Do you think of yourself as a bit of a penny pincher? Or are you into more an extravagant lifestyle of wining & dining?

When it comes to determining your loan size, it’s important to consider the lifestyle you live now and the sort of lifestyle you could reasonably adjust to.

For some it’s easy to live on baked beans and toast, but if you’re used to a more upmarket lifestyle it might be tougher to tighten the purse strings.

Of course, taking on a mortgage requires a fair bit of financial awareness, and you will need to be much more aware of your spending habits.

A great way to assess your true borrowing capacity is to try your loan on for size before you commit. Work out how much income you would have left over if you were to take out a certain size loan and then start living by it.

If you can comfortably manage, that’s great, but if you can’t you might need to reassess how much you can reasonably borrow.

If you’d like to talk to John, he can be contacted on 0749722081 or 0410433919. You can also email him at jwhitten@ihl.net.au or look him up on the net www.ihl.net.au. John Whitten is a credit representative (CRN 399796) of BLASSA Pty Ltd (Australian Credit Licence No 391237).