2022 represents challenges for the national economy, among which thousands of Colombians have better management of their finances, which in turn allows them to access the objectives set. Without a doubt, the pandemic has had a significant impact on people’s pockets, who have had to go into debt to cover personal and family expenses.
According to figures from Superfinanciera, debts from the use of credit cards in the first nine months of 2020 and 2021 were $30.19 billion and $30.32 billion pesos, respectively.
Because of this, many households have set themselves the goal of having a debt-free year and here are some tips that David Nieto MartÃnez, director of the Finance program at El Bosque University, gives to achieve it.
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The first thing to do is analyze the economic situation. This means that all the economic pending that you have are important and must be organized, in order to avoid over-indebtedness that cannot be covered later.
Likewise, create a budget based on the debts that are in the short, medium or long term, having as priorities aspects such as food, housing, services, among others.
Other strategies that Nieto proposes are to avoid the so-called “ant expenses” which are not taken into account when budgeting, since it is normally thought that these expenses do not represent a large sum of money, but they are undoubtedly expenses that generate constant cash outflows.
On the other hand, looking for savings alternatives is essential to avoid debt. There are financial savings instruments such as CDTs, savings accounts, fiduciary accounts, among others to contribute to income management. Some experts affirm that the ideal is to save 20% of the total income; however, in case this cannot be done for different reasons, a fixed value of savings must be allocated using any of the financial vehicles mentioned, in order to promote it, under the conditions of income that you have.
Nieto also affirms that it is not advisable to cover debts with advances from a credit card, since additional costs are assumed, which leads to an increase in the initial indebtedness. It is also not feasible to use severance payments to pay debts, since these are savings that are focused on housing or education and in case of becoming unemployed, use them if required.
If you manage to put the above tips into practice, you will have a better management of your finances in 2022 and your quality of life will surely change.