Your fortnight is coming and you already owe it all ?! We tell you what to do

February 23, 2021 4 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Month after month you have complications to pay your fixed expenses and non-permanent ones? We recommend that you have control with your personal finances, especially in times of a COVID-19 pandemic that will cause more economic damage this year, since the slowest recovery is seen in Mexico due to the delay in the application of vaccines.

What is the salary in Mexico? According to data from the Telephone Occupation and Employment Survey (ETOE) prepared by the INEGI at the end of 2020, 60.7% of Mexican workers earn between one and two minimum wages (the daily minimum wage in 2020 in central Mexico was set at 123.22 pesos a day). In real terms, Mexican employees earn between 3,696 and 7,393 pesos per month for jobs performed in the formal economy.

On the other hand, the study Well-being with Equity towards a new social pact , of the Espinosa Yglesias Studies Center (CEEY), the College of Mexico and the French Agency for Development (AFD), indicates that 40% of people have an income 2,548 pesos per month. The data indicates that 59% of the employees have this monthly income on average. Now, workers consider that the minimum income to be rich is 38,248 pesos and there is a general perception that 35% of people have these perceptions on a monthly basis. In Mexico, less than 1% of the population earns or exceeds that level of income.

What is the impact of the pandemic on banking? According to figures from the National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV) in 2020, the pandemic led customers to cancel 1.5 million credit cards and the delinquency rate rose to 5.20%; in addition, the closure of 776 bank branches, to conclude with 12,106 units.

“I already owe the fortnight”

This is a very common situation among the population because they do not have a Financial Education since their years as students, a time when classes should be taught so that they have the financial tools that make them have a quiet life without complications.

Month after month you have complicated long periods of time to pay your fixed and non-permanent expenses, such as rent, electricity, water, telephone, Internet, car insurance, food, transportation, gifts, meetings, studies, purchases, etc. To live this reality without problems, it is required, first of all: Financial Education. Gerardo Obregón, founder and CEO of Prestadero.com , comments: “Becoming the best manager of your money should be one of your main objectives, the more you know what you should do and not do, the better so that you do not always live worried and from fortnight to fortnight with fingers crossed. “

When we start to venture into the financial world, the fortnights are burned in our hands, just as the money arrives from one moment to the next it is gone, what can we do?

What you should NOT do with your salary

• Spend the money before you have it.
• Make impulse purchases.
• Overdrawing your credit cards.
• Borrow without a payment plan.
• Eagerly awaiting your fortnights to go out to have fun without rhyme or reason.

So if you do with your salary

• Live your reality, that is, live according to your income.
• Make a plan for your finances and stick to it. Monthly and yearly budget is a good idea.
• Eliminate ant expenses, vampire expenses, impulse expenses, etc.
• Comply with all your commitments for fixed and non-fixed expenses and contracted debts.
• Save constantly, not just for emergencies.
• Change your financial habits so that your fortnights do not disappear as soon as they arrive.
• Organize your finances, have a lot of fun and do not reach the next fortnight.