Life can be funny sometimes; one moment you’re living comfortably, the next you’re struggling to stay afloat. Just a few months ago, my wife and I were living comfortably and were able to pay all of our monthly expenses on time. Unfortunately, due to some extremely expensive medical bills, we are now struggling to make ends meet.
Most recently, my wife decided to purchase an iPhone 14, while I was still grappling with the fact that we could not pay our house rent. This was a major shock and I felt that we were entering unknown territory. I felt we were pushing our luck; how were we going to get out of trouble if we were continually increasing our outgoings? I thought that we should have waited until we had enough money to pay our rent before splurging on something that we didn’t really need.
I was angry and frustrated, my wife seemed to lack a basic understanding of our finances and I just didn’t understand why she had taken such a financial risk. In my opinion, we should have been saving money in anticipation of our rent payments, not buying something that isn’t a necessity.
Nevertheless, the deed had been done and we had to figure out a way to pay our rent. We had no savings to dip into and no one in our family was willing to lend us the money that we needed. We knew that if we failed to pay our rent then we could face eviction, which would be disastrous.
So, after much deliberation, we decided to take out a loan which would cover both the cost of the phone and the rent. It seemed like the only viable solution to our problem and it was something that we felt we could repay within the next couple of months.
This experience has definitely been a wake-up call. Now that I think back, I wish I had put my foot down and refused the purchase of the phone. However, hindsight is 20/20 and there’s not much that I can do about the situation. In the future, I’ll be sure to keep our finances in check and make sure that we are living within our means.