Using Money you currently Have
How many times are you able to really enjoy your salary? Or maybe not enjoy but save something for the rainy day? How much are you setting aside for your debts and how much do you save? Are you making huge steps in paying off your debts? Did you know that there is a fair chance that you will be paying off a credit card debt for half your life if you keep on making minimum payments? This is the harsh reality about debts. At first taking up a loan seems to be a good idea because you actually need it. That is OK and quite understandable but what happens when you miss a payment? It all depends on the lending entity that you have a contract with. There is a fair chance that you might encounter a penalty. This is usually the case for FRLO’s (fixed rate loan options). What if we are talking about credit cards or LOC’s? These would carry higher interests or penalties. One bank even charges $25 every single time you use up your line of credit so if you are at the grocery and you get overdrawn, each item that eats up your line of credit will charge you $25 and this does not include the interest that you would have to pay for your card.
This can be a real nightmare if you leave it and don’t pay attention. $25 dollars could mean full meals for 2 days for some. Give value to your dollar and make sure that you are able to see what else you could have used the money you paid for the penalty. If this does not work for you, try looking into the long run. If you keep on living off your card instead of using cash, how many items from impulse buys will you be able to avoid? How many times are you able to say to yourself “I made the right decision buying this the last minute even if I didn’t plan to get it in the first place”? Impulse buys are greatly minimized if you get rid of your card. I don’t really mean closing your account. It is still good to have something to use in case you have an emergency expense. I would suggest that you just use your debit card instead. If you are going to use a debit card attached to your checking account, you might also want to make sure that there is not any overdraft protection or line of credits in place. This way, you will learn to spend within your own means. You will be spending money that you have. Imagine the benefits of this? You will be able to make use of your money to either save up or buy for something else instead of setting it aside for payment on your card and its interests. This is freedom that you may have only dreamed before you stopped using your card on a daily basis. Funny how a simple change of being more responsible can give you such freedom.
