Category: Debt

What is The Difference Between Good And Bad Debt?

There can often be confusion about debt. Some people feel that debt is money that they can spend, it is fun and theirs to have and do not think about paying it back. Others will think about the fact that they will owe money and that this is bad and they do not want to do it. However, borrowing can be good and bad and it very much depends on your situation and how you approach it therefore you need to know what the difference is between them.

Good Debt

Good debt is something that will help you to be able to better yourself. For example, if you take out a student loan you will be able to go to university and then earn more money and therefore be better off financially. However, there is a bit more to it than deciding whether you need a loan or not and whether you think that it will help you to better yourself in life.

You do need to think hard about whether you will be able to afford the repayments. You need to find out how much they will be and how often you will have to pay them. Then you should be able to work out, by looking at your household finances, as to whether this will be something that you will be able to afford. It is a good idea to actually sit down with the figures and look at it all very carefully. You will need to consider whether your situation will change in the future as well, because some loans, such as mortgages will take a long time to repay.

You will also be wise to compare loan types and lenders to make sure that you are getting the best value for money from your loan. This means that you will need to give some thought to what you are looking for in your lender and then you will be able to decide whether you think that the lenders that you are choosing between will suit your requirements.

There are a lot of differences between good and bad debt.

Bad Debt

This is when money is borrowed for a purpose that is not seen as worthwhile. It could be perhaps, that you borrow money to buy a bigger house, when the one you live in is adequate, and the loan you take on is more expensive than you can afford and you take it from an expensive lender without checking first to see whether there are any cheaper ones available. It is basically the opposite of the above.

So, if you are able to think first about whether the debt will benefit you this will be a great start. Consider what you are using the money for and whether it is worth it. It is not always easy to make this decision, but at least if you give it some thought, you know that you will be able to eliminate anything that is obviously not going to help you.

It is also worth carefully looking to see whether you will be able to afford the repayments and if it is obvious that you will not then reject the idea. Lastly, think about whether you have compared lenders and loans to make sure that you are using the one that will give you best value for money. You need to not only consider comparing the different lenders such as Omacl.co.uk but also make sure that you are choosing the right loans type. It might be obvious in some cases, which loans will be the best but not always and so it is a good idea to make sure that you are aware of what loans are available so that you can calculate which will work the best. Then you will be able to compare companies that offer those loans to see which one will suit your needs the best.