Opinion – Marcia Dessen: How to balance finances

Spending increases at the end of the year with family celebrations, among friends, and the purchase of gifts. And they accumulate with the expenses of the beginning of the year, which are not few: the vacation trip, new school period and taxes IPTU, IPVA and Income Tax.

Even the most balanced and controlled budgets will feel the pinch, and it will be a challenge to pay all the bills without resorting to loans, a situation that needs to be avoided so as not to exacerbate the problem.

We cannot use the excuse of the unexpected, we were aware of these expenses well in advance, and the ideal would be to prepare in advance, forming a reserve to cover extraordinary expenses, saving money throughout the year, a little bit each month, or each entry. extra money.

The Income Tax refund, for example, should be saved to pay the following year’s IR or part of the IPTU and IPVA. Employees who receive a more generous holiday salary should allocate this bonus exactly for the assigned purpose, the vacation trip with family or friends.

Those who plan and keep a reserve for this accumulation of expenses go through this period with tranquility. Those who haven’t prepared need a plan, alternatives.

The installment payment of purchases made via credit card and taxes is one of them. However, the installment defers, but does not solve the problem. The monthly budget will be compromised by the addition of these extraordinary expenses.

It’s no use splitting if, at the same time, we don’t have a plan to make it fit into the budget. And there are only two ways we can do that, reducing expenses or increasing income.

It is important not to confuse the installment of purchases made with the card, without apparent interest, with the installment of the card bill, made with the use of expensive and priceless revolving credit.

If the original expense does not fit in the budget, it will be more complicated when interest is added. Installing an invoice of R$1,000 in 12 installments of R$185, with interest of 15% per month, may seem like a solution, but it is not. At the end of the 12 months, more than R$2,000 came out of his pocket.

You know that purchase (or more than one) of R$ 1,000 that seemed like a good deal? Well, it cost R$ 2,000, twice as much if the card bill was paid in installments. Bad deal.

Looking for solutions to solve the problems caused by the lack of planning, let’s see what we can do… Carry out extra work to increase income, sell something that has value, carry out barter offering services in exchange for another service, postpone commitments that allow this possibility, renegotiate service contracts, these are some alternatives.

Those who were prudent and saved money for these excess expenses have the chance to pay some taxes in cash, such as IPTU and IPVA, for example, benefiting from the discount granted.

However, you have to be careful not to run out of liquidity. Those who have a very fair cash flow run the risk of being forced to pay their credit card bill in installments in the event of any unforeseen future. The cost of this installment will be much higher than the discount, it is not worth opting for payment in cash; preferable to keep the cash and pay taxes in installments without interest.

Start now to form a reserve for the extraordinary expenses of the new period that has just begun. Save first, spend later, and write a happier ending for the next chapter of this story.