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How much can you afford to borrow?

by Dave
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At times, when you are unable to find a way out financially, loans can play a huge part in saving you from imminent bankruptcy. However, when it comes to borrowing, most people do not really set any precedents for themselves before they take the money.

Remember, whenever you take a loan, you have to return it back too, with interest. Therefore, rather than borrow unnecessary amounts of money which will become difficult to pay back, it would be a wise idea to only take as much money as you can borrow.

In order to get a better idea of the amount of money that you can afford to borrow, here are a few precedents that you need to keep in mind before apply for any type of a loan:

The rate of interest

Interest rates vary depending upon the current market, therefore, whenever you decide to take a loan, do check the total amount of money that you will be paying back. Remember, interest rates can fluctuate depending upon the market, so you have to take in to account these factors too. How will you pay back the loan if the rate of interest increases?

Job security

When it comes to taking a loan, every lender will take a strong look at your employment history, because your sources of income are analyzed thoroughly before any type of loan is granted. However, you never know when you might have to leave your job.

If you do have to, is there any other way by which you can repay the loan? This is an important factor when considering the total amount of money that you are borrowing, since you should always make sure that you are able to clear off the loan in case your job is lost.

Your sources of income

If you have just one source of income, you should not borrow a larger amount of money. Your sources of income should play a major part when it comes to your borrowing power. For a person who has two or three sources of income, it isn’t as difficult to secure a loan because lenders know that even if one source of income is exhausted, the borrower will be able to clear payments.

Use a mortgage calculator

When it comes to calculating the amount of money you can borrow, the best thing to do is to use a loan/ mortgage calculator. This will help you in incorporating all external taxes and other factors that might affect the overall amount of money that you pay back, making it much easier for you to get a clear idea of how much you will have to pay in the end.

Excessive loans can prove to be the first step to declaring bankruptcy, so you have to be very careful when taking them. Try not to take more than two loans simultaneously, as the burden of repayment can become very large otherwise. This way, you will be able to make sure that you are able to clear your loans without imposing any unnecessary burden on yourself.

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