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| Freepik.com
MONEY BASICS
with MARTIN HESSE
SLOW BUT SURE WAY TO GET YOURSELF OUT OF DEBT DEBT is like deceit: a relatively minor transgression can trigger a series of increasingly serious transgressions, each to cover up the previous one, until the situation is worse than anything you could have imagined. The scenario might look something like this: Transgression no. 1 You don’t pay off the full amount on your credit card because you have to settle an exorbitant dentist’s bill that the medical aid wouldn’t cover.
Transgression no. 2 (some months later) You miss a payment on your car because the debt on your credit card has climbed to the point where it’s a struggle even to make the minimum payment, let alone pay the full amount. Transgression no. 3 (another few months later) You take out a personal loan at a prohibitively high interest rate to
get your arrear car payments up to date, after some threatening letters from the vehicle finance company. Deeper and deeper … There’s only one respectable way to break the spiral, and the sooner you do it, the easier it is: swallow your pride, own up to your mistakes or weaknesses, and make amends. Having covered this topic extensively, cobbled with a good dose of common sense, I offer the following get-out-of-debt plan:
