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If you have some large expenses, or are interested in making some major purchases, you may need to consider your credit options to get the finance you need. Two popular options for borrowing money are credit cards and personal loans, but working out which one is the better choice can depend greatly on the nature of your expenses, and how you plan to pay them back. What’s the difference between a personal loan and a credit card? A personal loan is structured a lot like a mortgage – you apply to borrow money from a lender, typically in one large lump sum, then repay this amount, plus interest, over a period of time agreed with the lender. Credit cards offer a less structured, more flexible line of credit, where you can borrow as much or as little of the card’s available credit limit as you need. While credit cards do require minimum repayments, you’re otherwise free to repay your credit card balance at a pace of your choice. Credit cards often come with a number of interest-free da...

While a certain level of carefully-managed debt can help us make progress towards our financial goals, it’s easy for debts, fees and interest charges to grow larger than we can easily manage. If you’re struggling with debt and don’t know where to start when it comes to getting your finances back under control, here are five steps you can potentially follow: Step 1 – Get organised and make a plan There are several questions you should ask yourself when making a plan to get out of debt: What debts do you owe? Who do you owe them to? How do you owe on each debt? How much are the  monthly repayments ? What are their interest rates? What are their due dates? Once you have a better idea of your overall debt situation, you can prioritise which debts to focus on clearing first. Step 2 – Focus on your smallest debts OR your debts with the highest interest rates Trying to pay off multiple debts at once can prove both difficult and expensive. Dep...

Along with holiday cards from friends and family members, recent college graduates will probably receive notices from their student loan servicers in the mail in coming weeks. Most student loans have grace periods — spans of time after graduation before repayment must begin — of six months. So for students who graduated in the spring, it is time to start repaying the debt. Nationally, student debt  totaled $1.34 trillion  at midyear, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The  average debt per borrower  in 2016 ranged from a low of $20,000 in Utah to more than $36,000 in New Hampshire, according to the nonprofit Project on Student Debt. Spring graduates typically get notices from a loan servicer — the company that processes payments and manages a student’s loans — the following November, with payments beginning in December. (Happy Holidays!) The letter from the servicer should include details like the payment amount, the due date and where ...

If you have some large expenses, or are interested in making some major purchases, you may need to consider your credit options to get the finance you need. Two popular options for borrowing money are credit cards and personal loans, but working out which one is the better choice can depend greatly on the nature of your expenses, and how you plan to pay them back.   What’s the difference between a personal loan and a credit card? A personal loan is structured a lot like a mortgage – you apply to borrow money from a lender, typically in one large lump sum, then repay this amount, plus interest, over a period of time agreed with the lender. Credit cards offer a less structured, more flexible line of credit, where you can borrow as much or as little of the card’s available credit limit as you need. While credit cards do require minimum repayments, you’re otherwise free to repay your credit card balance at a pace of your choice. Credit cards often come with a number of ...