Finance

Realizations After Experiencing Financial Struggle

I wrote a blog post on simple budgeting and debt management tips a few months ago. I may not be a well-known authority on this matter, but this is something I am familiar with. One, I accumulated enormous debt during the pandemic because of job loss. Second, I have struggled with budgeting for the past few decades, but how I perceive it changed after I got into a large debt in 2020.

I am still in debt, but I have paid several personal loans over two years with budgeting and debt management. I am no financial guru, but I have learned a lot in two years that 2020 and 2021 are my life-changing years, especially in personal finance.

Here are some realizations I had after I came to the lowest financial point in my life. I hope this will give you hope that someday, you will recover from all these financial struggles.

  1. Acceptance

The first thing I did was accept that I was struggling and needed help. You will continue to struggle if you don’t accept the reality. Acceptance was the easiest for me because I already felt hopeless and lost when I realized I was in big financial trouble. I needed help and badly needed to get out of this situation.

  1. Ask for Help

After you accept your situation, lowering your pride and asking for help is the next step. I didn’t ask for help directly, but I informed my friends that I was in deep financial trouble. At that time, many people were financially struggling due to the pandemic. So I told them that I was, too. Some of my friends understood my situation and asked for help. Most of my groceries sent to me were by friends and organizations with whom I am friends.

  1. Self-Help

Another thing I did was to look for help. Not that I went asking and begging for financial assistance, but first, I asked God for help and wisdom, which eventually led to me reading and watching videos of financial gurus from the Philippines and from content creators who were in a similar position as me.

I read financial articles on how to get out of debt and watched videos on handling finances. I even watch videos on Sunday preaching on biblical finance. I consumed every help I could get online.

  1. Application

After reading and watching videos, the next step is application. And this is the hardest of them all. Learning comes easy but applying things you learned and significantly changing your mindset and financial beliefs is very hard. This step took time; it was around 2021 when I started to get the hang of the things I learned. And some, I started applying this 2022. And some I am not yet implementing or trying.

  1. Use Financial Assistance and Programs Properly

As we walk towards a debt-free life, we must use financial assistance and programs properly and wisely. Offers like a cash advance is readily available, but that doesn’t mean we have to avail things like these for pleasure (for wants). The use of financial assistance or programs should be to help you with your journey to financial stability.

There is more to this, but let me end it here. I am sure that some of my realizations are relatable if you are like me, who has been there and done that situation. If there is something you would want to share, please leave a comment below. May it be a piece of advice or your realizations.

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