Causes Of Financial Problems

These were the last days of the month when Salman entered his home. Farooq, his younger son, had fever again. His wife said to him, ‘He has been suffering from fever for two days; we had better take him to a doctor’. Salman [tried to] put her off saying, ‘Give him fever syrup and Joshanda [herbal extracts] etc. which are available at home and he will be Ok’. As the proverb states, ‘Only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches’, Salman knew that he did not have much money and there were still three days left to get the salary. He had slept for a short while when his wife woke him up saying, ‘Wake up! Farooq’s temperature has gone up; take him to a good doctor at once.’ Restless, he arrived at the clinic of a doctor. The doctor gave him a checkup and prescribed some medicines. Salman had Rs. 300 which he spent on the doctor’s fee. He then had no money left to buy the medicines. He left Farooq at home and went to his friend, Jamal, to borrow some money to buy the medicines. But hanging his head in shame Jamal too excused, ‘Salman Bhai, actually these are the last days of the month and I too have bought the ration for home on loan.’ Salman, then, remembered another friend Waseem who was a bit prosperous. As per expectation, Waseem lent him Rs.1000. Finally, he was able to buy the medicines for his son from the medical store. As he reached home, he gave the medicine to his son. After a short while, when Farooq began to show signs of improvement, he felt relieved. But he started thinking as to how long he would keep worrying about the last days of the month!

Dear readers of monthly Faizan-e-Madinah! A person earns a living in two ways in order to meet his expenses.

1.   By doing a business

2.   By doing a job

A large number of people who do jobs are from middle class. They always try to maintain a balance between their income and expenses, but there are still a number of people among them who remain financially worried during the last days of the month. You probably have come across these phrases,’ The last days of the month are going on;’ ‘I am short of money’ or ‘Can you lend me some money, I will return it as soon as I get my salary?’

According to a survey data, forty-eight percent people of a developed country seem worried due to not being able to save money from their salaries to meet their expenses during the last days of the month no matter what their salaries are. Keeping this in mind, it is not difficult to estimate whether this number will be less or more in a developing country like Pakistan. Many people think that they are the only one that faces the issue arising at the end of the month, but it is merely their misconception because hardly a few of the salaried persons might not face this problem.

Causes of worry and their solutions

There might be many causes of financial problems at the end of the month, the responsibility of which largely lies with us. A little precaution can save us to a great extent from these worries at the end of the month. Let’s examine some of the causes and their solutions:

1.   Receiving advance

When someone is short of money and has the facility available to get an advance from the office, it becomes the easiest and prestigious solution for him to get some money as an advance on the salary. But a disadvantage of this solution is that the salary that had to be used for thirty days (in case of receiving it on the 1^st of the month) will now have to be used for thirty-five days (due to a part of it being received five days earlier). Another disadvantage is that the month gets longer than thirty days for the person who forms the habit of getting an advance on his salary, due to which he remains short of money quite often. Therefore, a person should stop himself from getting an advance on his salary. If he feels compelled to get an advance in any month, he must make his mind to spend more than thirty days with the same amount.

2.   Huge utility (gas, electricity) bills

It seems certain that one gets short of money at the end of the month if one gets huge utility bills for any month. Let bygones be bygones! If you want to avoid any trouble the next month, review thoroughly the usage of gas and electricity at your home. Adopt utility saving methods to be comfortable. In this regard, it is very useful to read the 27-page booklet, ‘Madani pearls on using electricity’ written by Ameer-e-Ahl-e-Sunnat دَامَـتْ بَـرَكَـاتُـهُـمُ الْـعَـالِـيَـهْ , the international Islamic scholar.

3.   Not cutting your coat according to your cloth

He who cuts his coat according to his clothes remains happy and he who does not cut his coat according to his clothes remains in trouble. Buying unimportant or unnecessary things, buying only new and expensive clothes to attend a wedding or birthday ceremonies, spending more than one’s status on home decoration items, cooking oily foods quite often, ordering meals from restaurants instead of cooking at home all can cause tension during the last days of the month.

4.   Habit of getting loan

There is no harm in it if one gets a loan when needed, but for few people it is the solution to every problem. They even get a loan immediately for anything they want to buy, but when they pay the loan back from their limited salary, it becomes difficult for them to spend the last days of the month with the remaining amount.

5.   Wrong estimation of savings

It must have happened to many people that on the 20^th or 22^nd day of the month they estimated that a certain amount [from the salary] would be left on the 1^st day of the [next] month and then they spent a little more money on recreational activities or some other task. Later on, they realized that their estimates were wrong and as a result they had to struggle to spend the last days of the month. Do not do this, but rather spend only once it becomes confirmed that it is your saving.

Dear Islamic brothers, it is very useful to plan a budget to maintain a balance between income and household expenses. For this, read the article, ‘Why don’t you plan household budget?’ on page no. 15 of ‘the Monthly Faizan-e-Madinah’ Jumadal Ukhra 1441 AH.

May Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ save us from the troubles of the worldly life as well as the Hereafter. اٰمِیْن بِجَاہِ النَّبِیِّ الْاَمِیْن صلَّی اللہ علیہ واٰلہٖ وسلَّم