This week's interest rate rise is not doing anyone any favours. It's the sixth time the Reserve Bank has raised rates since last October, and this is putting added financial pressure on a lot of home-owners. No one expected rates to climb this quickly, but it looks like the trend will continue at least until the end of the year. If this is really hurting you, it’s worth exploring a few options so you don’t end up paying more in interest than you need to.

1. Consolidate your loans

If you have a number of different loans – a car loan, a personal loan and a credit card, for example – it’s worth consolidating these into one loan. Look for a bank that will offer you a low rate if you transfer a number of debts into the one loan. But don't be fooled – some banks charge an attractive interest rate in the first year to lure you, and then hit you with a higher rate to make up for the "good deal". Be careful though because you still need to pay the new loan off as quickly as possible because interest will keep mounting.

2. Think about fixing a portion of your home loan

You’ll have to crunch some numbers to work out whether this is a good option for you, but if you decide to fix all or part of your loan now you may end up paying less in interest in the future as rates are expected to keep rising for some time. But take care to ensure the fixed rate the bank will offer you isn’t too high – some banks' fixed rates are already well over long-term interest rate trends, which could mean you end up paying more than you need to when rates eventually plateau. We told Sunrise viewers last August to look at fixing their rates but since then they've just kept climbing.

3. Think about changing lenders for your mortgage

You have to be careful taking this approach because many lenders charge a penalty fee if you switch lenders. But if you do your sums and work out that you’ll save more in interest over time by switching lenders than you’ll pay in penalty fees, then it could be worth taking your business to another bank. Even just letting your bank know you’re talking to other lenders might make them offer you a better deal. If you have things like insurance and investments with the same bank, ask for a home loan rate. Some Sunrise viewers have done this and ended up with a 0.25 per cent cut just for asking.

4. Pay more than the minimum amount on your loans

The faster you pay off your loans, the less you’ll pay in interest. If you can try to pay off more than the minimum amount each month, you’ll pay off your loans sooner and save money on interest on the way through. Try and free up some cash and put it straight into your payments.