You’ve probably received your December credit card statement in the last couple of weeks. Have you even opened it? Ok, here’s a really simple way to get 2015 off to a good start and to improve your financial health; open it. Now breathe.
Pocket MoneyNow that you know what you’re dealing with, you’re in a better position already. While you’re at it, dig out your car loan contract and the details of any other personal loans you have. Jot down the monthly amount you pay and the APR (annual percentage rate of interest). Did you know that if you were to borrow from Naas Credit Union to pay them all off, you could have considerably more money in your pocket every month, or be debt free much faster?
How is this possible?
It’s to do with the rate of interest you’re paying on your loan or loans.
Interest is the charge for the privilege of borrowing the money. It’s how much extra you have to pay the lender on top of the paying back the sum you borrowed. It’s usually expressed as a rate – a percentage of the original sum.Credit cards are generally the most expensive way to ‘borrow’ money with rates currently ranging from 16.3% to 22.7% APR (the cost of borrowing the money over a whole year). Personal loans cost between 11.3% and 14% APR for a loan of up to €5,000 paid back over 36 months, for example.
But a loan from Naas Credit Union will cost you only 9.5% APR. With the loan, you completely repay your other loans and start paying off your new Naas Credit Union loan instead. At a rate of just 9.5% APR compared to up to almost 23% if you had the most expensive credit card, you can see how your cashflow position would benefit.
By Sean Murray
