The South African Reserve Bank has left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 5%. The prime lending rate stays at 8.5%.So South Africans will enjoy lower interest rates for a while longer. But make NO mistake. We are in for a tough year ahead. Mostly because of our inability to manage our debt.
Debt is most often thought of in financial terms. Yet, the emotional distress experienced in a bad financial situation, easily equals the financial distress.
There is so much guilt and shame associated with debt, that talking about it is practically taboo.
This is strange, when there are so many people whose lives are negatively affected by debt. According to statistics released by the National Credit Regulator – there are 19.69 million credit active consumers. Of this, 9.25 million have impaired credit records – this means that they either already have a judgement that has been taken against them – or they are more than 3 months in arrears with one or more accounts.
Now, if so many of us are living a debt nightmare – why are so few of us talking about it?
We’re scared , that's why.
We are intimidated by the jargon banks and creditors throw at us and we are petrified that there is no solution to our problem. And as is human nature – when fear sets in, we bring out the coping mechanism.
In the debt arena- that means DENIAL. We simply pretend that we can cope. We stop opening envelopes from creditors and point blank refuse to acknowledge any registered mail. We somehow think that by the swish of a magic wand – it will all go away!
Reality check – it wont!
It's therefore better to look for viable solutions to your debt problems.
Click here for the steps that you can take once you've acknowledged your debt, and let's start talking!