Debt management success: Margaret Jefferson's story

Margaret Jefferson, a 56-year-old Civil Servant, living in Pretoria was earning a net income of R18,656.25 per month and struggling to make her debt repayments.

How did Margaret end up in debt?

Unfortunately, Margaret had been faced with numerous unforeseen circumstances and suffered from various health problems. Not only does she have diabetes, but she also has high blood pressure and depression - all of which she has to buy medication for each month.

In addition to her monthly medical payments, Margaret has had exorbitant medical bills to pay, as she was hospitalised and had frequent doctor’s visits. After exhausting her medical aid cover, she incurred medical costs that were not covered by her insurance.

Her husband was unemployed, and in order to pay her medical bills she had to take out a loan from the bank. At the time, she was also supporting her two children.

Slowly, she had to borrow more and more payday loans from microlenders in order to pay off her existing debt repayments that she could no longer afford. She fell into the debt spiral by taking out additional personal loans and payday loans on top of other credit agreements at increasing interest rates, instead of devising a suitable budget to correctly manage her money and debt.

Margaret had a debt obligation of R8,078.81 to pay on a monthly basis. Her salary after deductions (tax, UIF and Pension) came to R13,319.44. Her total monthly living expenses came to R9,960.08, this meant that Margaret only had R3,359.36 left towards her debt, leaving her short of R4,719.45 every month!

Managing Margaret's debt

DebtBusters negotiated with Margaret’s credit providers in order to devise a new payment schedule for her debt repayments, as represented in the following table:

Before going under debt review, Margaret was paying a monthly debt instalment of R8,078.81. DebtBusters managed to solve all Margaret’s debt to an affordable amount of R3,052.99 per month. Over 60 months, DebtBusters saved Margaret R113,319.44 on interest charges and fees alone.

Margaret’s case is one that could have been prevented. It is essential that you keep healthy emotionally, mentally and physically. Eating the right quantities of food, eating healthy food and exercising regularly will ensure that you stay in good health.

It is equally important that you manage your finances correctly, by always planning ahead (for emergencies) and saving. In the event of an unforeseen circumstance, you will be able to prevent yourself from accruing debt.