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What’s a fixed rate mortgage? Good question. It’s a mortgage, or a little part of it, that lets you come to a fixed rate agreement, usually for a fixed length of time. It won’t change during this time.

What’s in it for me you ask? Well, with a fixed rate mortgage for a few years you are immune to any rises in interest rate.

Imagine the interest rates going up rapidly, you see your monthly payments rise and rise and rise.

With your fixed rate you are sitting pretty knowing that next months payment will be the same as last months.

When shouldn’t you go for a fixed rate mortgage?

You should avoid a fixed rate if you think you may swap lenders or move home within the timeframe of the fixed period.

The reason being is that it could cost you many thousands in a redemption fee if you decide to bail out during the fixed period.

There’s a few reasons you may need to pull out of a fixed deal and they could include a new child, or even a redundancy and the need to move to a smaller house.

If any of these reasons or indeed many others cause you to pull out of a fixed rate mortgage deal you will pay heavily for it.

Another benefit of having a fixed rate for a fixed period is that you can all but ignore any bank rate changes for the period of your deal.

To conclude you need to know you have a lot of questions to ask yourself before jumping in to a fixed rate mortgage deal like this.

Not least you have to ask yourself how do you handle risk? Are you a gambler or do you play it safe?

You’ve got your answer to what a fixed rate mortgage does. And importantly what it doesn’t do. It’s time to get yourself fore armed with the best possible info before you go into the ring with these lenders.

Most people don’t realise that they aren’t tied to a 25 year mortgage. It’s flexible and it’s on your terms. You can increase the length to 30 or decrease it to 20 years depending on your financial circumstances.

Imagine the scenario, you pay 500 per month on your mortgage but you have extra money. So you decide to pay 540 a month. This is just 10 a week extra. What do you think this would do to your 25 year term?

Let’s use an example mortgage of 25 years, 175,000 borrowed and we have an interest rate of 5%. We would pay back 175,000 at around 580 a month.

Using the example figures we decide to overpay just 20 a month, so we pay 600 every month now. Over the 25 year period we would save 5 thousand and cut a year and a half off the mortgage.

Over 25 years 5,000 and a year off doesn’t seem great but using a mortgage overpayment calculator we can put all sorts of different figures in and see what comes out if we paid a bit more.

Here’s an example if we were to overpay by 50 every month.

Ame example figures, but this time we pay 50 extra every month we get nearly 4 years shaved of the term and 12 thousand in cash, saved.

The power of using a mortgage overpayment calculator can show you at the ouset just how better off you could be. It allows you to plan ahead for your future, not the lenders!

Another example using bigger payments than we’ve used so far.

Let’s keep the same figures, 25 years at 5% with 100,000 borrowed. We’ll overpay an extra 100 a month. This gets us a saving of over 20 thousand and it knocks over 6 years off the term. That’s some serious savings in time and money.

You might be thinking that it’s hard to pay an extra 100 a month and it doesn’t really make a difference as you will have paid an extra 23 thousand just in the 100 per month overpayments.

Consider this. You aren’t paying a penny for the last 6 years off the 25. So no 680 a month payments for 6 years. Imagine what you could do with that!

Have a play with a mortgage overpayment calculator and see what you could save, you may be staggered at the savings you could make.

When youre trying to decide between several different credit card offers, be sure to carefully look at the Terms and Conditions. While some credit card offers advertise No Annual Fees, or Zero Percent APR. While these can be attractive offers, its important to look at the fine print, which will tell the full story.

When youre looking at the details of a certain credit card, look for information about your liability if your card is lost or stolen. Some cards advertise that you wont be held liable, but in the fine print they have certain requirements you must meet. Also consider the APR, even if the card advertises 0% APR, because you could be charged a higher rate if you do not pay attention to the requirements for getting that rate.

If you think youll use the cash advance option on your credit card, consider the associated fees with the cards youre considering. Some even go beyond the legal limit, because they believe that nobody will notice it and catch them. Many charge the legal limit of 31.999 percent, and very few offer a significantly lower rate, although you should consider those offering a slightly better rate if you plan to use this option a lot. This rate is very steep, and will cost you a lot of money if you use the cash advance option.

Many credit card ads are very catchy, but dont just rely on the ad for your information. Also investigate the company offering the credit card. There are many scandalous companies around the world, so be sure you choose one that is trustworthy and legitimate. By doing so, youll save yourself quite the hassle later on.

Many shady companies will offer you the best credit card regardless of your credit history for a low down deposit. You should avoid these predatory creditors. If the company claims that there is no credit check involved, steer clear of them. The law requires lenders to check the credit history of the applicant. Learn your rights and the applicable laws before applying for credit cards. Choose only the card company that offers cards that will allow you to transfer debt with 0% fee.

If youre like most people, you get many offers for credit cards in the mail. Even if you recognize the credit card company and are interested in applying for a credit card, throw these letters in the mail. They are filled with slick advertising slogans, and wont be upfront about the fine print. Do your own research instead of relying on the credit card companys advertising to lead you to the right card. Keep in mind that they are trying to profit off their credit card offers, while youre trying to save as much money as you can. Their motivations may lead them to mislead you into choosing a card that is not the best option for your situation.

Before you apply for a credit card, make sure you know why you need one. Use it wisely and in emergencies, to avoid falling into debt. When you compare credit card offers armed with this information, youll be able to make wise choices, and avoid bad creditors and credit card offers to choose one that suits your needs.