The Hugging Club of India’s (HCI) meeting on 18th August 2019 in Mumbai, Bandra (W), showcased an altogether new topic – The subject of MONEY or ‘How to manage your finances and get out of debt and related mental stress’. It has my third meet up at HCI and I was looking forward to meeting the speaker Balachandran Ramiah, a qualified, expert investment professional.
I tend to be a big spender on the things I love – travel, art, health and educative workshops. Although I have never been in debt, I wanted to know how I could make the best use of my money and curb my impulsive spending tendency while increasing my savings. And Bala turned out to be the perfect person to guide us in the matters of money.
Bala himself is an impressive, highly educated academic, having done a PhD in Business strategy from Wharton Business school, graduation from IIT Delhi and MBA from IIM Kolkatta. No wonder the meet was packed to brim with interested people who were keen to meet him and their own challenges on the topic.
In a soft, gentle voice Bala spoke lucidly about himself and his journey towards savings and investment. He eleborated on our spending patterns, common money challenges, the debt trap, good debts and bad debts, helpful money habits and much more.
Some of the major points discussed (including queries from participants) were:
• How to keep control over unplanned expenses
• Avoiding debt traps – eg. Delaying full payment on credit cards
• Knowing the difference between a Good Debt ( eg. Housing loan) and a Bad debt (taking a loan for a trip abroad, personal loans with very high interest rates, taking loans from friends)
• Prioritising debts and paying them off accordingly
• Ensuring liquid cash at bank for at least 6 months for any unforeseen circumstances like losing a job, emergency medical expenses for family members, etc. Especially critical when you are the sole earning member
• It is never too late or too early to invest your money
• Taking one big loan to pay off all your smaller debts in one go
• Spending money on building new skills and getting trained is a good investment
• Money that you don’t need for up to 3 years can be parked in Hybrid funds
• Spending money is not bad – but when one has eccentricities, temptations and if it becomes habit forming, the chances of getting into debt are high
Keeping track of our expenses by jotting them down helps us gauge and exercise control over our expenditure. This is Bala’s regular habit and he encouraged all of us to do so.
It was a most interesting session where all our queries were answered very well. At the end of the meet, we were charged up to take care of our money and save it wisely.
– Mahrukh
