These days, I can confidently advise anyone who wants to take a loan in my country. And the reason is that I have been using loan apps for over a year and a few months. I decided to stop using loan apps to fund my lifestyle a few months ago. And so the journey to paying off my debt began.
When I read 
For a moment, I thought about opening the loan app on my phone to borrow the amount and send it to him. Thank God for the good spirit that ministered to me and made me calm, I would have borrowed the amount that I needed to use in replacing the money, however, it would have come with a huge interest that would be on me to pay back.
It's always easy to press the take loan button, but it's never easy to press the pay now button. You have to believe me. Imagine working for a few weeks and you received a credit alert of ₦100,000. Only to have up to ₦95,000 going to pay loan apps. To avoid becoming a defaulter and having your credit score lowered or a tax collector buzzing your phone every minute of the day.
No, I wouldn't want this for even my enemies. It is not a good experience. It takes away your happiness and mental health. You will be worried about almost everything. You might even lose the morale to get out of bed and go do the freaking work that would bring the money.
Should I tell you how, your bank will send you a bank statement for the month, and it's a whopping ₦500,000 worth of spending and deep down you know, about ₦450,000 had gone to paying down debts? Wouldn't you be upset with yourself? You should be. This is because it would be a nice thing to have ₦500,000 sitting in your account and it's all yours. You can then decide what to do with it. Whether you want to squander it or you want to invest it.
Instead of transferring everything to another person's account only because you wanted a step up in your lifestyle and you pushed the borrow button. I have said before and I am saying it, the interest for borrowing money from the available loan apps in my country is high. It's higher than the interest you get for certain bank saving goals or even an investment portfolio.
I am talking about 14%-24% interest to borrow a certain amount of money for only 30 days. Yes, you heard me, 30 days. Initially, you might not see it because you feel the extra is small. Until it gets to payday, and you begin to wonder, "how the hell did I get here"?.
Those loans aren't entirely bad. There are good debts and bad debts according to the internet. If you borrow money to make more money, it's different. The returns will be worth it, and you can pay your debt off and live with the rest of the profit. If you borrow to fund your lifestyle, you'll get stuck someday, when unforeseen emergencies come up, making it difficult for you to pay the minimum balances.
Therefore, if you want to buy something and you can't afford it, it's better you wait until you can afford it. While waiting, you can save or look into investment options that will bring you the funds for the purchase. Or you might as well buy within your means.
Buy what you can afford. I think I read somewhere, and someone said, "if you can't afford two of it, then, you can't afford it, don't buy it. ". Someone else had mentioned, if you want to buy something, you should give yourself a few days or weeks, and see if you needed it. Sometimes, you discover you don't, it was only your adrenaline that was trying to play pranks on you.
Being in debt keeps you away from moving towards your dream of becoming financially independent. You should throw the idea of debt off the window, unless, I repeat, unless, you are using it to make more money. A lot of people use other people's money to make more money and it's fine. If you know, you won't be able to handle it, don't do it. It's tricky, especially if you have bad limiting beliefs around you, that makes you squander money the moment it gets into your hands.
Try finding a balance with your funds. Today, I won't tell you to live below your means, no, you should live happily, but, take care of your money today, so it will take care of you, tomorrow.
