DEBT: What Happens When You Owe Money?

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[PS: Image sourced from Pixabay and designed with canva]

Growing up, I’d always swear that nothing would ever push me to take loans or borrow money from a friend, much less a loan outlet like a bank, a microfinance bank, or loan sharks. But, adulthood has taught me otherwise.

Don't get me wrong: I despise asking for loans for anything, regardless of the circumstances. However, sometime this year, I realized that "water don pass garri" (Nigerian slang: simply implies that the situation was completely out of my control).

Story time

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Some time ago, I wrote about quitting my 8 am-6 pm, Monday to Saturday job, bearing in mind that I had to work overtime every day. I probably closed at 6 pm just five times all through the year I worked there.

Anyway, I quit my job in January, so I had to fall back to Hive until I could find other ways or means to support myself. Naturally, I had to lean on my savings and whatever else I could earn as a freelancer.

I signed up for a professional course sometime in December last year, but I was told all the slots were filled. I had to wait until May. Lucky me, I didn’t have to pay my tuition in December. So I thought if I spent a few thousand, I could easily replace it before May. Boy, was I wrong? Besides my already expensive tuition, I had to renew my house rent in April.

The rent, tuition, utility bills, feeding, and miscellaneous expenses all piled up. I needed extra cash, and there was no way I was going to ask my parents. I started this independent lady thing on my own, and I’ll finish it. I got a loan from a friend to complete the money in my savings. I’m talking six figures(in naira though).

I paid tuition and I paid the rent, thank goodness. However, not a day ever went by that I didn’t think of how to pay my friend back. When I hear people say they forgot to repay a loan, I don’t believe it. Never again. How do you MIRACULOUSLY forget that you still owe someone else money?

My friend wasn’t putting pressure on me to repay or anything, but as a person who isn’t used to owing money, it was the most uncomfortable thing I’d done. Luckily for me, the deal was to pay back in bits over three months just so it would be easy for me. I'll make the second payment tomorrow. After that, I’d have just one more to go. I honestly cannot wait to be free of this debt thing.

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The Challenge

Paying the initial installment wasn't so easy for me because I had spent about two months schooling and barely any time here(Hive). So, I literally had to scrape every teeny tiny bit of cash I had stacked anywhere. I still think of how horrible it’d have been if I couldn’t repay my friend on the said date.

As stated earlier, I make the second payment tomorrow, and I couldn't be more excited. One more and I’d have my peace of mind back 100%.

Here’s my point: being indebted/owing money can be one of the craziest things to deal with. It comes with so much stress. You get angry at yourself in the first place and angrier that you're unable to repay on the said date. Then comes anxiety, or depression.

I was mentally, physically, and emotionally stressed. If you’ve ever been in debt, I trust you know exactly what it feels like to owe money.

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Lastly, if you’re currently in debt, I hope you can take it easy on yourself. I hope you can do your best and strive till you can pay it all up. Here’s the thing: regardless of who has lent you money, the most honorable thing to do is to pay it back. If they trusted you enough to borrow you some money, you should be grateful and thoughtful enough to pay it back as well.

Cheers to living a debt-free life someday!

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