Till Debt do us Part

Will tell you for a fact that getting out of debt is just like losing
weight. Who among us wants to lose weight?
Let me ask you. When did we gain weight? Was it overnight, after we ate? Of course not! It could have been the accumulation of the food we ate over a period of six months or one year.
It’s a slow process. It takes time. If we want to lose weight, it cannot be done overnight.

Debt is like that in many ways. If you have accumulated debts through the years, it means that in order for you to disaccumulate it or pay it off, it will also take time. Paying off your debt is a slow process.
Like those people who lose weight, those who lose fast put it back fast because they tend to celebrate with their
little victory by eating more again. That is why being conscious of the process is very important.
We should not be in a hurry. When you are trying to lose weight and keep it off, health experts say we need to do two things:
decrease your caloric intake and increase your physical activity.
A similar strategy also works when you are trying to lose a lot of debt. You can either decrease your spending or increase your income.
Often you have to do both because you can cut only so much.
Getting out of debt is not fun, I tell you. In fact, it can be a painful process.

Some people come to me and ask me, “Chinkee, how can I get out of
debt? I don’t think you understand how much my debt is.”
Maybe your question is “How in the world can I pay off my debt?”
Well, I may not understand how much debt you have, but I have great news for you.
You can be on your way out of debt before you finish reading this book.
It is the Willingness to Pay That Matters. In paying off your debt, it is not the amount that is more important. The real issue is your willingness to pay your debts.

I will share another person’s testimony.
He was in business in the early 90’s, not really a good time to be in business because of the series of coup d’état attempts. Because of the coup attempts, he was in debt
and his business went bankrupt. Do you know what he did?
That person was probably earning P30,000 a month. Now, what he did was pay
half of what he was earning to his creditors.
He did not pay everything to a single person. What he did was to divide his budget among his
creditors.
He went to the people he owed money from and diligently paid P500 or P1,000 every single week faithfully. After doing it for several months, around six months, his creditors took pity on him. You know what they told my friend?
The creditors said that because they saw his heart, his sincerity, and his commitment to pay,
they were willing to slash the interest rates.
Some even told my friend that they were willing to forego the interest expense and that he could pay the whole debt in lump sum when he had the money. Others even told
him that they would forget about his debts because they saw his sincerity.

All those favors came because his creditors saw my friend’s willingness to pay.
So I would suggest that if you are in debt right now, just pay back your creditors.
Regardless of how much you owe, whether it is P10,000 or P100,000, pay them back every month faithfully no matter how small the amount may be. If they see your willingness to pay, maybe God can also move into the hearts of these people and also help you overcome
your financial situation.

by :
Chinkee Tan
( a portion of his book entitled"Till debt do us part" )