My Knight In Shining Armour Has Arrived!

Hi Scott,

My knight in shining armour showed up! The trouble is, with him came the henchmen that are credit card debt, a Cash Converters loan, a jewellery store loan (from when he proposed to his ex), and a monster Telstra bill -- all up around $15,000. Where do we get copies of all these bills, and how do we go about paying them off? He earns $110,000 and can have them smashed out in a matter of months, I reckon.

Amanda

Hi Amanda,

It sounds like he’s been a bit loose with his lenders, so I’d suggest he gets a copy of his credit file (if he writes to VEDA, they legally have to provide him with a free copy). It’s the financial equivalent of an STD test – if there’s a nasty surprise, it’ll be on that file.

Now from a logical standpoint, your fella should be able to smash his debt out in a matter of months: he’s earning around $6,600 a month after tax. Yet people get themselves into financial strife, (and stay there) for all sorts of illogical reasons.

So here’s my tip for you.

Make your knight in shining armour pass one final test before he gets the hand of you, his princess: make him get out of debt on his own. Encourage him for sure. But don’t do it for him. That’s his test.

Look, I’ve been doing this a long time. I meet a lot of people who have shacked up with a partner thinking they’ll change them. Most of the time it doesn’t work. Especially when it comes to money management. Then again, I could be wrong, I’ve never encountered a knight!

Scott