Borrowing is not a bad word. However, there is a difference between borrowing for necessities and luxuries. Purchasing a Residential House is a necessity for the employed, whereas buying an office is a necessity for a professional. Sometimes, we borrow for comforts and little luxuries to fulfill our dreams and wishes like going for a better car for the family or that elusive foreign trip etc., We should be careful while borrowing for non-productive and depreciating assets.
One should not try to borrow as much as possible and then get in to the vicious debt-trap. One should to be careful about the reason for borrowing, amount borrowed and the outgo. Cost of loan is not what you borrow, but the amount you pay over the period of loan, which includes interest, upfront processing and other charges, early repayment / part repayment charges etc., Not all loans with lower interest rate are better loans, there may be hidden charges which make them costly. Hence compare loans taking all the factors into consideration before availing the best possible one.
Interest amount paid over the period, exceeds the principal amount by a wider margin as the term of the loan increases. In the situations where the interest rates are falling, loans become cheaper. In such cases, it is possible to reduce the interest burden by shifting the loan to another lender. Each loan offer should be analyzed for the cost reduction considering various factors that constitute the cost of borrowing.