If you’re looking to make a purchase and don’t have the current savings to afford it, a personal loan might be the way to achieve a short-term purchase goal (like buying a car or renovating your home). But if you’re not financially aware, you can find that repayments on your personal loan are soon difficult to manage.
That’s not to say that with appropriate budgeting and sensible money management you can’t happily maintain a personal loan! We have found that people’s skills and traits do play a role in how well they manage debt, so read on to find out what kind of traits will ensure a positive personal loan experience.
If you’re thinking of getting a personal loan, then you’re in the right place! At Buddii we are committed to working with Australians and securing the best possible personal loan products at a great rate.
Take a look at our personal loan options here with your personal finance broker and for more information on anything we have discussed here (or anywhere else on our website) call us on 1300 283 344.
You’re cashflow savvy
One of the biggest predictors of successful management of a personal loan is being cashflow savvy. When you’re doing your budget for the week, how much money do you leave yourself as a realistic amount? You need to ensure that you budget truly – and not idealistically.
If you know you spend $40 a week on UberEATS, then make sure that you budget for this. While you might like to reduce this amount, you can’t just not budget for it and then spend the money anyway. This means the $40 has to come from somewhere else – and it’s likely it’ll be money committed to bills or essentials! Know yourself, know your spending habits, and budget accordingly.
You’re methodical
We find that the people who can manage their finances best are largely methodical people. Those who take the time to make lists, and those who know how much they spend each money and what they spend it on. That’s not to say that people who don’t make lists and track their spending can’t manage a personal loan, it’s just that methodical people are potentially more likely to manage their funds appropriately. If you know you find it hard to organise your life — all is not lost! Consider buying a diary with a built-in weekly tracker, or why not see a financial planner? You can turn around habits that aren’t serving you well – it just takes focus and dedication.
You’re good at researching
Well you’re here reading this, so you’re clearly good at doing your research! It’s important when taking on any new financial product that you do some reading and work out where the best financial products are. That said – when you work with Buddii we actually take care of all of the heavy lifting for you 😉 so that means you don’t have to be awesome at researching to secure a great loan! Regardless, it is good to have an appreciation of your spending and repayment capacity, so do ensure you have considered your options prior to seeking finance for anything.
You can delay gratification
There’s something about seeing something and wanting it straight away that makes people reach for the credit card — but this cannot be you! At least not all the time. A key element of your successful debt management comes down to how well you can delay gratification.
This means that you can handle saving up for a few weeks for that new item instead of pulling out the credit card. Or it means that you can eat in for a month instead of dining out to ensure you can pay off your loan sooner and avoid interest charges. Things like this will make your loan repayment journey so much easier. The good news is that if you’re reading this and shaking your head, knowing that you cannot delay gratification — you can work on this! It’s like a muscle; you just need to build it up.
We hope this has given you some insight into personal loan management and how you can tackle debt. Personal loans are used successfully by so many of our clients; we want your lending experience to be a positive one — so think about your cash personality, think about how much you can afford to repay, and then get in touch!
You can call us on 1300 BUDDII (that’s 1300 283 344) or get in touch online to chat to someone soon. We’ll call you back as soon as we can.
