As the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) continues to increase the cash rate, it’s important to understand how your home loan repayments will change. Despite rising interest rates, you can still plan ahead.

We’ve put together this handy guide with five ways you can restructure your home loan and reduce the impact of rate rises on your goals and lifestyle.

1. Review your budget.

To make the best decision for your situation you need the proper tools. Using our repayment calculator, run some numbers to see how different interest rate increases will affect your loan repayments over the next six to 18 months. From there, you can look at your household expenses and see where you need to adjust your budget.

Using the Virgin Money app’s spend tracker and a range of budgeting apps, you can easily track your spending and see where you have room to make savings.

2. Rein in your spending.

When insurance renewals roll around it can be tempting to tick and flick, paying the bill without checking if you could save elsewhere. It’s quick and easy but it could be costing you.

Shopping around is the only way to know if you’re getting value. Review your car and home and contents insurance regularly. But don’t just look at the savings – make sure the cover offers the right protection for your needs.

Don’t need that Binge subscription? Ditch it. Spending too much on energy bills? Review them to get a better deal. Comparison sites such as Energy Made Easy, Canstar and Choice are all great resources to make sure you’re getting bang for your buck.

3. Restructure or recast your home loan.

One of the simplest changes you can make to your home loan is to alter your loan repayment frequency. By switching from fortnightly to monthly payments at the minimum, you can reduce your expenses and balance your household budget. The beauty of this approach is that you can change your payment frequency back at any time.

Virgin Money can also support you with recasting your mortgage – essentially recalculating your balance owed after making a lump sum payment, or by extending your loan term.

Contact us to see how we can restructure your loan based on your needs.

4. Consider interest only repayments.

If you’re an investor, or an owner occupier looking for some mortgage relief, you can look at switching to an interest only loan. An interest only loan allows you to pay the interest and not the principal on your loan, which can help you reduce repayments for a period of time. To explore this a little more, head to our Principal and Interest calculator, or contact us for helpful tips and advice.

Just remember, with any changes to your home loan, you always need to weigh up the pros and cons – including paying more interest over the life of your loan.

5. Contact us early for help and support.

Virgin Money is here to help. You can speak to one of our friendly team members to understand how you can restructure your home loan to meet your repayments.

If you are concerned about your financial position, you can talk to our Customer Assistance Team on 1800 701 997, or email customerassistanceteam@virginmoney.com.au to discuss how we can support you.