A billionaire once said something to the effect that 'Making money is more enjoyable than having sex.' If you are young and passionate, you would probably think otherwise and might be tempted to give in to pre-marital sex rather than focus on growing your money tree. (Think of the psychological-cum-medical and social costs of an early pregnancy for the unexpected and ill-prepared young parents.)
According to Jim Rohn, "Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune." Okay, even if not a fortune, then at least make your circumstances less unfortunate or place it in a more fortunate condition.
From my weighing-in, it would be a better deal to build your financial resources for your dream marriage and steer clear of distraction such as pre-marital sex. That said, you may have other cravings, too, depending on your stage in life. For example, you may have been eyeing that cruise to Alaska or overseas holiday to Australia for the longest time and dabbling with the thought of using your credit card.
Supposing the above-mentioned family holiday costs USD 6,000.00 and you intend to pay it off over 6 months, then you need to ensure that you have a monthly disposal income and/or savings of at least USD 1,000.00 to drawdown for your payment to the credit company and that is before factoring the attendant interest expenses on the outstanding balance at an effective rate of 24% per annum or 2% per month.
If you can't afford it (others may and so be it), then you gotta either save up first for that holiday first or choose a cheaper alternative and persuade your family that it's not the destination but the quality of time spent together that really matters, rather than incur credit card debt and the exorbitant interest costs, thereof.
"It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor." –Seneca
To digress, one of my brothers taught me that we shouldn't go around lamenting that things are expensive when other people are snapping them up like nobody's business, indeed. We should just say 'That's beyond me', or 'I can't afford that'. No harm and no shame in admitting that.
Thus, one way by which you can have more money is: To Defer Gratification of Your Cravings. In a world of quick-fixes or instant gratification (Think: instant noodle, learning French in 3 minutes per lesson and 45 minutes fat-fryer workout) we live life on the fast lanes and just gotta re-learn that certain things take time.
Back to that holiday. If you have a good payment record, the credit card company may offer you (as with their other similar customers) an interest-free advance of 6 months at a one-off processing fee of, say, 3% on the USD 6,000.00. You would then receive USD 5,820.00, after deducting the processing fee and your effective interest rate over the 6-months period would be just 3% or 0.5% per month. So, if you can afford to pay off the USD 6,000.00 (processing fee included) by the end of the next 6 months, then go for it at the lowered interest costs which is disguised as processing fee.
Notes:
* Money is not the root of all evil. It is the love of money which is the root of all evil.
* Money is great servant but a terrible master.
* You can give without loving, but you can't love without giving.
* "Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich; restrain yourself! Riches disappear in the blink of an eye; wealth sprouts wings and flies off into the wild blue yonder." (Proverbs 23:4-5; MSG)
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