| When
the credit crunch commenced in the first half of 2007 no one
at first really took the situation too seriously.
All through
history there are times of rises and dips in the economy.
When the
general public heard that the Northern Rock was not as stable
as it ought to have been the public was more alerted that
the banking industry was in dire trouble.
Looking
at the news both in the press and also seeing long queues
of investors outside the branches of the ailing building society
waiting to withdraw all their savings did alert the public
to the fact that the banking sector of the UK was in trouble.
When the
Northern Rock collapsed the UK public thought that the situation
regarding the economy, but not as serious as it was in fact
to soon become.
Jobs were
cut throughout many industries and the construction industry
in particular suffered as building site after building site
closed down.
The prosperous
building industry hit a depression, and builders were left
with finished homes that they could not sell even at discount
prices. This included major names in the construction industry.
The building
industry had never been in such a bad state for sixty years.
Other
firms, in an effort to remain trading, cut the salaries of
some of their work force while the even less fortunate members
of staff were made redundant.
The economy
fell and the country was in financial difficulty.
However
in 2007, dire though the situation was, nobody could have
believed that almost three years later the economy of the
country would be little if any better.
People
are generally optimistic and nobody thought the economic chaos
would last so long and as such they delayed considering doing
anything to sort out their personal finances.
Now at
the end of yet another year, homeowners in particular have
been reaching the conclusion that the time has come to consolidate
their outgoings.
As such
they are taking out remortgages and secured loans to arrange
debt consolidation.
Debt consolidation
involves arranging a secured loan or a remortgage which consolidate
all debts on credit cards, personal loans, hire purchase,
etc. and combines them into one much lower repayment each
month.
Credit
cards normally have an interest rate of at least 20% but mainly
the interest rate is higher than this figure and can often
stand at the disgustingly high rate of 40% or even more.
Remortgages
start at an interest rate of 1.98% for homeowners who have
a maximum LTV on their property of 60%.
Even for
those who have a maximum LTV of 70% can obtain the low rate
of 1.99%.
Secured
loans have interest rates starting round about 9% at this
present time.
When these
rates for a remortgage or a secured loan are compared against
the interest rates for credit cards, etc. it goes without
saying that great savings can be made by swapping high interest
financial outgoings for much lower rate remortgages and secured
loans.
Therefore
as the economy is not yet out of recession in the UK the way
to save money to sort out personal economy is by means of
a remortgage or a secured loan.
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