Freedom can be defined in many aspects of our life. It also depends on how we perceived it. But one of my longing is really is to have this freedom from debts. According to The Simple Dollar, a life that is debt free is a life that eliminates the concerns on what are many expenditures to be paid in a month against the limited resources of income. It can be achieved when one has already manage the gap between the expenditures and the income.
In a life of a humble government employee and having salary as a major income source, it is not enough to be able to save an outright amount to be able to build a house, or to buy necessary appliances for the house of a growing family. Thus resorting to mortgages and home credits becomes an option. Every month, allotting an amount for this monthly expenditures is a must. Added are the medical emergencies that the family encountered for the health problems of our beloved mom, savings are used and bank loans helped in the paying hospital bills and other medical expenses. Basically the money that were loaned are used for something with worth and not for luxury.
But I am glad, I am not yet on the stage of "Buried in debt" in Filipino - "Baon sa Utang", and I would not allow my life to reach that stage.
So what have we done to slowly achieve the Freedom from Debt?
Looking for other sources of income. Since most of our income is used for expenditures, we looked for other sources of income. That's why we have online selling, selling of fishes from our fish trap project and now, I have the read platform as my other income source. From this added income sources, we slowly allotted amount for savings for emergency needs, so that next time we will not resort to loans anymore.
Cost cutting and looking for ways on how to lessen expenses. Ways such as bringing "baon" - packed lunch when going to the office, taking a bicycle when buying near errands, buying groceries at the grocery store rather than the sari-sari store.
Thinking many times before buying or adding to credit anything we need or want. The desire will always be there, especially when you like the product, but we always go back to the question. Do we really need this? When the answer is no, we opt not to spend for it.
Lessen travels. Thanks to the pandemic, we now rarely do this. Travels really entails budget. When travel is wanted, allotting a separate budget for it should be done.
Savings and Investment. We have some small investments in cooperatives and in small projects. We save in bank and in crypto through my income in writing.
If you are going to ask me, did I regret that I resorted to credit? Maybe a few of my credit choices, but when it comes to my family needs, I would really do what I have to do just to provide the needs in terms of shelter, medical needs and the like. When there is way in, there will always be a way out and I am taking responsibility of the choices I made. I am really thankful to the Lord for the strength, wisdom and guidance that lead me to some ways on how to achieve little by little this freedom from debts.
This debt free life is still a long way to go for me. But with God's help and grace I am positive and hopeful that one day, I will achieve this Freedom from Debt and I can be able to enjoy my income not for paying debts but for maximizing it to some life choices.
Reference: The Case for Debt Freedom
Lead Image: People photo created by drobotdean - www.freepik.com edited
I was tagged by @LykeLyca for this Freedom Prompt by @JonicaBradley and I enjoyed in participating this for my last Article in May.
Tagging @immaryandmerry for this prompt, but the host said she will have a new prompt for the week so you might opt to have the new prompt whatever in your liking.
The article should be:
Anything about Freedom
100% original content
At least 600 words
And don't forget to tag @JonicaBradley
Special mention to all my sponsors who are also good writers here in read. @wrabbiter , @TruSuccessXpert @immaryandmerry , @Pantera , @meitanteikudo , @scottcbusiness , @CryptoBabe, @FrieLincs , @CryptoMax , @Laurenexai .
Links :
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I, too, would love to be free from debt. I don't have much credit card debt - less than 5k - and we own the house and car. No debt there. But we are in the last half of our lives now, and want to enjoy our hard earned money. We want to travel. We were gifted a trip to S.E. Asia in 2018, and then the pandemic hit. So we haven't done much traveling since. We are saving our pennies to travel hopefully in 2022. I now have 3 part time income streans- writing, cleaning a friend's home, and doing define virtual assisting. Sometimes I will sell cheese that I've made. We also have money by growing food. I do most of the cooking from scratch, even making the noodles with flour and egg, baking bread, and using our fresh ingredients whenever possible.
It saves money, but it doesn't save time! Still, it is worth it.
Thanks for participating. There will be another prompt out in a few hours.