BecomingJulie
Bluelight Crew
My debt tip is: Don't try to borrow and save at the same time, except in one specific case.
You're never going to earn more interest on your savings than you are paying out on a loan; that's how the banks make their money, after all. If you've got savings, borrow from them. The amount of interest you miss out on before repaying it will be less than the amount of interest you would have paid out on a loan. If you have a mortgage or other loan, throw every spare penny you have at it. The saving you make by repaying early will be more than the interest you could have earned by putting that money in any savings account.
The only time it's ever worth having both savings and debt is when you have a lump sum available but you are temporarily unable for contractual reasons (e.g., a fixed-rate period that hasn't run out yet, or an onerous penalty for insanely early repayment) you are temporarily unable to pay off the loan. Then, you may as well put the money into a fixed-term, guaranteed-return bond until the loan terms change. It doesn't matter about not being able to access the money until the end of the fixed term, because you can't use it for its intended purpose yet anyway. And when you can access the money, the interest it has earned will offset against at least part of the interest paid out in the meantime.
You're never going to earn more interest on your savings than you are paying out on a loan; that's how the banks make their money, after all. If you've got savings, borrow from them. The amount of interest you miss out on before repaying it will be less than the amount of interest you would have paid out on a loan. If you have a mortgage or other loan, throw every spare penny you have at it. The saving you make by repaying early will be more than the interest you could have earned by putting that money in any savings account.
The only time it's ever worth having both savings and debt is when you have a lump sum available but you are temporarily unable for contractual reasons (e.g., a fixed-rate period that hasn't run out yet, or an onerous penalty for insanely early repayment) you are temporarily unable to pay off the loan. Then, you may as well put the money into a fixed-term, guaranteed-return bond until the loan terms change. It doesn't matter about not being able to access the money until the end of the fixed term, because you can't use it for its intended purpose yet anyway. And when you can access the money, the interest it has earned will offset against at least part of the interest paid out in the meantime.