How to save and stay out of debt

But for you to excel in your personal finance, it must be eschewed. That is to say, never see it as an option.

To illustrate, think about a boy who had a pet snake. At some point, it was little and he could play with it until the snake becomes grown to the point that this pet strangled him.

Debt can be like that. It doesn't matter your opinion!!! The good book says the borrower becomes slave to the lender.

Let’s look at why do we get into debts

• Lack of savings
• Insufficient money
• Lack of vision or ideas on how to make money
• Lack of discipline
• Spending above your earnings
• Desire to live above your means
• Bad spending habits
• Desire to impress others with the money you don't have
• Lack of financial intelligence
• Paying for Unforeseen emergencies

Therefore, from our answers above, the reason why so many are in debt and struggling daily is because of the man in the mirror!

QUICK FIX TO DEBT ISSUES:

1. Brother, sister, uncle, auntie, friend purpose (make up your mind today) to stop borrowing money!

This is the very first step. Refuse to see it as the only option. Pause borrowing

2. Arrange/ List all your debts in order of the smallest to largest. Actually there are methods to clear debts, we have the snowball and the debt avalanche. My preference is the snowball.
3. Now that you have listed your debts. Please have a meeting with all your debtors, individuals, and financial institutions. This is for those that have issues with repayment. Be honest and tell them your situation and what you plan to pay no matter how long it takes. Most times, those you own that you meet in such manner, become open to helping you out by proffering solution that we will help both parties. They see you as an honest and responsible person.
4. Stop all spending. Review your expenses. What we discovered over time in handling debt cases is that a lot of people are in debt because they do not monitor their expenses, they have no spending plan. Money comes but they cannot account for it. That spending plan is what we call the budget.

Briefly, they cannot tell where their money is going. This is Heartbroken…

So here, you will have to eat beans and only rice if it comes to that until your debts are paid off.

5. Now I will advise that you save up at least one month's salary to serve as an emergency fund. This is to avoid going back to debts in case of an emergency.
6. Now, this is where I will be introducing the debt snowball. You can read this up from my page on Facebook. The money managers. I wrote about this and it has saved a lot of people and given them respite.

Start paying down each debt, have a minimum repayment per month on each debt, but add more to the least until it is paid off. Why I advocate for using the snowball is because that was exactly the method I used after listening to Dave Ramsey. I was able to clear my debts save for the mortgage.

When you clear the list, you have a small victory that gives you the courage to attack the next small DEBT until you clear all.

That is the path those in debt are encouraged to follow to learn/enforce discipline. Remember I started with what helps you out of debt and what helps stay out of debt.

7. Now it is highly recommended that you join a group of like minds, so you can start saving up money (they help you start a money goal target) you adopt certain principle that will ensure you do not go back to the mud.
8. Be generous and teach others what you have learnt conquering those debts.

Now that we are done with the quick fixes, let answer the questions before we summarize how to save (the steps).

The reason you are in debt has to do with your mindset when you see debt as an option. Let me illustrate to help us see it in a proper perspective based on my daily interaction with people at work and in my business.

Taking on debt is not really bad of you have counted the cost and make a projection on how to repay without paying all the interest ( I talking about people that borrow from institutions).

Let's say you meet Renmoney to loan you 500k to expand your business or you have supplies to make, have you factored how much you will make based on the previous trend and instead of paying till the 6months duration but rather pay within 3months. The debt is working to your advantage and you must have calculated your profit because your repayment should not be more than your profit.

However, we see people borrowing to pay school fees, buy foodstuffs and they are still having babies every year. Also, people will borrow to buy a car, pay rent or for parties.

That is why we advise that you start saving while in debt to help enforce discipline (the discipline to pay yourself first (yes, you deserve to get it, after all, you are the one earning the money).

If you are borrowing to pay for rent then that accommodation is beyond you. Look for a smaller apartment. Same with school fees are you saying you just woke and realized that you must pay school fees. Remember one you mentioned lack of discipline.

We cannot finish all aspects of debt today. It is inexhaustible, as we deal with one case by case.

How to save

1. Saving money can be tough! Because it is easier to spend and keep spending. Sometimes we spend without realizing why we are spending.

Saving money for things that will make a difference in our finances is a habit that you can learn, form and imbibe. It can be challenging but it becomes your savior.

For instance, this evening a friend came to visit and told me about a good real estate investment that came up and a very good deal. If one has no money saved up, when such opportunities come, it eludes you.

So first determine that for each cash passes through your hand, a minimum of 10% must be paid to me. So learn to pay yourself first.

2. Save with a goal in mind. Break it down into these categories.
3. Emergency fund: I always advise that this should be your starting point. Rainy days will come but don't be cut in it, it makes people borrow unnecessarily. Some borrowing because of emergency have lead to relationship stalemate. Friends owing to friends. Sisters owing brothers or the other way round. It can be avoided
4. Sinking funds: you need to create such an account for obligatory payments like your rent, school fees, child delivery, new car, etc. For example, if your annual rent is 300k just divide by 12months and incorporate it in your monthly budget. Every month pay 25k to that account. When it’s time to pay, you don't have to hide from the landlord or go borrowing.
5. Savings towards investment and staring business. I love this part. Here you create both active and passive income.

Question:

I want to ask if it’s the other way round that individuals are owing you money and affect one's cashflow for necessary expenses in the business. What should I do? Thanks

Answer:

Hmm! I can feel you here. You have stop selling on credit. Identify those people that are not creditworthy stop selling to them on credit. Secondly, refuse to be desperate in selling your products or services. Some services require a percentage payment. Please prepare a contract that they should sign. In the beginning, they pay something, at a certain milestone they pay this. Etc

Question 2:

How does one get his or her money back when friends or family borrow from you and refuse or pretend as if nothing happened? Some people here must have experienced that right.

Answer:

Yes, I usually advise people to stop borrowing to friends and family. It creates cracks. Remember what I said earlier, a borrower is slave to the lender. It is a spiritual law. It is an exchange that you will not understand how you start despising your friend or family when they cannot repay. It is best to give them what you can afford to forget about.