I am fortunate to work in a company that has a multi-purpose loan as benefit for employees. Instead of paying for the interest of installments on appliances, it is an advantage to just avail of the multi-purpose loan with very low interest rate. When we bought our air conditioner and refrigerator, I took a loan from the multi-purpose loan benefit and compared it with the interest of the appliance store's installment plan. The multi-purpose loan is just about 20% of the appliance store's total interest charges.
That's a good company you're working for because it looks after the welfare of its employees. Everyone, more or less, has some financial issue. Even the richest man on earth before he became solvent and financially free. I have taken out a few multipurpose loans but not from my company. Neither do I loan from loan sharks or cooperatives. I loan from my mandatory government benefits, which by the way, are extracted from my monthly salary. So it's no different from basically getting back the money I lent to the institution for safekeeping until old age.
I could use a loan right now to start a home business but unfortunately, nobody would loan to an unemployed person. I've been earning money on the Internet for almost nine years and it's barely enough. Our resources have exhausted because my dad had to be hospitalized for his third stroke. I'm now working and racing against time to be able to provide Php10,000 or $250 before school starts on June 13. I won't be able to get books unless the payment is complete.
I would consider taking a multipurpose loan for absolute necessities since there is the risk of becoming a lone freak. There is one more thing to acquire and before you realise it, your payslip is a pale shadow of its former self. A better alternative is to go for interest free loans which is a feature of some banks especially in Islamic banking if there is such a facility in your country.
I have never taken loan to buy home appliances or personal matters. I have loan in banks and I got this loan to finance my dairy farm. Unfortunately, my business is not progressing as expected and I am finding hard to pay back the loan. I am also looking for another avenue for investment and for that purpose I will be applying for loan again.
Why should you take out a multi-purpose loan with interest to buy appliances when you can buy appliances in installment at zero percent interest using your credit card? When you use your credit card, you will not only save on interest charges, you'll also enjoy reward points, unless of course the card has a running balance and you're not paying the total amount for every billing cycle. Our company has a multi-purpose loan facility, too, but I've always avoided taking out a loan because people tend to gossip about co-employees who borrow from the company.
