Bayport Blog

How debt help becomes savings help

When you think about how to get out of debt, you should also be thinking about how to increase your monthly savings. The one goal supports the other.

Debt consolidation is a debt solution that combines several different loans into one. How it works, is that your credit provider negotiates settlement discounts with your other credit providers and then issue you a loan that is big enough to settle all your other debts. Instead of many different debt repayments, you are left with only one monthly instalment.

Because of the settlement discounts, and because you no longer pay fees and banking charges on several loans, your one instalment is usually less than what you paid before. With this money in hand, your cash flow is better and you can save.

If you think it sounds too good to be true, take a look at this real-life customer story:

My name is Lindi. I have been working as a sales rep for the past three years, and bought our house in Soweto with a retail bank loan. Things were going well, but then times turned tough.

My husband had no income and we started using cash loans to get through the month. I couldn’t keep up with the home loan payments. We were short about R10 000 every month – my loan payments were more than R20 000 and my salary only R13 300.

Bayport consolidated my 10 loans into one, and made sure that I didn’t lose my home. After debt consolidation, I pay R5 656 per month.

I still have a lot of debt to repay, but my monthly cash flow is much better and we have enough money to pay all our bills. I no longer worry like I did before, and I now have money to save.

It is easy to think that just because your cash flow is better, you will automatically save. That is unfortunately not the case. Saving is a habit you have to learn. You can follow these steps to get started:

• As soon as your debt consolidation loan kicks in and you have better cash flow, you have to budget. If you already have a budget, adjust it to reflect your lower debt payment and include a savings amount. If you never had a personal budget before, draw one up. This budget calculator can help you.
• Automate your savings by setting up a debit order that pays the amount you save directly into a savings account every month.
• Set goals for your savings, such as a certain amount for an emergency fund, or an amount you want to save to take your family on holiday or to put new tyres on your car.
• Get a savings buddy to help keep you motivated and on track.
• As you pay off your debt, increase your savings amount.

The right debt help can change your life for the better. Debt consolidation is not only about how to get out of debt – it is a way to set your life on a new financial track.

The good news is that Bayport Money Solutions can give you all the help you need with debt consolidation. Visit us today and let our debt help allow you to unlock more savings.