Finance: The Burden of Debt

The Burden of Debt

Written by G Marwick

Over recent years personal debt in repparttar

UK has exploded. Since 1997 repparttar 135925

total debt including mortgages was in repparttar 135926

region of £940 million. Approximately 18% of that figure is unsecured credit, accounting for about £8000 per household.

This is a staggering amount of money. With interest rates being raised several times last year, repparttar 135927 strain of maintaining our debt is taking its toll. Sources reveal that repparttar 135928 UK’s debt “has increased every single month without fail since April 1993”.

As it has been relatively cheap to borrow money over that last few years it has been very easy to get access to money. Interest rates are widely predicted to rise further adding even more to repparttar 135929 current £5 billion we are paying every month in interest.

According to repparttar 135930 FSA (Financial Services Authority) one pound in every 10 we spend is borrowed money. It’s very easy to shop around for good rates when borrowing money. Most of us still buy our financial products on repparttar 135931 high street and repparttar 135932 big Financial Institutions base repparttar 135933 price of their products on what they think is repparttar 135934 maximum borrowers are prepared to pay.

With repparttar 135935 internet people are able to shop around for much better rates and this is driving repparttar 135936 average price of borrowing money down. This does pose a catch 22 situation as repparttar 135937 cheaper repparttar 135938 cost of borrowing becomes repparttar 135939 more people will feel they can borrow more. This does breed a nation of people that are living beyond their means. Debt can be very dangerous as you are effectively borrowing from your future to pay for today.

Looking for that low interest credit card

Written by G Marwick

If you have been shopping around for a Low Interest Credit Card you will notice that repparttar

UK market is awash with Credit Card companies offering low rates to entice you to apply for their Cards.

There has never been a better time to consolidate your credit cards and get a far better interest rate. There are many offers out there but they all offer pretty much repparttar 135924 same thing. The only thing that varies is repparttar 135925 APR repparttar 135926 0% balance transfer period and possibly reward points for using repparttar 135927 card.

With all these cards on offer you can be very selective and apply for a card that suits your needs and spending habits.

Looking to consolidate you existing credit cards?

Points to consider:

How long is repparttar 135928 0% balance transfer period for?

These can usually range between 6 and 9 months. These periods of 0% interest may seem attractive but make sure you know what repparttar 135929 APR will revert to after repparttar 135930 period comes to an end. Read repparttar 135931 fine print as some credit card companies will expect you to spend a min amount to secure this low rate. Don’t fall for this as there are many that do not expect you to spend anything.

Do you plan on clearing repparttar 135932 balance within repparttar 135933 0% period?

If you do not plan on clearing repparttar 135934 balance it may be worthwhile getting a card that has a low balance transfer rate for repparttar 135935 life of repparttar 135936 balance. Some credit cards will set a low interest rate until you pay off repparttar 135937 balance in full, whether it takes 6 months or 6 years. This way you don’t have to worry about paying a sudden increase in interest rates at repparttar 135938 end of an introductory period.

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