How to be debt-free in UAE

The trick is to remain calm, follow a ‘regimental plan of action’ to maintain a good level of health, well-being and avail yourself personal home treats to ensure that your mind is clear and you can think straight - because you need this frame of mind to put your actions into place.

Nobody can function with a mind full of negativity, bad thoughts, fears, rejection and isolation we feel when we find ourselves in a debt trap. You may be one of those people that have lost all hope, but my advice to you is, hang in there, the tunnel never always remains dark.

If you acquire strength to draw from within, then you are already on your way to recovery although it remains a miracle in your mind.

If we ‘reach out and touch’, then we will surely find the people we need to bond with to give us the strength, advice, assurance and support we need during these times. There is nothing impossible. It does not matter what your situation is, millions, hundreds of thousands or just thousands in debt, but the key to success is not shirking your responsibilities, rather facing them head-on and working it out with your creditors.

Embarrassed?

You are embarrassed to discuss this with anyone? Why?

If someone reaches out to you, or you find solace in what you assume is sound advice because it makes logical sense, then why not twirl it in your brain, find a support person or a group and work towards your solutions?
Embarrassment is a fear that does not exist, so is fear non-existent because the things we fear almost never materialize. We should learn to be open and honest with ourselves first and once we can master this art, the rest is history and the Universe will find a way to assist you. That’s how it works. But first, you must make the positive moves towards changing your life. Key note here is ‘you must make the move’, nobody else.

The first sign of danger is when you avoid your creditors. Not taking their calls or not responding to their correspondence in the form of demand letters, court summons, etc only makes your life more difficult and endangers your livelihood, because it places it in the high risk category.

Inevitably, you lose your credibility, integrity, good records maintained over the years, sound relationships you may have and key characteristics that you need to continue your life, because you cannot go back and recoup those credits or buy them in a store once tarnished.

I am known to befriend and become good friends with creditors in the times I found myself in a bad situation. I established credibility, trust, reliability and good friendships by facing my problems head-on.

You may not be able to recoup your bad credit record but, in time you can reassure your creditors or banks of your recovery and start your life over again. You also stand the chance of recouping the loss of your assets and other valuable items you accumulated over time.

Make the effort

Nothing is impossible but you must learn to make the effort, because it will mould you into a person unmatchable to most in years to come. You will gain a good amount of pride, confidence, and zeal for life, start good relationships and in so doing, gain your self-respect and confidence. These are characteristics we can lose in an instant if we find ourselves in a hole with no way to climb out.

Happy marriages were destroyed because either spouse did not have the will to openly discuss, continue maintaining their self-respect, confidence, authority or support or because it is so easy to destroy anything in a minute.

There are so many factors associated to not wanting to do the right thing in a wrong situation. I wrote these articles and my books to highlight a variation of personal situations, in the hope that one of them would be relevant to your life, resonate with you at this time and that it would set your mind to think about what you need to do, to retain what you treasure.

This does not necessarily pertain to materialism. It’s a good bet your beautiful wife you love so much and could not stand to lose, but you will if you don’t explain the financial situation you created without her knowledge. If your intentions were good and she loved you enough to make a life with you forever because that’s what marriages are supposed to be, then confront her and tell her the truth. If she loves you and can understand your reasoning, then I am sure it will be fine.

Honesty the best policy

Honesty is the best policy and factually, secrets are taboo in a marriage, so you need to understand that you will be facing wrath to a large degree but if you were sincere, then you must take it as it comes and move on, irrespective. Patching up and supporting each other from here on will probably strengthen your bond more than what it was in the past.

It could be a business partner where you were not upfront and took some money to reinvest into another business, it failed and you lost the money.

So what could be so bad? You had initially agreed to be business partners?

Means that there was a huge level of trust, right? So how can that trust just diminish if you had good intentions by investing the money and wanted to surprise them, because you believed it would be successful? Or if you intentionally took the money knowing it was a risk, then you must be bold enough to face the consequences. But either way, you must face it.

There is no situation or nothing that cannot be logically explained, unless you have a very bad addiction like gambling, spending money indiscriminately where this is not a first time, probably habitual my advice is go and seek professional help with this problem, because it will not go away.

Banks are happy to recoup their money, even if via a restructure, because they are not getting it back for free, without being penalized by paying a fee to collection agents, which could be 15-20 per cent or more. But at the end, you have acquired a specific peace of mind to continue your life. No bank will refuse your payment plan, because they also appreciate and respect the voluntary gesture and the willingness to repay their money.

Willingness holds a huge degree of respect within the banking fraternity. I know, because I am an ex-banker. Since the financial downturn banks are also happy to restructure your liabilities, perhaps consolidate over a longer tenure, thus simplifying your payment plan and minimizing your monthly commitments.

The intention is to secure a fixed monthly payment where they are assured of your ability to repay and also minimizing their staff collection tasks and simplifying their targets they must achieve.

So you get to work hand-in-hand with them and after sometime, you would not believe how simple the process will be for you to finally eradicate what you now perceive to be your mountain of debt. You could very well find yourself with an unexpected ‘windfall’ and have the ability to further negotiate an excellent settlement after your consolidation has been active for a few months. The options are limitless but we must learn to pursue them relentlessly.

Restructure debt

If we address the issues of default mortgages where perhaps your mortgage now exceeds the current value of your completed property, where you are unable to service your mortgage even via securing tenants on a rental contract, then you need to meet with your bankers and seriously consider the options afforded to you.

Restructuring is readily available and for now, you must try to secure the best deal that is affordable for you, later you can review your situation and amend whatever is within your capabilities.

But chances are afforded to all of us at some point in our lifetime, some choose to ignore them, others seize them and emerge fully recovered.

It is up to you to make that difference in your life and for your future. Paying it forward for upcoming generations and building legacies by leading by example, is invaluable.

Note: Theda Muller is a UAE-based author of two books: Embrace Financial Freedom Volume One: 10 Proven Ways To Release Debt And Emotional Fears In Today’s Economy, and Volume Two: Releasing Fear And Bouncing Back From A Debt Crisis. She also conducts webinars and live workshops on debt recovery.

Note 2: The views expressed are the author’s own and do not reflect in any way, the views of Emirates24|7. Readers are advised to carry out their own due diligence before taking any decision.

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