ARE YOU STRUGGLING TO PAY RENT? READ THIS.
“…Justice, the problem no be to rent house, na to renew the
rent be the problem…” That was how Mr Jay responded when I begged him to help
me look around his neighbourhood for a good apartment I could rent as I just
got married and needed a better place for me and my wife. I later got to
discover that Mr Jay was not the only one that held that opinion, most people
actually believed that statement and I have come to see that the opinion is
popular because of what many have seen and encountered in the area of rent
payment.
Rent is not a new word and therefore does not need to be
defined here (my opinion). Every one of us is either leaving in a rented
apartment, owns an apartment which people are living on rent, or knows any of
the parties mentioned above. Stories of fights between landlords and tenants
over the inability to pay rent as and when due are all around us. Come to think
of it, is rent payment actually supposed to be a problem? Yes I understand the
unpredictability of life’s event part, my question is this, all things being
equal, should rent payment be one of the issues that should give families
sleepless nights (because we know of people who didn’t have any serious life
misfortune within the period they rented their houses or even shops/offices and
the due date for its renewal but still found it extremely difficult to renew
their rent, even though they made money every month throughout that period)? One
of the major reasons that I have come to see that makes it difficult for people
to renew their rent is,
lack of Proper
Planning: Most people tend to forget that the next rent payment starts to count
the very moment you paid the last due rent or you settled the payment for
renting the house for the first time, whichever the case may be. As far as you
are living in that house and do not have any plan of packing into your own
before or immediately after the expiration of the rent (even if you intend to
go another apartment at the expiration of the rent), you must have to plan for
the next rent, because every day that breaks, brings you closer that the due
date for the payment of your rent. You must sit down prior to the due date to
work out a repayment plan.
There are different ways to pay your rent stress freely.
While different methods works for different people depending on their earning
power and how regular money flows to them, there are still general principles
one can adopt, most especially for salary/fixed income earners. Let me also state
here that as a general principle, your rent should not be more than 30% of your
income. Anything above this means that you are already setting up yourself for
a dicey situation in the future. You must tell yourself the truth that any
apartment that will require you to use above 30% of your income to service is
not your size. I for one would have loved a lower percentage, considering the
fact that rent is not the only expense you have to make, but we still have to
factor in the high cost of rent in big cities.
Let us assume that your total annual income is 1.2 million
naira which is 100,000 naira on monthly basis and you have a family of three (your
wife and two kids) added to yourself, if your rent takes say 40% of your income
(i.e 480,000 naira), that means that you have only 720,000 naira left for the
whole year to expend on other things. Please don’t get it twisted because you
saw 720,000 naira bulk money, divide that amount by 12 months, you and your
family will only have to live on 60,000 naira on monthly basis. Consider the fact that you still have to pay
for other bulky expenses like feeding, transportation, clothing, school fees,
tithe/offerings/donations, etc. Also pray that nobody gets into any health
challenge that will require hospital attention. For those that their parents
are still alive (both on your side and your in-laws side) who also have some
younger ones that are dependent on them. Do you now see some of the silent
reasons why some people tend not to be “meeting up” financially even though
they work hard from day to day?
Quick Advice: Even if the whole world thinks you deserve an
apartment that is above your capacity by reminding you of “who you are” and the
position you occupy in certain places, if your income does not rise to meet
that obligation, please for the sake of your peace, rent an apartment that will
be within that range while trusting God for an increase in your income to
enable you afford the type of apartment you want/need. Never try to live like
your brother, sister, colleague, friend, enemy etc. Life is in phases and men
are in sizes, please learn to live your size per time.
So how do you pay your rent without stress? It is simple,
but not easy and will demand that you discipline yourself, cut off unnecessary
expenses and determine in your heart to walk your talk.
Divide your annual rent by 12 to really find out how much
your rent is on monthly basis. E.g If your annual rent is 360,000 naira, this
will mean that your rent is 30,000 naira monthly. Going with the example above
where your income is 100,000 naira monthly,
Immediately you
get your pay check or salary alert for the month, transfer the exact amount for
rent into your rent account and leave it there. If you do this on monthly
basis, you will discover when your rent is due that you will just need to walk
into the bank, cash your money and pay to your landlord without feeling
stressed. That is the power of saving in trickles. It adds up over time without
you feeling the effect. This also can work for people that earn money on daily
basis. Find a way to set aside 1,000 naira on daily basis towards the payment
of your rent; you will have 30,000/31,000 naira by month end. Deposit it in
your savings account for rent and the rest will be sorted out.
There are also other methods, like dividing the whole
money into two, three or four places and trying to raise the money few months
to the due date. Joining contribution groups few months to the due date and
using over 30% of your income to pay for contributions with the aim of using
the bulk money received to settle your rent. These methods also work but the
disadvantage is that they starve you of most necessities within the periods
that you are trying to save up the bulk money. Also pray that an emergency
doesn’t come up within that period. You will automatically be thrown into debt.
You are safer removing the money bit by bit on monthly basis, you won’t feel
the effect that much and you will still meet your goal.
I hope this article helped you, because the method above
helped me too. Stay blessed.
Photos Credit:
https://www.gch.co.uk/your-home/online-services/pay-your-rent/
https://www.realtor.com/advice/rent/can-paying-rent-boost-your-credit-score/
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