LGA taking stock of council financial situation

Change is part of growth and can often times benefit your financial situation.

09:34 07 July 2013

The Chairman of the Local Government Association (LGA) is expected to encourage councils to be responsible for deciding funding. The current model for allocating funds has been in place since the 1970s. Every once in a while it pays to review your financial situation and make adjustments if you find out that parts of your plan are ineffective. Here are a few ways to help you examine your own financial status.

 

• Review loans—take a few moments to review your existing loans, the interest rates, and amount you have remaining. Check local companies, and even online entities to see if there are better options for your financial situation.

 

• Expenses—when you analyze your budget, make sure to include everything you can think of in your expenses. You will not have an accurate picture of your financial situation unless all expenses are accounted for.

 

• Credit rating—your credit rating can be a quick and easy way to get an idea of how well you are doing with your financial situation. It is based off your payment history, how much debt you have incurred and other factors.

 

• Long-term plans—when you review expenses take a few extra moments to figure out how long it will take you to pay off certain debts. You probably expect to pay mortgage loans for a while, but other bills such as credit cards can negatively impact your financial situation by charging interest for years on a relatively small purchase amount.

 

• Savings accounts—when trying to review your financial situation, it is not just expenses that should be examined, but your savings as well. If you have a regular savings account, but have not taken advantage of one of the Independent Savings Account options then you could be missing out on a lot more tax-free money. Having one of each could help the situation considerably.