Difficult situations prompt us to take a loan, but the repayment burden it creates and the amount of extra payments, which we have to make in the form of interest and fees, worries us constantly. The first priority of any person should be to be self-sufficient. If he or she has to take a loan due to unavoidable circumstances, the borrower should make sure that he gets a low cost secured loan. The total amount he repays to the lender can be minimised if he follows some simple steps.