Student Loan Debt

Let's talk about one thing that plagues many people who took it upon themselves to further educate themselves. Student loans seem to be a mountain of debt that will never be paid off. For this reason many people put it in the back of their minds and just let the monthly payments come out.

As debts go, a student loan is really not that bad. The interest rates are low, the student loan officers are usually more than willing to help you as much as they can.

There are things you can do however to help you along. One of these things is obtaining interest relief. Basically how it works is this. If you are not earning a lot of money or have a number of dependants you can apply to have the government cover the interest of your student loan for a period of six months. This can be obtained several times. This will help free up some money to go towards the principal of the balance.

Another thing that can be done is student loan forgiveness. If you have completed the course/degree/diplome you have set out to do within the alotted timeframe some of your loan may be forgiven.

This information applies to student loans in Canada. For more information go to www.canlearn.ca

Credit Cards...

Today's topic is one that probably gets more people in financial trouble more than anything else. Credit cards. It seems so easy to rack up the bill on them but so hard to get the balance back down.

The reason for this is the high rate of interest that the credit card companies charge. The higher the interest and the more the balance is the more they're making from you in interest. Also, the way the interest is compounded plays a factor. Check with your credit card company and see if the interest is compounded monthly or daily. Trust me it makes a huge difference in the amount you pay.

Most credit card companies will offer a lower interest rate for an annual fee. Evaluate your balance to see if the annual fee may be worth it. You can always change back to a higher rate when you get your balance taken care of.

Paying down your credit card should the number one priority in trying to take care of your debt. After all minimums are paid, put anything else you have onto your credit card balance. This will help eliminate your high interest debt fastest. This is unless of course you have a higher interest loan such as a payday loan, in which case this debt should be taken care of first.

The basics

Saving money is no easy task for many people. As with most things in life, getting the basics right is crucial in become a better saver. For anyone who is not saving enough or simply spending too much a little hard work may go a long way to financial success.

First off to save money you have to take in more than you spend. Period. It's as simple as that. Do a little homework and put on paper (or better yet into a spreadsheet) what you are bringing in every month and what you are spending. Having the numbers in front of you will help bring things into perspective. You have to record what you are spending the money on as well. Is the bulk of your income going toward a car payment for a sports car you don't need? Is it going to restaurants because you don't have the desire to get in front of the stove after a long day at work? There are many places our money goes, but without having the numbers in front of our face it's hard to know how much is going where.

This takes some diligence, keeping receipts and looking at your online banking are great ways to record where your hard earned dollars are going. Make it a habit of recording all spending no matter how small it may seem.