5 Things You Didn’t Know You Could Do With A Personal Loan
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It is common to hear people advise against taking personal loans to avoid falling into debt. However, everything in life revolves around money and sometimes you find yourself in a situation where you’re in dire need of a little extra cash. Instead of borrowing from friends – which we all know can get messy – it’s better to take sole responsibility for your financial situation.
Personal loans are also unsecured loans – which means you don’t need to put up collateral in order to get the money, so you don’t risk losing your house or car if anything goes wrong.
Contrary to popular belief, personal loans are not only meant to rescue you out of money troubles, but it can also be used in many ways to enrich the quality of your life and widen your horizons. Personal loans can serve as a backup plan when an unexpected need for money pops up, and it can also help you to reduce stress and take charge of your life again.
Here are a few ways you can use a personal loan:
Debt consolidation
The most beneficial aspect of getting a personal loan would be piecing smaller pieces of payments to one whole payment to ease things – if you have multiple debts. This can help to reduce a great amount of stress as you don’t have to deal with multiple payments and interest charges.
Let’s just say you have two credit card debts, with RM10,000 and RM5,000 balance respectively, and a personal loan of RM50,000. Instead of dealing with monthly payments and high-interest rates, you can take out a personal loan of RM65,000 and settle all your debts – and then you only have to deal with one payment and one interest rate on a monthly basis.
However, this is, of course, assuming that the personal loan interest rate is lower than all the other interest rates combined. Here’s how it can work for you:
Total debts
| Debts/Loans | Interest rate | Repayment | Duration | Total interest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Credit Card A - RM10,000 | 15% p.a. | RM500 | 2 years | RM1,579 |
| Credit Card B - RM5,000 | 15% p.a. | RM250 | 1 year 11 months | RM790 |
| Personal Loan - RM50,000 | 13.09% p.a. | RM1,140 | 7 years | RM45,760 |
| Total | RM1,890 | RM48,129 |
Without consolidating your debts with a low-interest rate personal loan, you will be paying RM1,890 every month to pay your debts, and it will take 7 years to clear everything off. Total interest incurred is a whopping RM48,129!
However, here’s how much you will be paying if you consolidate your debts:
Debt Consolidation with Personal Loan
| Total debt | Interest rate | Repayment | Duration | Total interest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RM65,000 | 6% p.a. | RM1,098 | 7 years | RM27,232 |
As the data above shows, consolidating your debts will give you a total of RM792 additional in discretionary cash every month, because your monthly payment will drop to RM1,098 as opposed to RM1,890. That means extra cash for you while settling your debt. Before debt consolidation, the amount of interest you pay on your monthly debts is a whopping RM48,129. After consolidating, the total interest you pay amounts to RM27,232. That’s 43% in savings!
Although the duration it takes to pay back remains the same – which is seven years – you save over RM20,000 in interest rates!
Upskill yourself
A personal loan is not just to purchase physical items, you can also invest in yourself. While some banks do provide a separate category of education loans, many lump that option into their personal loan category. Taking a loan to invest in yourself means you can get that MBA that you’ve always wanted to, and then qualify for a raise. PayScale.com reports that the average annual salary for a Bachelor of Business Administration holder is about RM47,000, whereas the average annual pay for someone with a Masters in Business Administration is about RM98,000.
If MBA is not your thing, take that crash course in filmmaking that you’ve been thinking about for the last five years. Take a coding class; coders and programmers are in high demand in today’s tech world. According to JobStreet, the average programmer can make RM70,000 to RM80,000 a year, and the figure increases with experience.
Find out what are some additional skills that are needed in your industry or area of interest. Pursue it, and you might just end up doubling your pay. Education financing is effectively the best way to turn a personal loan, which commonly comes with a bad rep, into a good debt that will bring you limitless returns on investment!
Improve your credit score
A personal loan can be used for just about anything. This includes improving your credit score. By planning ahead, you can apply for a personal loan amount that is within reason and can be confidently paid back on time. Doing so will help you build a positive repayment history with the lender, thus improving your credit score.
Additionally, having different types of credit accounts in good standing shows lenders that you’re able to manage different debts responsibly. By adding a personal loan to your report alongside your other lines of credit, you are contributing to the diversification of your credit mix. If you use your personal loan for debt consolidation, you may also end up reducing your credit utilisation ratio, which can greatly assist in improving your overall credit score.
Boost your side gig
For those who have picked up a side gig to complement your income, a personal loan could help boost your side income even further. Certain side gigs may require specialised equipment or tools to improve efficiency or productivity. A personal loan can help you buy or rent these tools to help take your side gig to the next level, and in turn, the amount you can earn from it.
For example, let’s say that you have taken up baking as a hobby. You then use your skills to start a small baking service, making all types of pastries and cookies. Unfortunately, your basic kitchen oven can only handle so many pastries at a time, limiting how many orders you can take. Since commercial ovens are very costly upfront, you can take out a personal loan to buy or rent one.
This will allow you to accommodate larger batches of bread, thus allowing you to fulfill more orders and earn more from your side gig. This in turn also helps you pay back your loan. Additionally, if your oven is not seeing much use, you can probably even rent it out to other bakers who need it.
Large expenses that require upfront cash payment
We all know that personal loans are useful for emergency expenses like urgent medical care. However, some big-ticket expenses that are planned ahead may benefit from taking one as well. For example, if you need to move to a different state or country for a much higher paying job. The cost of financing this loan will allow you to earn more money in future. This makes sense to consider taking on a loan.
Another instance where you may want to take on a personal loan is to upgrade your property if you plan to sell it. Making necessary repairs and home improvements may fetch you a higher selling price. This gives you a higher return on your capital investment in property.
Sure, you can also charge all these expenses to your credit card. However, the interest charges may end up a lot higher if you can’t pay off the entire amount charged to your card each month. A personal loan offers a fixed interest rate and payment term for a specific sum of money loaned to you.
As long as the reason you take the personal loan increases your potential for financial gain in future, it does make sense to consider taking it. For example, the chance to earn a higher income or increase the capital or asset value you own.
If you need help finding the right personal loan for you, you can try using iMoney’s Smart Search tool to help narrow down your choices.
