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Is an Investment in Solar Panels Worth While?

InvestmentsLeave a Comment on Is an Investment in Solar Panels Worth While?

Many people took advantage of having solar panels when then was a good incentive to fit them. There were also companies that fitted them free of charge as long as they could collect the incentives. However, these days there are no longer any incentives for fitting them and so far less people have them. There is a high cost to pay out for them and this means that it is necessary to have a large lump sum of money or take out a loan to afford them. However, it could still be worthwhile fitting them.

How to work out if it is worthwhile

There are certain conditions which need to be fulfilled to make it worth having solar panels before you even think about the cost of them. You will need to have a roof that you can fit them to, which may sound silly, but if you are renting a home or live in a flat then you will not have access to using the roof of the building. Even if you do have a roof then it will need to be facing the right direction so that it gets a bulk of the daylight and it will not need to be in the shade. If you have tall trees nearby then you might find that they create so much shade that the solar panels will not create much electricity. You might also find that the chimney shades the roof as well. In this situation you might find that it just will not be worth the cost of the solar panels as you will not get back the money that you pay out for them when you buy them. If you get a good fitter to come and give you a quote they should be able to do those calculations with them.

How to pay for them

Solar panels can be expensive and you will have to pay out a large sum of money to buy them and so you will need to think hard about how you will pay for them. If you have savings or investments then you may want to use these to pay for the panels. You might want to calculate whether the return that you normally get from the money that you have saved or invested is less than the return that you will get when you have the solar panels. Your fitter should be able to let you know what the predicted return will be from the panels.

You may consider borrowing money to pay for the solar panels. You will need to very carefully calculate how much the loan will cost you and whether you will make back more than the cost of the loan if you get the panels. Work out how long you will need to have them for before they start making you a profit and decide whether you think it was worth it.

How to reap the benefits

When you have solar panels you will be best to use as much of the electricity that you are generating as you can and then you will get it for free. However, if you use too much electricity then you will be using more than you are producing and this will mean that you will have to buy the electricity that you are using extra. Therefore, you need to think carefully when you are using things.

  • Try to use appliances at the lightest part of the day to increase the chances of using free energy
  • Do not use several appliances at once if they take a lot of electricity. For example, do not use a dryer, dishwasher and washing machine together but try to spread your use through the day.
  • Do not take the electricity for granted. If you still try to reduce your usage you will make more money. So, try to hang washing up rather than using the dryer, switch off appliances when not in use and switch off lights when not in a room.

It is also important to make sure that you select your panels carefully. Make sure that you buy panels that are really efficient and this will mean that you will be making the most electricity possible. Technology is always improving so probably buying the most recently made will help. However, there are also different brands and you will need to compare them to see which will be the best. It is wise to think about value for money and obviously you will have a budget so you may not be able to afford the most expensive. You may need to think about whether it will be worth delaying buying the panels until you can afford better ones as they will give you a better return on your investment. It is well worth doing the maths to find out.

Is it Worth Borrowing to buy a Bicycle?

BorrowingLeave a Comment on Is it Worth Borrowing to buy a Bicycle?

Borrowing money is something that many of us do for many different reasons. However, it should be a decision that is carefully made Although borrowing can be very beneficial, there can also be problems with borrowing as well, which need to be considered.

Advantages of borrowing

If you need something quickly and have no savings to pay for it then borrowing can be a really useful thing to do. It means that you will be able to quickly arrange a loan and then buy the item that you need. It is especially useful if you are buying an item that might save you money in the future or really benefit you. A bicycle might be able to do this if you use it instead of driving your car and thus save money in fuel and you will get fitter which will have health benefits for you. There are many other things which could have similar benefits for you and so could be worth borrowing money to buy.

Ways to ensure borrowing is manageable

It is really important to be careful with borrowing though and there are a few main things that you should consider. Firstly, you will need to think about the cost of borrowing. There are lots of loan types and there are lots of lenders and they will all charge different amounts of money for you to have a loan through them. This means that it is very wise to compare them so that you can decide which one that you want to use. IT might seem the obvious thing to do to just go with the one that is the cheapest. However, the cheapest one may not be very good in other ways. Therefore, think about what features you will want from a lender and then you will be able to check them out and see which fits your requirements the best.

It is also really important to think about whether you will be able to repay the loan. You are likely to be required to make a repayment each month and it is important to make sure that the amount is manageable for you. Think about whether you will be able to easily afford it, whether you will need to cut back your spending to pay it or whether you will really struggle to pay for everything you need to pay it. Then you will be able to decide whether getting the loan will really be worthwhile or whether it will be difficult for you.

How to decide whether to borrow for the bike

Once you have figures in front of you, you will be able to come up with a decision. So, find out how much the loan will cost and then you know how much extra you will be paying for the bike compared with how much you would pay without the loan. Then think about the repayments and check back in your bank statements to see whether you will have enough money to cover those monthly repayments. Then you need to decide how important it is for you to have the bike. Think about whether you really think that it will be worthwhile considering how much it costs.

It might not be an easy decision. There might be advantages and disadvantages to getting the bike this way. It can therefore be worth thinking of some alternative solutions. It might be that you will be better off if you use savings that you have to pay for the bike. You will lose interest on those savings but you will probably be paying more interest on the loan than you will be getting on the savings and so it could be worth using it. However, you might be reluctant to part with savings that you have worked really hard to accumulate or that you have been saving up for a particular purpose. You will need to think hard about what might be right for you.

Another alternative is to wait and save up for the bike. This could take some time and you will have to decide whether you think that you can wait this long and whether it will be worth waiting. If you are in a hurry for it or feel that having it will save you money, then you might not think that this will be worth doing and that a loan will be better.

Of course, you may not be bale to get a loan if you have a poor credit record. If this is the case then you will have no choice but to save up for the bike. It could be good to research different bikes and even look into second hand options so that it will not take so long to save up for it. You could also ask for contributions from people who like to give you gifts and perhaps cut back your spending elsewhere or try to earn more money so that you can more quickly accumulate the money that you need.