"The Cushion Effect."

🧺Most of America lives check to check. It’s normal now. Years ago this wasn’t the case.

*Families earned a living.

*Paid bills

*Saved money

*And only spent from savings towards a specific goal, item, or emergency.

🧺They usually borrowed money when it was something that would earn them more money in the long run such as a business venture. Or they may have had to borrow when an emergency happened in which, everyone understood that they must work diligently to free themselves of that debt.

🧺Meaning in the past, people were not comfortable acquiring debt. Yet nowadays finance gurus are telling you that it is beneficial to have debt in order to be successful!

🧺Do not fall into this rhetoric. Debt is slavery and it makes you feel like you are carrying boulders on you until the debts are paid.

🧺The cushion effect is about living under what you earn and not AT the level that you earn. This system helps to prevent debt.

🧺You have the amount of money that you earn.

🧺The cushion right under.

🧺And where you live…which is UNDER the amount that you make.

🧺The cushion is the pillow in which brings financial comfort by knowing that there is a buffer between you and a sudden change of finance.

🧺You can begin building this cushion even if you are paying down debt. (More on that in the article I wrote about saving $5 a day.)

🧺My point within this article to share awareness to stop living on the edge with your money. We are only one sickness, one tragedy, one career shift away from money getting critical because that is how life can happen at any moment.

🧺The concept of “saving for a rainy day” was something that our elders swore by and it worked!

🧺Sometimes with all of this new technology we may think we have better answers in all areas of life. But in reality, some of those classic principles work very effectively till today! Because all we’re doing now is spending more and acquiring more debt!

🧺Start living under what you make. Below what you earn. If you make $2,000 a month, live on $1,000 or $1,200 a month. Stop counting the ENTIRETY of your earnings. It’s not realistic. Start saving and investing.

🧺Stop counting the concept of “I can afford it” to mean that you can afford payments of that item. It means that you technically cannot afford the item if you are unable to either pay right away or within a couple of months. But if it is taking you years and years to pay stuff off, you cannot afford it. Stop it.

🧺Be sure to purify your wealth with charity, Allaah will expand your money even more. This is included in your budgeting.

🧺In addition, include yourself into your budgeting, just because you live under what you earn that doesn’t mean you cannot enjoy life. Just categorize your money and how much of it that you will spend. Pace yourself. Don’t blow it all in one go.

🧺Apply the cushion effect and enjoy your money the right way, Baarak Allaahu Feekum بارك الله فيكم.