This archive report was first published on 28 September 2019.
As a self-acclaimed personal finance expert, I'm often invited to share my knowledge on how to manage money better with women who come to our Saturday sessions. But little did they know, I was secretly struggling with my own financial discipline.
It all started in October 2018, when I needed working capital for my small business. I had made sales to clients, but they hadn't yet settled their invoices. I needed to invest in more stock and keep supplying to other clients who had ordered. I didn't want to pump in too much of my own money, so I borrowed from a mobile lending app.
The process was fuss-free, and I didn't feel the embarrassment of borrowing money. People who judge you, or you will judge yourself, apps will never judge you. At 11 per cent, the app's lending rate was much lower than what shylocks and sacco's charge (between 12 and 25 per cent). I also didn't need to give any security – not a title deed or logbook, nor collect signatures from guarantors.
But what started as a convenient solution soon turned into a vicious cycle of bad debt. I was borrowing Peter to pay Paul, and for what? Why couldn't I just work harder and make more money so I could break away from this cycle? It wasn't until early March, when I had to withdraw money from my savings to settle the last loan I borrowed, that I realized I needed to tear myself away from the viciousness of mobile lending apps.
Published on September 28, 2019.
