save money.
