FIVE HABITS THAT COULD LEAD TO BANKRUPTCY

So it’s a new year and I’m certain some of y’all would be in the whole euphoria of the ‘new year-new life’ buzz and hustle. Well, I could very well understand your excitement as well as concern. Everyone seems to be aiming for success these days! In addition to being successful, I’m guessing that nobody wants to go bankrupt this year and perhaps even in the nearest future! But the sad truth is that even with the made New Year resolutions, there are still very many who’d still go bankrupt even before middle of the year. The fact remains that ‘habits’ form the basis of our life/lives. What we do each day counts and determines how high up the ladder of success we’d climb!

Bankruptcy is what the lay man would refer to as ‘going broke,’ it is usually accompanied by loads of debts which the individual or organization in question is unable to clear. It is having more debts than assets. It’s funny how nobody wants to fall victim of bankruptcy and yet with each passing day, many more persons join the league of ‘broke-asses’. “What could possibly be the cause of this?” You may ask, well, the answer is not very far from the habits that such victims have formed over the years! Your HABITS could make or mar you, so it’s really up to you to decide which habits you’d rather develop and which to desist from! And trust me it is really very difficult to break a habit, especially a ‘bad’ one! So let no one deceive you, you’d need to put in all the effort you can gather! Especially if you could fall prey to bankruptcy.

Now straight to business, listed below are some very BAD habits that could lead you (be it an individual or a corporate organization) to bankruptcy if not properly checked or addressed;

HABIT #1

Living Above Your Means- but really guys, why do people live above their means of livelihood? Let me paint a picture for you here; you have a paid job where you earn 200 grand a month, and then you feel real good about yourself, saying, “…oh well with this, I think I can afford to live in big and decent house, buy a state of the art car (not too pricy, you’d say), fancy education for my kids and all……” all the while trying to convince yourself that you deserve the good life and of course, I agree with you, you deserve the ‘good life!’ but like it is often times the case, you get so carried away by the good life that you do not really structure your living expenses. And soon enough the bills begin to pile up and you begin to wonder how it is that with 200 grand a month you are finding it very difficult to meet up with life’s demands. Well, the answer is simple! You are living above your means, in other words you are spending more than you can afford. In a bid to live the good life you often times overlook those sundry expenses which come up on a daily basis, I mean, what if in close examination, your daily expense amounts to 10 grand per day? It simply means it’ll only take 20 days for you to exhaust your monthly pay! And this is minus those luxuries you purchase in-between. This, my friends, is the reason most people be going broke in less than half of a month, after they have been paid. So, whether you are being paid on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, if you live above what you can really afford you will go bankrupt. So please do a quick and yet careful examination of your daily expenditures as it will help you to very easily determine your spending limits.

HABIT #2

Spending Without A Budget- have you ever gone shopping without a drafted budget or spending limit in mind? Now, be honest, what really happened? Let me guess, you just couldn’t help it, right? More often than not spending without a budget makes you to spend more money, most times we end up purchasing what we have no business purchasing at that point in time! That’s right! This is one bad habit which most of us are culprits. I can even visualize the numerous times I went shopping without my budget list, and boy, it’s usually something!! There was a time I kept buying n’ buying that I nearly used up my transport fare! That’s how bad it can get!

So my point is, if you keep on spending and spending outside a budget, then you are, simply put, comfortably driving your way through to ‘brokeness’ or to be more formal, to bankruptcy. So, if you really don’t want to be categorized as a broke-ass this year, then you really should start now to deal with this bad habit! Watch it!

HABIT #3

A Competitive Lifestyle- life, my friends, is no competition! Yet many persons are living fake lives today, mostly because they want to meet up with the standards of living of other persons, perhaps, their friends, working colleagues, family members, acquaintances, neighbours and so on. These category of individuals are living simply to impress! But really, why go through all that stress! Why must people put on fake appearances? It’s simple, most of them keep comparing their lives to the lives of other people. This is one bad habit that could get you edgy again and again. You most likely would be spending more than you can really afford, after all, in a bid to impress you’d strive really hard to keep up appearances, and this often times comes with expensive clothing, shoes, bags, fancy trips/vacations and so on and so forth! When you accept or succumb to this kind of living you most likely would lose focus of what is really important! I mean, your purpose in life cannot in any way be geared towards being a ‘copy-cat!’ right? You have a unique purpose and assignment to fulfil while on earth, so why not try finding out what that purpose is and then focus on fulfilling it instead? If you keep comparing yourself to others you’ll not only be doing something that is detrimental to your health but you’ll be heading straight to a life full of bankruptcy! Please have more ‘sense’ *winkssssss*. It pays more to be content! The only comparisons that should be made, should be between your past performance and your present performance to help you keep track of your progress level(s).

HABIT #4

Credit Expenditures- the job of every sales person is to convince you to buy. As a matter of fact, a very good sales person would very easily convince you to buy even the things that you do not necessarily need, and it doesn’t really matter to them whether you can afford it or not, they’re after all, out to make profits in the end, so watch it guys, ‘cause those people are trained. Nevertheless, what often times drives me nuts is seeing people carelessly spending money that they do not even have yet! Credit purchasing- is what they call it! I mean the whole, “……just give it to me and I will pay you the money later….” –thing! Some people have become masters in the art of credit purchasing, always buying goods on credit! My friends, debt accumulation is the surest way to bankruptcy!!! If you cannot afford it, then work towards being able to, first!

Now guys n’ gals do not get me wrong, I’m well aware that sometimes things could get rough and so some payments have to be made in instalments, I’m cool with that, but only if it is very necessary and for something very important. Other than that, credit purchases should be avoided! And if you must make a credit purchase, please let it be something within your spending limits and not above it! I personally would not encourage anyone to use something that they’ve not completely paid for, better still, my advice would be, leave it with the sales person until you’ve completely paid for it, then and only then should you feel comfortable using it. As much as possible, try to avoid debt accumulation this year- this will keep you from going broke.

HABIT #5

No Savings, No Insurance, No Investment Plans- but really guys, not having an investment plan is quite understandable even though I would advise against that, but no insurance/savings??? Now, that’s something to check! You know you could be so certain about many things in life, but there’s usually one thing that will always remain unpredictable and that is- the future! So, what if you lose your job, or your business crashes, what will you fall back on? Especially when you have no savings and insurances…?? Let me tell you what you’ll fall back on- credit purchasing and more n’ more debts!

So guys n’ gals, I’m hoping you get the gist! I do not want to go on n’ on with more talk, however, let me leave one bonus tip to help you stay off the list of broke asses- bonus tip; be productive! What I mean is get a paying job or you could start and run your own business this year! With this, you’ll be earning and not yearning all the time for things which you cannot afford!

THAT’S IT GUYS, UNTIL MY NEXT POST…………….SEE YA!

Alright that's pretty much what I have for you today!

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