Four tips to keep paying your home loan in tough times

Everyone finds themselves stretched financially at some stage. With holiday debt still around, school fees just paid and interest rates up, you may find yourself with no breathing room and your biggest and most important debt - your home loan - is suddenly a big commitment.

The very heart of the issue is that your income needs to exceed expenses. The only way in which to make this work is to increase your income or lower your expenses.

1. Be overly strict for a few months

Make the money you earn work for you by implementing strict measures to get back on top of your payments.

Print out a bank statement and look at each expense leaving your bank account.

More than likely, unnecessary expenses are coming off, whether it is pay TV, entertainment or even unnecessary banking fees, each rand saved will help. There is not much point in having Pay TV or ordering pizza in if you don’t have a home in which to enjoy these luxuries.

She says it is important to note that this isn’t forever, just until you are back in a comfortable space.

2. Look at places to cut down

There are some necessary expenses that you can’t forgo. However, there are places to negotiate and cut down.

Insurance is one place that is open to negotiation, so spend some time gathering quotes and renegotiating your insurance contracts.

Another place to cut down is services such as cell phone bills.

While having a cell phone is considered a necessary expense, racking up huge data costs to surf the internet or chatting for hours with friends is not necessary.

You can also look at your water and electricity bill consumption. Just by being more vigilant you can save on these expenses.

3. Temporarily reduce or push pause on other investments

You can push pause or temporarily reduce contributions to retirement annuities and other savings accounts.

This is not a long-term solution to solve your cash flow problems - and definitely don’t be tempted to cash out as there are tax implications, but reducing your savings commitments for a few months may give you breathing space until you are back in a position to service your debts and continue investing and saving.

Make sure that as soon as you are in a position to, you reinstate all your investments and savings contributions.

4. Earn extra income

If you are really not getting on top of your expenses and you are exceeding your income consistently, you will need to look at other ways in which to earn extra income.

Again this is not a long-term solution, but can help relieve the immediate pressure until you are able to cover your responsibilities again.

Consider working overtime to earn a bit more income. Another possibility is to cash in leave days - if you have the option.

Other ways to earn a bit more cash could be to rent out an extra room for a few months.

Don’t stop paying

Don’t be tempted to miss or stop paying altogether. Even partial payments show good faith, and interest will accumulate slower - helping you to catch up.

However, partial payment isn’t a long-term solution. If you are really struggling, speak to your bank. Admitting you need help as soon as you realise that you are heading into financial difficulty will go a long way to protecting your home.

Your bank will make provisions for you to ensure that you keep your home. Repossession is the last resort, and a bank will assist you in every possible way to ensure that this doesn’t happen.

There are a number of solutions that the bank can offer to help you if you are having financial difficulties, however, it is up to you to also proactively take steps to help yourself out of the position you have found yourself in.