Hello!

As parents who have to pay the mortgage and bills whilst still managing to provide a happy and safe environment for our children, we rarely sit back and appreciate how much money we can really save with minimal effort.

Here a five tips from Recharge My Loan on how you can help put more in your pocket than in the bank profits.

Tip 1: Know what your home loan interest rate is and what fees are being charged

Did you know that almost 80% of Australians, when asked, do not know what their current home loan interest rate is. If your interest rate is over 4.50%, guess what? You are letting the banks win and take thousands of dollars each year than could be in your pocket.

Tip 2: Stop being lazy and doing nothing about it

Yep, that’s right the reason why most people do not know what their interest rate is everyone is too ‘busy’. Let’s be honest, it’s due to being lazy. If you’re loan is $400,000 and you can save 0.50% on your interest, that’s $2,000 every year in your pocket. That could help pay for your next holiday, car, school fees etc

Tip 3: Put your savings into your home loan so they work for you

Most loans these days allow you to pay surplus into them or come with an offset account. Why would you have money in a ‘savings’ account which earns you only 2%- 3% interest when having the same money in your home loan, which you can still access if you need to, will save you 4%- 5% using exactly the same money.

Tip 4: Ask your bank for a better deal

They say that good things come to those who wait although we believe that better things come to those who ask. What possible harm is there in picking up the phone and asking your bank for a better deal. If they say yes, then yippee and if they say no, it’s time to follow tip number 5.

Tip 5: Review your loan 

With access to a lot of banks and lenders, mortgage brokers can often find you the best offer they can AND they sometimes even pay you cash back whilst saving you thousands of dollars every year.

Do you have any other tips to add to the list? Please share in the comments below.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock.com

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  • I am in the process of moving my mortgage from one company to another. I was disgusted that when my husband died the mortgage company was very unhelpful and then covid hit and they did not do a payment freeze like other banks.

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  • We don’t have a house, so no mortgage for us :)

    Reply

  • I have now found out that a friend of mine managed to save a reasonable amount of money on an overseas holiday to visit elderly relatives, contacted their bank and arranged to make a one off special payment to reduce their mortgage.

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  • I second the idea about not being lazy. It may seem like Monopoly money but every time you get the banks to reduce your rate you’re saving a lot of money!

    Reply

  • Great tips, thank you for sharing.

    • Thanks Ella, we are also parents at Recharge My Loan so happy to help. We also give cash back to our own customers when we get them the best deals. If you ever want any free general advice with no obligation feel free to email me at John@rechargemyloan.com.au

    Reply

  • We always paid more on our monthly repayments than we had to. As the interest rate dropped, we left our repayments at their original price. We paid off our second house recently and it’s up there with one of the greatest achievements of my life.

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  • Great tips and there’s a way to pay it off quicker by putting your complete wage directly to the loan and only drawing out what you need. I know there’s a name for this account, just can’t think of it at the moment.

    • Hi there, very good tip as the less you owe, the less interest you are charged. There is a loan we offer though a bank owned by one of the big four banks that offers rates as low as 3.81% and you can have your wages/salary paid into the loan directly. You can arrange your direct debits and you even get a visa debit card to be able to spend your money as you would from your normal account….really great way to minimise interest and awesome offer. If you want more details, feel free to get in touch at John@Rechargemyloan.com.au

    Reply

  • I know a couple who both work. They are both paid fortnightly but not the same weeks. They pay out of the latest pay packet every week. Also as an example instead of paying $390.00+ a week they pay $400.00 a week. They are accumulating credit but can re-draw on it if they desperately need to.

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  • Thanks for sharing some good common sense tips on mortgages.

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  • Thankyou for your tips. We are going to see our financial advisor to help us review all of our debt and manage our homeloan and budget better.

    Reply

  • If interest rates (and thus repayments) go down, keep your repayment at the old level. You’ll pay off a lot extra without noticing.


    • Very true Bella, paying more on your loan makes such a difference over time. With the recent rate drops, we can get you an interest rate of 3.81% variable (3.87% comparison) with a lender that is owned by one of the big 4 banks so very secure. We also share the broker commissions as do not have relationships with ‘referrers’ like most brokers do which involves paying them. Or, if you are feeling generous whilst saving on your interest, you can nominate a charity of your own choosing and we make a really good donation to them for you :) Feel free to get in touch at recharge@rechargemyloan.com.au or 0405714926

    Reply

  • Hi there, John here the author. Credit Unions can be cheaper although they also tend to be the ones who are more susceptible to being bought out. There are so many secure options, owned by the big 4 but branded differently who we can currently get interest rates as low as 3.81% variable (3.87 comparison) with a $120 annual fee. So much money to be saved for just a couple of hours of your work. Feel free to email is at recharge@rechargemyloan.
    com.au

    Reply

  • Great tips. Hubby and I really need to adopt some of these with our mortgage.


    • Tips always help and always good to be on the look out for new money/mortgage tips.

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  • My tip would be to go with a credit union because they often have better interest rates and lower fees.

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  • The interest rate should be lower than 4.5%? Oh my! We pay 4.79% on the fixed part and 4.74% on the variable one. And 350 dollars fee every year. Are we really paying too much? :-(


    • Hi there, thanks for commenting on our post. Certainly seems like the rates you are on could be a lot better. Most people are in the same situation so don’t beat yourself up. AS mentioned in a few other replies, we can get you a rate of 3.81% variable (3.87% comparison) which depending on your loan size may save you thousands each year. We also give our own customers a portion of the commissions the banks pay to help lessen the cost of moving. You are welcome to get in touch with us at recharge@rechargemyloan.com.au or call me for a chat on 0405714926. Thanks, John



      • Thank you! I will speak with my husband about it and see what to do.

    Reply

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