How many loans have you had so far? I’ve only had three if you count our mortgage.

Can you remember getting your first loan? I can remember my first one. It was a student loan for school. I was moving from my hometown of Brantford to Toronto to go to College for a jewelry course. Just moving from my parents home to the big city was a huge experience let alone the hassle of trying to figure out all the information about student loans and how to fill out the paperwork properly.

Somehow I got through it all and I did manage to get a student loan to help me pay for my course and supplies.

The next loan that I ended up getting was many years later when we purchased our first car. Student loans and personal loans are very different in the way you apply for them, and interest rates. It was a new experience.

I’m actually not a very big fan of having to borrow money but as a home owner there’s pretty much no way to get out of having a loan at some point because even a mortgage for your house is a loan isn’t it? Luckily, now that we own a home it will be even easier to get a loan in the future. In fact we’ve been thinking of getting a loan, maybe this coming summer so that we can finish the renovations on our home. This time round we’ll look into secured loans as we can use our property to secure the loan and we’ll probably get a lower interest rate on the loan that way.

If you want to learn more about loans you can visit Select Loans. The site explains the different types of loans that are available, and even suggests some sites and companies to get quotes for loans too.

I know that many of you are looking for ways to save money and keep more of it in your current accounts - am I right? You’d rather spend your extra money on your kids or family I’m sure than pay extra bank charges or higher rates.

I know I feel that way and I can’t be the only one out there that does. I just found a site called the Thrifty Scot and while it’s aimed more for people living in the UK the tips and links on the site can be used by most everyone. I’m sure if I apply some of the advice that I found on the site I’ll end up with more money in our savings accounts.

Wouldn’t you like to find out how to get credit cards with lower rates so that you can keep your savings in your bank accounts rather than paying extra user or interest fees? I even found information on the site on how to help protect yourself from credit fraud. And speaking of credit cards, rates and possibly debts - if you are in need of a loan or information on getting loans you’ll find some great links that will lead you to places offering lower loan rates, and information on getting a loan in the loans section of the Thrifty Scot.

Of the many links on the site I found the sections on home insurance, and the areas that discussed mortgages and remortgages most helpful at this time. We just renewed our mortgage but when it rolls around again I’ve got some new information up my sleeve.

Check out the Thrifty Scot if you are in the UK or if you just want to find ways to save some money on things we all need and use - like home insurance, loans, mortgages, and credit cards.

I remember when we were house hunting, god I hope we don’t do that again for a long time. The experience of dealing with a real estate broker, real estate lawyer, mortgage broker and securing a mortgage with the bank were all new, and frankly intimidating experiences for the two of us. Plus, it was around that time that we started hearing more and more stories about Mortgage Fraud in the news.

The news stories were about Mortgage scams where you’d be approved for a loan at reasonable rates but before it was finalized the mortgage company would ask for fees for this or that, and then perhaps ask for more money stating that your approved mortgage wouldn’t be finalized until you paid the rest of the fees they were asking for at that time. Then there were other stories about hidden fees, people being told their month payments would be lower than what they ended up paying in the end. It sounded like there were a lot of scams going on out there and that we’d better be careful in our hunt for a mortgage.

We did our research, talked to friends and ended up using a Real Estate broker and Lawyer that had been recommended by our friends, but it was still a stressful process. It would have made things a bit easier if we’d come across personalhomeloanmortgages.com when we were buying our house. There is so much information there, that I would have appreciated as a novice. There’s articles explaining mortgage brokers, Understanding home equity loans, Mortgage basics - called appropriately Mortgage 101. You can do local searches by city to search housing market trends, local mortgage and real estate related service provider listings.

If you want to learn more you can visit their Financial Forum and talk with others about things like how to spot hidden fees, and which types of loans work best plus hundreds of other topics. You’ll feel secure when you use this site because all customer data is protected through SecureTrust.

Have a look at this site if you’re in the market for a new home or looking to renew the mortgage on your home. I think you’ll get some very useful and timely information that will help you make the decisions that are right for you.