Hear Me Out: Easy Success for the Youth

By Chidi Asika-Enahoro

Hear Me Out addresses most of the basic growing-up problems, presenting workable ways to solve them. The compiled tips given here for successful living will help the younger generation to live more freely as well as to make wiser decisions in all areas of their lives. This will ensure that they achieve balance and abundant happiness. Hear Me Out is billed to promote healthy and well-rounded youth. All the steps are concise, comprehensive, and very user-friendly.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jul 11, 2009
• ISBN: 9781465331656

Chidi Asika-Enahoro

My dearly departed mother (Enyi Gloria Asika) was fond of quoting an African proverb: “Nobody needs to tell a deaf person when a war breaks out.” In other words, “he who has ears, let him hear.” Chidi Asika-Enahoro is the founder of Love and Balance, Inc. Chidi is a motivational speaker, an empowerment trainer, a certified senior disability analyst, and was a talk show host. Chidi has authored three acclaimed books; A Slice of Africa, Innocence Interrupted, and Till Cheating Do Us Part. Website: www.loveandbalance.com

Book preview

Financial Management

FINANCE, CREDIT CARDS, BANKING

It is often said that money does not buy happiness, but then again, neither does poverty. Happiness means different things to different people; however, we all strive to achieve happiness in our lives by whatever definition we assign it. Having too much money can create havoc when mismanaged. Lack of money can also create havoc of a different dimension.

Money is a necessary evil because we need it to survive in today’s society where everything, even the most basic, cost money. We live in a credit society whereby you can buy things you cannot afford and pay later. Financial institutions prey on the weak and uninformed, offering them all sorts of attractive deals to get them into financial ruin. Theoretically, you do not need whatever you cannot afford with your cash.

The credit systems, credit cards, and loans started out as the means to equalize the playing field and help out the not so financially endowed to purchase homes, cars, and pay for their education. It used to give people the incentive to work harder to live a more comfortable life. That was then; now, the system is so abused that consumers live way above their means, sinking into debts they have no way of paying off and rarely do.

The financial institutions rip people off with unreasonably high interest rates and purposely extend credits to those that will not be able to pay back. This is done in the hopes of filing insurance claims for higher than they are owed. They also sometimes take away the purchased goods that were almost paid for, only to resell them at higher rates and make double profits.

It is quite enticing to accept the credit offers at first glance; however, it is wise to investigate why you are being offered the credit in the first place. You are a business to them, and the companies are in business to make money not to do you favors. Endeavor to read the fine prints before you accept any credit offers. You will find that you end up paying much more than the goods are worth. What is more? The minute you finish paying off the debt, the goods are worth much less than you bought them for if they are not totally degraded.

The only time it is advisable to accept credit is to buy a house, pay for higher education, or buy a car if necessary. You should work out a deal that will enable you to pay off the loan in as short a time as possible. Always pay off your loans before spending money on frivolous things like expensive jewelries, clothes, and vacations. You should only buy these named items with cash.

Always shop around for lower rates on goods because many times, you are actually paying for the high rent and fancy duds of a store location; whereas, if you buy in a warehouse outlet of the same designers, you pay less because they do not have high rent and fancy decorations and staffing.

You can do without store credit cards because they will lead you to buy into consumerism and acquiring a whole load of unnecessary items. They tell you that you do not have to pay now; however, you are not informed that you pay a lot more than you owe later. Many stores are notoriously aggressive in trying to get you to sign up every time you purchase something.

They offer you percentages off for signing up right away. They understand that credit can be addictive, so once they get you to sign up, they start bombarding you with attractive specials and offers on goods you can very well do without but suddenly think you need because you can buy without immediate payment. This is shopaholism in the making.

It is advisable to cut your coat according to your means, meaning you only spend what you have. You should only shop with cash, live on cash basis, and only buy what you have enough money to pay for. Better still, live on a budget. If you have to own a credit card for emergency purposes and car rentals, you can own just one card that you save for the rainy days.

You do not have to be an accountant or a mathematician to live on a budget. There are programs like QuickBook that will help you keep track of your income and expenses, which actually helps with your taxes at the end of the year. You can also use a good old journal book to log your income and expenses.

You can use the most basic budget system: you log how much money you have, you itemize all your basic most important expenses such as rent/mortgage, car note, electricity, gas, water, phone, cable, food, student loans, personal loans, toiletries/laundry, and maintenance.

When those basics are taken care of, you can then think of eating out, going to movies, and going out or to saloons before shopping. Any extra cash you may have on your budget does not always have to be spending money; you can budget to save a certain amount of money every month and never touch it.

You do not have to buy all the latest outfits in town. You do not have to follow fashion blindly. Who are the people setting these trends anyway? You can be your own trendsetter. Shop wisely and research and find out where prices are more reasonable for the same items. Every town has such bargain places.

