The following signs indicate that you can manage your money like a pro, abide by your debt agreements and that you can develop a strong financial strategy to withstand the hurdles in life.
If you are in a relationship
You share financial responsibilities with your spouse or partner. If only one person carries the ball in marriage when it comes to money management, things may be a bit rocky when times get hard. But couples, who don’t easily jump into financial decisions-but take time to make a decision, create a budget and a bill payment strategy will do better than couples who don’t work together.
Sharing responsibilities equally will not put the pressure on the spouse or partner “in-charged of finances”. The “non-financial spouse” will not be left clueless when something happens to the one making the decisions on money. The most important advantage of sharing responsibility is that both of you will be conscious in ensuring that your bills don’t go unpaid and that you don’t have to worry about accumulating debts or deteriorating financial positions. If both of you are aware of your financial picture and you take part in managing it, you will preserve each other’s interest.
While you are not contemplating divorce, and we hope you won’t ever—making sure that your finances are well, will not only help you avoid money strains that break marriages. It will also help those who will eventually end up divorced. Remember that a lot of people end up in bankruptcy right after they call it quits. Making sure that your personal finances are alright will make divorce or parting ways easier than those who put everything at stake in their marriage.
You took the right level of risk
Money spent is an investment for your future. Think of it that way every time you spend your cash, swipe your credit card or use up your personal loan. Is your fridge packed with healthy food? If so, you are making a smart investment in your health. What about your fashion sense? Is it sensible, practical and affordable? There’s no problem with buying clothes, shoes and other fashion items to reward ourselves from time to time, or to attend important events. But, if we are still building our financial portfolio, every cent counts—and every expense is a reduction in our current asset.
When considering your investments-like your home, car, mutual funds and retirement plans, make sure that you have a well-balanced portfolio. It is completely insensible to put your money in high-risk accounts when you are not even halfway in repaying your first mortgage, you have no emergency fund and you have no regular income to cover your day to day expenses.
Remember
It’s a lot easier to keep the end of your debt agreements when you play it safe especially in terms of investments. Let’s say, you have a great business idea and are ready to get a home equity loan to finance it, ask yourself or your spouse /partner (for those in a relationship) how you can play it safe. Perhaps, you have a strong market, there’s a huge demand for your business concept or you have a solid marketing strategy to lessen the risk. If you have no emergency fund that will cover not only the payment for your second mortgage but your daily needs and business losses until your business attains traction—you may have to think about it again. While you cannot be entirely in your comfort zone every time you invest-having a well-balanced portfolio will keep you from being too far out of it.
Are you living within your means?
Life is not a competition—it is just a way of living in a world where you have every right to be in. You don’t need signature clothes, flashy car, or exhilarating get-away adventure to feel better about yourself; although there’s nothing wrong in buying them to reward yourself when you are financially able to do so. But getting into debt to prove to others that you can afford those things or just to please meddling individuals is not practical at all. Accept your situation—and don’t feel sorry about yourself. Feeling that way may stir your heart to crave for something you may not be able to afford. So what if you don’t have those luxuries today? You’ll get by, and will be eventually rewarded with lesser debts, and higher assets.
You accepted that you messed up and moved on
A lot of people have been in denial for so long-until their potential lender’s file charges against them because they cannot keep their end of the debt agreement anymore. Own up to your mistake and don’t try to put the blame on anyone when you mess up.
How do you plan to keep your end of the debt agreements? Start off on the right foot by talking to our in-house mortgage experts at NSW Mortgage Corp or make an Enquiry today!
