I started working at the age of 18 just after Matric and I was in college and working on weekends at a retail store. My 1st pay cheque was around R250 per week and with it, I would pay for my transportation to college during the week and buy myself toiletries.
A few years later I got a permanent job and a better salary of around R3500 a month; I immediately started opening clothing accounts and getting a credit card. Then I had to take care of my mom and siblings, so most of the clothing accounts were used to buy them clothes. Soon thereafter, I took myself to a driving school and bought a car.
Things started getting worse when I had to take a loan so I could renovate and extend my mom’s house and pay some of the debt. Even though I was paying the debt, I felt obliged to take care of my siblings. There were a few times where my car was nearly repossessed because I missed payments, but I always had to plan and borrow money or use my overdraft.
Then I got a better job and the salary got better so I could afford a lot of things. With the increased salary, I paid off some clothing accounts and moved out of home and got my own place. I continued to take care of my mom and siblings and all my new expenses too. A few years later I got engaged to my then fiancé. We soon bought a house together with a joint bond. For a few months I tried to manage my own expenses AND the new joint expenses. As my siblings got older, I decided to pay off the clothing accounts and stopped buying clothes for them but continued helping at home with groceries, DSTV, their school expenses and transportation. I was sinking but I kept it to myself because I wanted to be strong and I knew they had no one else to take care of them.
A few years later, things didn’t go well with my fiancé and we decided to sell the house and go our separate ways. I couldn’t rent a new place because at that stage, I had a bad finance record, so I moved back home until I could find an owner who agreed to give me a chance to rent directly from him.
I have been trying to pay off some of the accounts and have successfully paid off 3 of them. I also took the decision to call my siblings and mom to a family meeting and explain to them that I have a budget that they need to stick to now. As a single mom with no extra income, I decided to be strict on my family and on myself so I can achieve my goals. I would love to own property one day, so I’m working on having a good credit score and credit record.
It’s still a long journey and I’m still learning to handle my finances better and to stick to the budget because well… I like retail therapy LOL
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