3 Tips to Boost Your Finances
Life is getting more expensive quickly. Whether it’s grocery stores charging more for staple items amid record profits, inflation driving up costs, and interest rates making borrowing more expensive, people need financial relief. They need it now.
Here are three things that homeowners can do to give their finances a boost.
1. HELOC or Home Equity Loan
Existing homeowners can take out home equity loans or a home equity line of credit, which leverages the equity they’ve built up over the years to access quick cash for better borrowing terms. After an independent appraiser assesses your home’s current value, you’ll subtract the total from the mortgage paid and borrow against the difference.
These two methods of borrowing can be used to pay off big-ticket items, such as home renovations, education, or consolidating monthly debts. Because the terms for borrowing are more favorable, people use home equity loans or HELOCs to consolidate high-interest debts and save considerable money each month.
HELOCs let you access a rolling line of credit for a pre-approved term, whereas a home equity loan is a lump sum. However, there’s considerable wiggle room to adjust the payment schedule and terms to fit your lifestyle and financial situation, so speak to a mortgage broker today about which option is right for you.
2. Find Affordable Alternatives
If you reduce your grocery bill by buying less food, you will be saving money, but you’re also experiencing a drop in quality of life. Consider shopping somewhere that sells the same food for less.
Independent grocers stock a lot of the same items you’ll find in the conglomerates, but for less. If you buy groceries from a national chain and pay for delivery, there are ways you can shave off the price of food without changing your diet.
Likewise, try to change your non-grocery-related habits to maintain the same standard you’re used to without spending as much. Some ways may surprise you. For example, you may be able to make some commutes by bike rather than car and find that you not only save money on fuel, insurance, and parking but also enjoy the trip more and even save time.
3. Sell What You Can
Do you have goods or services that are in demand? Perhaps you can command a good price for things you don’t really use anymore, or you have a skill people are willing to pay to learn.
There are websites you can use to sell collectibles or old items to strangers. Make sure you describe them accurately online, including their condition, while being mindful of casting them in a good light.
If you know how to, for example, play a musical instrument, you can do lessons from home via Zoom and make a healthy, flexible side income.
People need to be resourceful when economic times get hard, and right now, they most certainly are. If you need to review your finances and find a way to trim them down, speak to a mortgage broker or examine your budget and way of life for a leaner alternative path.