You can buy a good used car and pay cash, eliminating car notes, or buy a high functioning but reasonably priced car. Average cars are good unless you are an heir to big bucks. Expensive fancy cars are also high on maintenance; every part is more expensive when it comes to repairs. The idea of a budget is to manage your funds so as not to go into debt or get into the habit of borrowing money from friends and family.

Nothing kills relationships faster than money disputes. It is wiser to go without certain things than to go aborrowing, and you certainly do not want to gain a reputation with people that know you. It is bad to have people whispering behind your back. Instead of that situation, you should learn to do without certain things and maintain your self-esteem.

When you consider how privileged we are in the Western world, then you can appreciate that there are many things we can do without and still be living large comparatively when you see how other people live around the world. Truly, human beings only really need so much to survive or even to be happy; the rest is excess and waste. Always plan for the future. What if things change and you find yourself without as much as you have now. How will you survive?

This is why it is important to learn to save and/or even invest in popular stocks. You can always buy shares in the products you patronize a lot such as sneakers, clothes, electronics, etc. That way, you make money as you spend. You can always research investing or speak to stockbrokers or your bank for more information. As attractive as it may look to have several credit cards, you must learn to say no to their offers.

They are not offering you credit because they love you. They bate you to make money off you as can be seen by how fast they dump you and ruin your credit when you cannot pay on time. Guard your finances and guard your credit more vigilantly because once ruined, it takes years to fix. Any offer that sounds too good to be true is definitely too good to be true.

Always read the fine prints before signing any documents, always get a copy of every document you sign in life, demand a copy immediately as you are signing any document, and ask questions to clarify points. Be most wary of contracts and agreements that must be signed immediately, not allowing you sufficient time to review and ponder the deal. There are no stupid questions, only stupid fears. There is nothing you have to have so badly that it cannot wait unless it is medically necessary.

It is important to be informed about the credit bureaus and their functions because they play a big role in everyone’s financial future. Each credit account you open (be it a gas card, store card, bank card, or any other type of financing), your payment history is recorded with the three main credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion).

Anytime you apply for credit, it is reported to the system. Any company that inquires about your credit history is recorded there as well for two years. Having too many inquiries and no approval reflects negatively and may lower your scores.

The credit bureaus rate all credit histories with a scoring system. You are entitled to at least one free credit report a year. You can track your own records to make sure the bureaus are reporting accurate information. All banks are happy to speak with clients about establishing credit, acquiring assets, collaterals, and managing their money responsibly.

You can also research the Internet or speak to reputable financial planners. Sometimes your credit report may have erroneous information for a variety of reasons. You must guard your social security number, access numbers, and all financial statements very closely, even from friends and families because people do steal other people’s information to try and fraudulently obtain credit to run up a debt.

It is not necessary to spend money with credit monitoring companies because you can do the monitoring yourself. You must either lock up your financial records or shred them to be on the safe side. Keep your journal records current. Be aware that if you have a bad credit rating by virtue of nonpayment or late payments on your loans, credit cards, and such, you may be unable to purchase important items like a home.

The logic is that if you could not be trusted to take care of little bills, you certainly cannot be expected to pay your mortgage. Take note of when your bills are due and ensure that you always pay on time. If for some reason, you are going to be late, you should call the credit companies ahead of time and ask for an extension. You may request that they do not report you as late. If you are in good standing, they will oblige you.

If you lose or misplace your credit cards, checkbooks, etc., report to the police immediately and call the banks to cancel the accounts before some thief can do damage. You must never carry your access codes and pin numbers in your wallet with your cards and checks. You must always have your account numbers and phone numbers stored some place else where you can have easy access to call and report activities. As a matter of practice, only carry one or two credit cards at a time when you go out and keep them close to you.

You should try to balance your accounts every month to ensure that nobody is tampering with your money. Financial institutions can make mistakes and overcharge or even charge when they should not. When you write checks, make sure you record it to the last penny and deduct it from your total available funds. The same goes for when you use your ATM.

You have to remember that sometimes charges take a while to record so be sure you have the funds you think you have before further expense. Banks charge for processing insufficient funds, and the charges are getting higher. They may choose to pay your transaction and charge you the additional fees. This happened to my son.

My sixteen-year-old son opened a student account with a local bank. They gave him an ATM card with a Visa logo. I had mentioned to him at one point that using credit cards can give one credit. He was so excited to have a credit card that he decided to use it for every purchase he did. First of all, this was not a credit card (even though it had the Visa logo), and it does not give you credit because you are only spending your money.

Anyhow, not realizing that charges take a while to come in, he would sometimes check his account and see that he had money; he would not take cash out but was charging for everything he bought. Credit card was cooler than cash, and he also thought he was establishing credit. I had also mentioned that if he did not have money, they would decline the purchase and may still charge him a fee. I guess