Family Issues

Payday loans don’t come cheap.  Like a form of addiction, once you have started to depend on it, you may not be able to cut the string that ties you to payday lenders.  The worst symptom is that you take a payday loan when payday is just one day away.  Couldn’t you have waited a little bit more?  Fortunately, unlike addiction, it is possible to be free of payday loans without medical therapy or surgery.  All it takes is a good budget.  When you budget well, you need not take out a payday loan.  Of course, for the budget to be successful, the person must be determined and persistent.

To stay determined, a person must have a powerful motivation to budget.  There should be specific goals that must be achieved within a certain period of time.  For example, after six months of good budgeting, you can finally afford that one-week beach vacation.  There should be several goals, too.  Aside from material gain, one of your goals maybe having peace of mind or being able to donate more to a certain charity.  It will also help if you can give yourself a pep talk every now and then.

A budget refers to your estimate of income and expenses.  It also includes your plan of action based on your estimate.  To have a well-founded idea about how you spent your money, collect receipts and list expenses.  Based on your list, you will easily identify which had a lion’s share of your money.

The next step is to determine the expenses that are deemed necessary such as utility (water, electricity, phone) expenses, insurance, rent, fixed monthly payments for loans, and groceries.  The last one will be based closely on the previous month’s grocery expenses, except, of course, when a relative suddenly decides to stay with you.  In this case, you will have to increase your allotted budget for groceries and food.

Then, analyze how much you can cut and save from your extra expenses, such as unnecessary new outfits, entertainment, dinners outside, and travel.  Be honest and critical.  Do you really need another computer game?

Build your savings.  The amount of money you plan to save each month should be relatively fixed.  It would be a good idea if you set aside this money first and budget the amount left around your expenses.  During emergencies, you can use your savings and perhaps reduce the amount you need to borrow from payday loan companies.

And lastly, be persistent in following your budget.  Sometimes you will spend more than you intend to.  Don’t punish yourself harshly, but you need to take measures to recover the overspending.  Believe that if others have swam out of their sea of debt, you can do it, too.

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