Forget about debt

If you want to stay out of debt you need to forget about minimizing debt and start paying back debt.

Kick into a different gear and explore other possibilities to make your finances flourish.

Thinking about your finances simply as debt management will get you stuck in a rut of only being able to manage debt and never moving forward to greater things says financial guru Vanessa Summers.
These can be things such as:

Getting a meaningful job
Planning for retirement
Having some financial freedom
Seeing a different country
Visiting family you haven't seen in ages
Investing in your children's future
Getting involved in a club or charity

Summers says that Americans don't educate themselves about financial planning in a holistic way and learn by their mistakes – this mistake being how they handle debt. So there are a lot of consumers who are very well-versed in only one area of personal finances.

For South Africans who are even worse at saving it's no different.

To break this cycle you have to set the bar higher and strive to do more with your income than simply getting out of the red one day.

As adults we have to educate ourselves about money and finance, we can’t expect someone to lead us by the hand. In the media we are constantly bombarded with ways of making money quickly, insurance policies and payday loans, but the companies “teaching” us about money are the very institutions that rely on people's gullibility, fears and materialistic nature. 

Of course, we don't always realise this, we think that we are only doing what is best for us.

Summers says that shifting your attention to making more money in a reliable manner like a second job or a passive income and making your money go further you will "start overhauling your financial programming".

Suddenly you will start to learn more about other facets of finance, see opportunities when they arise because you have your feelers out and instead of stressing about your debt you will be optimistic about your future and build on your skills, like developing your entrepreneurial skills or becoming better at financial planning and investing.

If you're already under debt review you have all the more reason to relax as a debt counsellor has your situation under control and you can focus on not only saving but finding an opportunity where you can earn more income.

So, forget about debt. Don't feel guilty about your past mistakes. Remember that you are not the same person you were yesterday and that change can be exciting.