Over indebtedness could affect one’s mental health.

For many people, payday is a stressful experience because of over indebtedness and growing financial constraints. Simple debt-relief guidance and advice could go a long way to greater peace of mind and fostering long term financial stability and wellness.

The issue starts with most people not being pragmatic about how they manage their money. Dealing with one’s mindset first is very critical. A person must start by firstly accepting that there is a problem, and then should make a conscious decision to live within their means as well as making use of a budget by identifying what is a need and what is a want. You need to psyche yourself up even if it means pretending you earn less than what you actually earn and behave as such when it comes to spending money.

“You can use credit to create wealth. It also does not mean that everyone that has been over indebted fell into that situation because of recklessness or irresponsibility. Circumstances differ from person to person. But there is a large portion of our population that is obviously credit hungry, living in too much debt for both instant gratification and the pressure to be validated via social platforms.”

“Some people’s month ends are like a photo finish. Some are pay- day millionaires that spoil themselves rotten then become broke just three days later, because they have spent the little money that was left after debit orders.”

John Manyike, Head of Financial Education at Old Mutual

The reality is if you can only afford something on pay day and not during the month, it simply means you cannot afford it.