SocietyOne: a debt consolidation loan could be first step towards dreams for Aussie women

It turns out the biggest barrier holding Aussie women back from their dreams in the coming year won’t be a lack of time, motivation or know-how - for a majority of women, finances are the biggest hurdle to overcome.

According to new research from SocietyOne, Aussie women’s dreams include home aspirations (55%), the holiday of a lifetime (51%) and scoring a luxury vehicle (31%). But despite lofty aspirations, the average Aussie lady has fulfilled just 41% of her dreams or goals.

For 77%, a gap in their budget was the main reason they hadn’t achieved their aspirations, while existing commitments and lack of time were the next most popular reasons, though far less common, named by 27% and 15% of women respectively.

SocietyOne spokesperson, Maria Loyez said, “It isn’t surprising that women are more likely to be held back by money given the unique challenges we face, such as taking time out of the workforce to raise a family which can have a huge financial impact in the short term, as well as long term effects on superannuation. Lifestyle creep is also a risk factor for many.”

But with the New Year quickly approaching, Loyez said now is the perfect time for women to start reviewing their finances and that “...rather than seeing money as a barrier to overcome, women should see it as a tool to reach their goals. The first step is learning how to use it to hit some goals and avoid regrets later in life.”

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One place for Aussie women to start, according to Loyez, is consolidating existing debt to save on interest payments.

“If you have multiple credit cards or loans, this can cost you hundreds or thousands of dollars in interest which could be better used towards your goals,” she said.

“Consolidating your debt into a fixed-term personal loan, with lower interest rates than credit cards, can be a good option to reduce interest and allow you to plan ahead with manageable monthly payments.”

For example, say you had two credit cards, one with a $5,000 balance and 12.99% interest rate, and one with an $8,000 balance and 19.99% interest rate. If you paid off $170 on one and $300 on the other every month, you could clear that debt in 3 years - paying a total of $3,719 in interest.

If instead, those two balances were rolled into an unsecured personal loan at the average rate of 11.75%, you could still clear the debt in 3 years with repayments of $430, paying just $2,488 in interest over the life of the loan.

So if your New Year’s Resolution in 2018 is to finally take your dream holiday, buy a home or upgrade your car, get started by wiping away your current debt. Your first step can be to take a look at our personal loan comparison table to pick out an option suited for your debt consolidation needs.