It may sound easy to be organised and responsible when it comes to borrowing money. But in reality, the opposite is true. Many borrowers fall into bad borrowing habits, such as buying things they don’t need, spending loan proceeds on unrelated things, and overestimating their ability to pay back their loans.
The result is that they’re often surprised and struggling when it’s time to pay. Worse, they get trapped by these unrecognised bad borrowing habits. Changing from bad to good habits is difficult, but it is a must for everyone with this problem, or else they’ll end up with bigger problems in the long run.
Bad borrowing habits: a few examples
Imagine you are a person who has been employed by a stable company that already gives you enough salary to cover your basic needs, but to cover your secondary or tertiary needs that you can’t meet, you take out personal loans from a moneylender. At that time, you should have kept your dedication in mind, knowing that someday you would have obligations to repay.
Or maybe you are thinking of starting a business, so you took out a loan from a legalised money lender in Singapore. Unfortunately, you didn’t separate between personal and your business’ bookkeeping.
Avoiding bad borrowing habits: how to do it
These are just a few examples of bad habits that negatively affect one’s borrowing or borrowed money. lead to bad borrowing habits. To avoid these or any other similar bad habits, here are a few things one can do.
Always track the financial framework you have set
It is common knowledge that every budget needs to be tracked, as it’s easy to lose track of where cash flows are. If you are not tracking your expenses and don’t set a particular limit, your expenses could keep increasing, especially if you have uncontrollable and unrecognised spending. The next thing you know, you’re going through money problems.
To avoid being caught off guard and having money problems later, ask yourself these questions:
- How much income do you have per month? Have you counted it well to be applied between basic needs, savings and investment, and loans you are about to take?
- What are the most anticipated things you have been needing for a long time? How much will those things be beneficial to your life?
On the other hand, if you are a business owner, consider this: according to Maribel Garcia, Associate of Economic Development at the Leadership for Urban Renewal Network (LURN), oftentimes business owners don’t have a true idea of what they’re earning.
You don’t want to be the kind of entrepreneur who will even be trapped in bad borrowing habits, do you? So consider these questions:
- Have you made a feasible business framework and goals that you will be running and also presented them to prospective money lenders?
- If yes, how much are your startup’s monthly sales? How much will your inventory and supplies cost?
- How much income can your startup generate per month, per quarter, and per year?
- How much will salaries for employees cost your business?
- Have you researched the taxes, payroll, and sales?
Find more affordable alternative coping mechanisms
The most challenging enemy is yourself—that is true even in financial matters. Dealing with bad coping mechanisms that cause you to spend lots of money—whether it’s shopping, dining out, or constant travelling, just to name a few—is one of the hardest things in life, and it will take a lot of time and effort to overcome it. One good way to get started on changing this is by being conscious of the price of a particular item or activity you spend money on as a coping mechanism. Also, find more affordable alternatives that give you the same sense of satisfaction.
Seek expert advice
Last but not least, consider that there are experts in Singapore who can give you credible advice on how to control your borrowing habits. With their assistance, your finances could be more guaranteed to stay financially healthy in the long term and maintain a good credit score.
Conclusion
There’s nothing wrong with borrowing money, whether it’s from Soon Seng Credit or anywhere else. However, it is important to examine your financial health and keep your borrowing and spending habits sustainable. Be disciplined so you can avoid dealing with the consequences of bad financial behaviour.
