First and foremost, I will to wish all my Muslim clients, Happy Asyura Fasting!
Muslims are encouraged to fast today.
The fasting is to commemorate the day when Prophet Moses (P.B.U.H) and his followers were saved from Pharaoh by Allah S.W.T by creating a path in the Red Sea.
Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) said,
“The (act of) fast of ‘Asyura, how I dearly hope to Allah to forgive all my sins of the year before” (HR. Muslim no. 1975).
This is from the bounty of Allah towards us: for fasting one day He gives us expiation for the sins of a whole year. And Allah is the Owner of Great Bounty.
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Now, back to the topic! 🙂
In my mission to be debt free, I read a lot of books, biographies of successful individual leading a debt free lifestyle.
One of the books that I love is 4 Laws of Debt FREE Prosperity, by Blame Harris and Charles Car.
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There are basically 4 Laws of Debt FREE Prosperity! 🙂
Law #1: Tracking- the first law of debt free prosperity
For quite a while, a lot of people have asked me.
Since in Singapore, there is no shariah compliant financing facilities to buy a house, how do we clear our interest based housing loans as soon as possible?
What are the strategies?
Before I even lay down my strategies on how to save, accumulate and grow their money the shariah compliant way, I always ask them one question.
Do you track your housing loan repayment?
Most don’t.
Its a cycle. A routine. Every month, get their salary, they will just automatically pay their monthly mortgage.
They are not aware, how much of their monthly instalment are used to pay off principal, how much to pay for interest.
At the end of 5 years, 10 years, 15 years or 20 years, many are clueless to the balance outstanding amount.
If you don’t know, the outstanding amount, how to clear your housing loan?
That is why the first law of debt free prosperity, Tracking, is important.
You got to measure it BEFORE you can manage it.
When performance is measured, it improves.
So, if you want to clear your housing loan, you must track!
(Part of an excel spreadsheet, I have done for my client. If you like to have one, go to Takaful.sg and sign up for “Your Financial M.A.P.” session with me for FREE! )
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Law #2: Targeting- the second law of debt free prosperity
The second law of debt free prosperity is Targeting!
Setting goals is IMPORTANT!!!
When do you want to clear your riba based housing loans? In 5 years?
10 years? 15 years? Or perhaps 20 years?
The goals must be written. Goals not written down are wishes.
They must be your own.
They must be measurable and specific.
They must be stated in the most visible terms available.
AND they must contain a deadline.
Personally, I target to clear my housing loan of $300,000 by 31st Dec 2020.
(hahahh… It’s a good thing that I blog here. I am confident of my strategies to achieve it and I will revisit this space again in the future.)
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Law #3: Trimming- the third law of debt free prosperity
Live on less than you earn so you can have a surplus to get you out of debt and invest in assets that appreciate.
A lot of people thought, if someone earns big, immediately he or she will become rich.
My experience as a financial consultant tells me otherwise.
I have met someone who earns more than $10,000/mth who cannot afford to get savings plan from me and at the same time, someone just earning $1,500/mth who has a few policies with me.
Your lifestyle determines how rich you are, not your income.
No one, regardless of income, can be financially successful unless they live on less than they earn.
Pay yourself first, and then live in what’s left over.
Law #4: Training- the fourth law of debt free prosperity
The book mentions that “The people who understand money spend it on assets that generate wealth. Those who don’t understand money, spend it on things that consume wealth, and thus the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.”
I have to agree with the statement in the book.
We all know that Singapore has one of the highest Gini Coefficient in the world.
Meaning the income disparity between the rich and the poor is wide!
To me the only solution is to continually upgrade ourselves in terms of our financial literacy.
Learn. Learn. And continue to learn. There are no shortcuts.
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I hope you learn something from my sharing. If you will like to learn how to manage your finances better, and clear your riba based loans, visit Takaful.sg to schedule “Your Financial M.A.P.” session with me, Financial Consultant, Helmi Hakim for FREE!
You can also SMS/Whatsapp me directly at 96520134.
Insya’Allah! 🙂
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This post was written by:
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Wow, your 4 Laws to debt-free life; tracking, targetting, trimming and training, is very true. We work so hard to earn more but squander away without a second thought on many useless things. Most of these things are done at the expense of our retirement savings, our families, children education and our homes just to satiate our gratifications.
Yes Fred. That is why I encourage all my clients to adopt these 4 Laws of Debt FREE Prosperity in their life!
Tracking, targeting, trimming and training! Do share this knowledge with your family and friends! 🙂