You dey earn, you dey build something, and you dey handle harder things pass dis one for work most weeks. Then one number land wey you no plan for. Di transmission. Di vet. Di letter from tax office with figure wey no match anything for your head.
Plenty people dey meet dat number fast. Dem go open app by eleven for night, dem go put am on card, and by Wednesday dem don handle am and di cost of handling am don quietly double.
Na dis be di alternative, and na di whole article be dis. Give di bill five days. No be five minutes, no be five weeks. Five days, with one job for each one. Di amount wey you owe no go change. Wetin go change na who dey make di decision, because person wey don sleep twice and don make two phone call na different negotiator from person wey stand for kitchen for midnight with thumb on top payment button.
Wetin I suppose do first when big bill wey I no expect land?
Read am twice and pay nothing for twenty four hours. Almost no bill for ordinary life dey due di day wey e reach you, and one day of waiting no dey cost you anything while decision wey you take tonight dey close di cheaper ways to pay am.
Day one na reading day. Read di whole document, including di small print under di number. Na four things you dey look for and you go write dem for one page: di amount, di real due date, who to contact, and di reference number. Look for wetin dey di page instead of wetin you remember say you see, because bill no dey always talk wetin di first ten seconds suggest. One duplicate line. One service wey dem don already pay for. One date wey far three weeks pass di one wey your belle pick.
Then close am. No open di banking app tonight, and no tell yourself say you go think about am, because to think about am for midnight no be thinking, na rehearsing. Day one dey end with four facts for one page and nothing paid. Dat one na day wey you complete, no be day wey you postpone, and di difference matter because person wey feel say e dey run from something dey sleep worse pass person wey sabi wetin tomorrow work be.
I fit really ask for payment plan on bill?
Yes, and dis na di hour wey get di highest return out of di five days. Payment arrangement na standard thing for big billers, from hospital and clinic to utilities, mechanic, landlord and tax authority, and dem rarely dey offer am before you ask.
Dis no be favour and e no be hardship application. Na standard product. Di Internal Revenue Service publish online payment agreement application for dia own website, dem dey offer short-term plan or longer monthly installment agreement. Utilities dey run arrears plan. Hospital get installment option and financial assistance desk. Mechanic go often split repair across two months if di car go still come back to dem anyway.
Day two na one phone call, or two if di first person no fit help you. You no dey beg anybody make dem kind. You dey ask business wetin im terms be, wey be question wey you get right to ask about anything wey you dey buy.
Wetin exactly I go talk for phone?
Talk one sentence then stop to talk: “I wan pay dis one in full and I need to spread am. Wetin payment plan una get?” Then allow dem answer, because di first thing wey dem talk rarely be dia best offer and di second thing often na am.
Three things dey make dat call go well. Get di reference number and di four facts from day one for your front, so you no go dey search while person dey wait. Ask make dem send di terms for writing, by email, before you agree to anything, because plan wey only dey inside phone call no be plan. And ask di follow-up wey almost nobody dey ask: “Dis one go stop late fees or interest while I dey di plan?” Sometimes e dey, sometimes e no dey, and to sabi which one dey change di arithmetic for di rest of di week.
Write down di name of di person wey you talk to and di time wey you call. E cost five seconds and e go settle argument later.
Where di money go come from if I no get am?
Day three and day four na for finding di money for di cheapest order, and di order matter pass di total. Cash wey you already hold dey beat plan from di biller, wey dey beat credit card, wey dey beat anything wey dey come by text message dey offer to help.
Write di sequence down and work am for order. First, money wey already dey sit down quiet, including cushion if you get one, because na exactly dis kind thing cushion dey for and to spend am here na success no be failure. Second, di plan from day two, wey often no carry interest at all. Third, money wey you fit move instead of money wey you fit earn: subscription wey you pause, delivery wey you skip, plan wey you downgrade for two months. Fourth, and na only fourth, borrowing. If you borrow, borrow amount wey you name for number of months wey you name, no be open line wey you go still dey carry next spring.
Most five day plan no dey ever reach step four. People dey reach for card for midnight no be because di earlier steps fail, na because nobody write dem for order.
Why five days dey beat five minutes?
Because no be di bill be di expensive part, na di hurry. Five days wey you take deliberate no dey cost you anything and dem dey regularly show you cheaper way to pay, while five fast minutes for eleven o'clock night only dey ever find di first one. Di difference na how many exit you fit see when you no dey rush.
Look wetin di week actually buy. One day of reading find di real due date. One phone call find schedule at zero interest. Two days of ordering find money wey already be your own. None of dat na clever finance, all of am dey available to anybody, and all of am dey invisible to person wey dey operate for speed, because speed dey narrow di eye down to di first exit.
Second thing dey wey you buy and e worth pass di money. You prove to yourself say big number wey land without warning no get right to run your month. Dat one na skill wey you fit repeat, and na di same skill wey dey make you hold silence for salary conversation or read hard email twice before you reply. Di Federal Reserve Board don dey run im Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking every year since 2013 to measure how households dey do and to identify di risks to dia finance, wey na plain way of saying say week like dis one na ordinary, measured part of household life, no be personal failure. Dem dey come. Wetin dey separate people na di procedure wey dem take meet dem.
Wetin di week after really be for
By day five you get schedule instead of decision. Three or four date, amount beside each one, for page wey you fit look without your chest dey tight. Put dat dates wherever you dey keep your monthly numbers, because date wey dey sit beside everything else na date wey you go actually meet, and to cross one off na di only part of paying bill wey really dey sweet.
Then go back to work. Dat no be throwaway line. Di reason to run bill like dis no be say e go make you careful person. Na say e dey hand you back di attention wey fast decision for chop for di next three months, and attention na di raw material of everything wey you dey try build. People wey dey handle shock slowly no be slow people. Na dem still dey go hard for year twelve, because dem no dey pay interest on decision wey dem take when dem dey shake.
One last thing, and na di most useful sentence here. Whatever dis bill turn out to be, note wetin one month of your fixed cost for cover. Dat figure na di size of your first cushion, and di week wey big bill land na di one week for di year wey you really wan build one.
Sources
- Internal Revenue Service, Online payment agreement application
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Debt collection
- Federal Reserve Board, Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking