If like many people your finances have not been in great shape throughout the pandemic, the good news is it doesn’t need to stay this way. There are a few things you can do to help boost your finances depending on your situation. Whether you want to borrow money, reduce debt or just get things under control, here are 4 ways to help you do it.

 

 

1. Use a Specialist Lender

Whilst your credit rating may not be as perfect as you want it to be, this doesn’t mean you can’t find lenders to help you. Whether you are looking for affordable short term loans to cover an emergency expense or require something longer term to cover an upcoming project, specialist lenders are willing to help those with a poor credit history. This is because they will focus on what you can afford to pay rather than your credit score, helping you get the funds you need when you need them most. If you have checked your affordability and can maintain the repayments you want, there are lenders available to help.

 

2. Focus on Savings

As well as being able to borrow again, you’ll want to focus on what you can save just in case your circumstances change again.

If you weren’t already contributing to an emergency savings fund, now is the time to start building one. Even if you start small, this will eventually build up and help you should your finances need it, for example, losing your job or covering an unexpected expense. All you’ll need to do is open a separate savings account to deposit into and keep this separate from any regular savings, ensuring the funds aren’t used on anything else.

 

3. Reduce High-Interest Debt

If you have multiple debts you are concerned about, having a plan in place to tackle them will help. One approach to this is focusing on the debts with the highest interest. If say you have credit debt that accrues monthly interest, you’ll want to reduce this as quickly as possible. This will avoid adding to the debt over time and ensure you are not paying more than you need to.

Similarly, if you are only paying the minimum repayment, this may not even cover the interest being added. You may have other debt with fixed interest, such as a personal loan. This type of borrowing tends to have lower interest, however, if you can settle the loan early, you may be entitled to an interest refund which will make the total much less.

 

4. Create a Budget

One of the best ways to boost your finances is to review what you have currently. You may find that you have hidden spending throughout the month that you could reduce. Comparing your current income with your essential monthly expenditure should leave you with a disposable income. If you find that your disposable income is high, but your bank statements don’t reflect this, it could indicate your non-essential outgoings are high. Creating a budget is the best way to get this under control. Review the non-essential spending and cut-down where possible. You then should have more money to put towards savings, reducing existing debt or towards new borrowing.