· Kerygma - December 2007
· Actual Page
I'm Finally Debt Free
She's one of my financial mentors who taught me the way to financial freedom. In fact, Aurora "Ojing" Osana is the National Marketing Director of one of the biggest and fastest growing financial distribution companies in the U.S., Canada, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Dubai, Barcelona, Milan, Athens, Malaysia, Philippines and other parts of the world.
But Ojing wasn't always the financial whiz she has become today. Like most of us, she also had money problems and struggled to pay one credit card debt after another. Ojing was caught in a cycle of debt that gobbled up all her earnings. No matter how hard she worked or how high a salary she received or what business on the side she established, still there wasn't enough money for Ojing and her family. Then, while visiting a home for the aged and having witnessed the sad condition the old people were in, Ojing came to a life-changing realization. She promised herself that she will not end up this way – old, abandoned and destitute.
I took all that Ojing taught me to heart and used it in my financial life. I pray that you will, too.
Bo: My good friend, Ojing Osana, and I have a mission – to educate people financially. We want to educate people in their finances because we're financially stupid.
Ojing: You will agree with me that it's a scenario, Bo, to end up like the old people in homes for the aged. To be hones, I don't want to reach the stage na mapunta ako sa home for the aged.
Bo: Ojing, tell me your story. Were you always financially in the know?
Ojing: No, I was so stupid before, Bo. It's different now. I didn't want to touch my savings but I kept on incurring debt through my credit cards. The reason why I work so hard for the money is to buy what I want, to go to places where I want to go. That's all. Saving money wasn't part of my vocabulary before.
Bo: You had a good job before, right?
Ojing: Yes. I was working with an oil company before – taong grasa so to speak. I was handling marine lubricants at that time. It's an international company so the pay and the benefits ware good. I traveled a lot. But at the end of the month, wala pa rin e. The money I earned still wasn't enough. I didn't know where my money went and how much I really earned that time.
I qualified for pre-approved credit cards because of the company I was employed in. I thought that with the credit card, I could just sign and sign for my purchases, pay every now and then. I came to a point where I could afford to pay only the minimum amount due every month. I didn't know about compounded interests applied to the unpaid balance of your bills. Then I realized my debt had piled up and I could no longer pay.
Bo: Just one word to our readers – we're not blaming credit cards and saying it's bad. The credit card is basically a tool, and if you use it well, it saves you from bringing so much money and at the end of the month you have a list of your expenses reflected on the bill. It's a great help in keeping track of expenses. Then what happened, Ojing?
Ojing: I realized what I did was stupid. Then I learned through my present company that there is really a right way of doing things. The company taught me how to spend wisely, save the right way, and make my money grow.
Bo: I've heard so many accountants say that they cannot apply what they do professionally in their personal finances.
Ojing: Exactly. I could balance finances to the last centavo for the company. But ironically, I cannot account for my finances. I guess it's really like that. When I had my financial check up, I realized that I was living way beyond my means.
Bo: how did it feel to have debts?
Ojing: It was like having a nightmare: a nightmare because I could no longer manage my debts. The credit card companies would call me, one after another. It was like having a smorgasbord of demands to pay from credit card companies. I'm sure there are many people who can relate with what I've experienced.
Bo: What then is the best thing to do on this kind of situation?
Ojing: You have to face your creditors. Talk to them and honestly tell them what you cannot pay for or what amount you can afford to pay monthly. You can even apply amnesty so that you can pay off the balance without the interest.
I had to cut off my expenses – talagang walang gastos. I really didn't know where to get the money. So, I put a flower shop in the hope that the business could help augment my income. The business did not prosper because I wasn't a businesswoman to be with. I just enjoyed arranging flowers. There are also many factors to consider in a business. Actually, you need to be on top of your business, 24-7. there were times when I couldn't keep track of the collections because I was still employed in a company while running the business.
Bo: What woke you up?
Ojing: I reached my turning point when I went to a home for the aged like Anawim. I saw how the old people there were being taught how to take a bath using a water hose. I saw that the volunteers did not care enough for the elderly. I told myself I did not want to end up like this, that after working so hard, I'll just live my old age in a hospice. That's when I applied the X curve, a powerful financial concept. It teaches you to save now, to build your assets and make your money work for you so that you'll be prepared for any kind of emergency and most of all your old age. The X curve is really your financial life story.
Bo: The X curve really helped me a lot. Sometimes we don't know what illness we have, so we go to a doctor for a diagnosis. It's the same with your finances – you need to go and have a financial diagnosis, look at what's happening in your life and then you'll know what you can do.
Ojing: I started listing down all my expenses. That way, I saw my expenses for the week and for the month. Then I computed my total monthly income and all other income I expected to receive. I realized that my expenses were really more than my income. I also realized that most of my expenses were not necessarily what I really needed. I had to learn how to separate my "needs" from my "wants."
Bo: Wonderful. And then you started saving, you paid all your debts.
Ojing: But you can't pay your debts in one go. You have to do it gradually. Let's put it this way – set aside 20 to 30 percent of you income to pay for your debts.
Bo: When you think about it, some people say you have to be greedy to be a multi-millionaire. Not at all – Ojing is such a wonderful, generous woman even if she has become a multi-millionaire. From a woman who had so much debt, she is now where she is because of financial education. And that's something we want you to experience as well.
Ojing: You don't need luck to become wealthy. All you need is the right information and know the right vehicle.
Bo: You need the right vehicle. There are cars towards wealth. You just have to learn what they are. Thank you, Ojing, for teaching me. It has helped me a lot.
Source: Kerygma June 2008 | An interview By Bo Sanchez
