(ThySistas.com) Moving home, whether just down the street, to another town or even overseas, can take quite the chunk out of our budgets. Beyond the cost of buying or renting a new home, you need to consider the costs of physically moving your things, of the boxes and bags for your things, for new bills and cancellations and so much more. While loans for bad credit no guarantor are available in financial emergencies, ensuring that everything is ready to handle the pressure of a mortgage is vital. Here’s what you need to do:
Get All Of Your Documents Together And File Them
Before you can even consider putting together a proper budget, you need to get organised. Start by gathering together all the paperwork you can find and sort through which are relevant to your finances. From your bank statements to phone bills, tax returns and any other relevant physical reports of your finances, you need to consider every outgoing payment you have ongoing. Start by ordering everything by date, so you can find the most recent documents when you need them. Sort them by month, by bill, by company – anything that works for you. You just need to be able to access the information when you need it.
Start Logging Your Spending
Once you have your documents in order, you can start logging your spending as an additional way to determine where your finances are going, and where expenditure could be reduced. For example, if you start to realise you’re spending far too much on eating out or picking up a quick lunch on workdays, you can start making moves to reduce this. It’s also a good way to encourage you to think twice before making frivolous purchases, as you’ll be far more aware of how much you’ve spent in a week, or even in a day.
Work Out A Clear, Realistic Budget
Once your finances are in order, at least in terms of paperwork, you’ll have a clearer idea of how much you have outgoing ever month, and how much you have spare. It’ll allow you to take a more informed approach to put together a budget, both in terms of reducing spend and what you can put towards the mortgage on a new house. Just make sure that you remain realistic and include a buffer on your finances to cater for any potential overspending!
Pay Off Any Outstanding Bills And Debt
This is perhaps one of the most crucial points if you’re looking to invest in a new home. Unpaid bills and overhanging debts can be a heavy weight to bear when you’re heading in to apply for a mortgage, so it’s important to try and pay off as many as you can ahead of applying for a mortgage. It could actually work out in your favour, too, by reducing the payments that the lender will need to take into consideration when reviewing your application. If you have the luxury of time, invest a bit of your savings into paying off your most pressing loans.
Negotiate Payment Schedules If Necessary
If you have a longstanding loan that you can’t pay off in one, you can consider negotiating the payment schemes. Not everyone can clear all of their debt instantly, and so manoeuvring the repayment periods and dates can help you set up a better structure for handling further loan repayments along the way.
Getting your finances in order ahead of buying a house is crucial regardless of whether you’re just starting to look, or you’re already on the brink of completing a purchase. From clearing your debts and negotiating schedules to getting documents and payments in order and logging your spending, you can work out a realistic budget and get your foot on that property ladder.
Staff Writer; Sherry Parker