Reducing Personal Debt - Start with the Credit Cards

Hi there,

Today we are going to talk about debt. Yes, the dreaded word and that silence before everything comes crashing down. But debt and what it stands for, is very different to debt in reality. Most importance is awareness of debt in our lives and the coping strategies we can use to drive it down!

In most people's lives, we end up buying a house, might not be our dream house but well something over our heads so we don't get wet at night. Not everyone can afford to buy a house and pay it off in full, therefore I would assume the biggest debt a person could have personally, as in personal debt, is a mortgage. So if we had say a list of bills to pay and we didn't know where to start, I'd start with the mortgage. And then we'll move on to the utilities bills and so on. But coming back to debt, we can't avoid it. Somehow, we will realize that we need to borrow some money from the bank. In other times, we WANT to borrow money from the bank. That is sometimes used as gearing to either positively or negatively direct an investment. Today we will not look at that but look at the inevitable situations of debt we find ourselves in.

Sometimes, I like to reflect on how much we spend and how much of what we spend is really ours. Credit Cards, Car Loans, 500 day no interest finance, Home Loans, even 24hr overdrafts for a "emergency before the weekly cheque from work arrives". If only I had managed my money better! That's what we all say when it is too late..

Reducing debt starts BEFORE debt builds up. And like a clogged hose, we don't know how much pressure is accumulated. But we definitely know when it bursts. Look at your spendings on shopping, are you really buying all you need? Or just what you want. A credit card is a wonderful and horrible tool both in one. I personally enjoy my credit cards, yes cardS with a capital "S", but I can tell you and you probably could as well, that the temptation and ease of spending of a credit card can be addictive. The problem we all face is that the bills are paid at the end of the month, and when I look at the bills, I am sometimes shocked at the total amount of my "small spendings". They can really add up to be A LOT.

Challenge yourself and keep your cards home when you go out. Refuse to earn the points you were so promised by the companies. And if you were short on cash, you might just realized you had them all along, but were spending them before they even got into your bank account.

"People who always seem to have money, also know how to save money" unless you are that lucky and blessed. There is some truth to this statement and it really makes cents (sense).

All the best in achieving your financial dreams and keep going, keep saving to be prepared for a better opportunity may come your way tomorrow.



Jonathan

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How to save money and still live daily

Hello,

Today we are looking at a very interesting topic and this is one that has been debated over by many others. Here, I'm just going to give you my 2 cents worth on what this subject means to me. Looking back when I was young, I always had the belief that it was better to save my money for that toy or that thing that I wanted most and then go get it! This was instilled into me by my parents and that was good… to an extent. Because sometimes it meant not having recess that day or skipping something important like buying notebooks for school. In other words, I was not living properly day to day. Like wise, in other current situation, if I told you that if you saved $50 a week for 52 weeks, you'd get $2600 at the end of the year, yes that's an additional $2600 to go into your investment plan to build your wealth for your future. Now if we did $200 or $500 a week, we'd save like, $10,400 and $26,000!!

Now most of you will say this is a daunting task and that it is impossible. However, ask yourselves, how much do we spend on drinks? how much do we spend on food? going to concerts? or movies? and well, can you even remember how much you spent in total yesterday?

See the thing is that, most of us have money, its just our lifestyle that has got to change. As long as the basic bills, eg. Mortgage, Electricity and Water bills, groceries and staple healthy foods, and so on are catered for, then anything else is unnecessary spending. For students, school is important, if text books are expensive, go look for 2nd hand ones. Arrange your shopping into what I NEED and what I WANT.

If you start doing this today, and really look at how you spend your money, then I'm pretty sure you can find that extra dollar or 50 dollars in your expenditure to save aside.

If however, you are already on a shoestring budget, then well, its gonna be even tougher. The problem is that in order to make wealth, we first need wealth of some sort. It could be an income or a savings plan.

In the next article, I will try to touch on some ways to make an extra buck $ in the ways that I know how and that I've used myself.

Cheers!

Jon

Who Am I?

Good Day to you!

My name is Jonathan, and I'm in the process of achieving my financial dream and success. I believe that despite where I am at, I am always learning and I hope that this website/blog will give others such as myself, the resources and inspiration to strive for that dream as well.

A bit about myself, I am not a financial and investment student, in that, I mean I did not learn the ropes from a school and use plenty of mathematical formulas and what not to determine how I use and invest my money. I have been pretty blessed and lucky to meet various mentors and smart people whom have been a guide and teacher to me.

Here, I hope that I can be someone who walks with you as you look to your dreams of achieving financial freedom and to be able to do what you want whenever you want. More importantly, I hope that you would be able to give back to the community and to the people whom have helped and supported you along your journey as well. Sort of like a pay-it-forward system. But if not, well, I'm just glad that you've pop-ed on here and that you take away something useful.

Best of luck and keep working hard!

Jonathan