Around 5000 years ago, in Syria, a slave known as Dabasir was serving for his master’s wife Sara and looked after her camels. Sara noticed that Dabasir was different from other slaves and he had soul of freedom in contrast to soul of slavery. Later, he told his entire bitter story to her.
Dabasir’s story is with full of bitter experiences as well as with full of guidance to escape from debts. As a young married person, he was doing extravagant expenses and he was in a miserable situation since he didn’t find no way to pay his debts. He trapped in slavery in Syria along the way to escape from his creditors in Babylon. Although he was a slave, later, he became a rich camel trader and free of all his debts.
On November 7,1936, Professor Franklin in Mesopotamia received a letter from a lecturer in archeology department of an England university whom he sent his clay tablets carrying Dabasir’s story. In the letter, he wanted to be grateful to Dabasir. As the clay tablets that was found from Babylon and sent to him in the year 1934 by Prof. Franklin had changed his life on this earth from a ‘Hell’.
At the time of receiving clay tablets for him to translate, creditors of that lecturer frightened and humiliated him and tried to divulge heavy default of his debts to the authorities to remove him from the job. He was always on debts although he paid them as hard as possible to him. The debt load turn to a worst situation. He paid his old debts while went on new debts for his consumables. He could not pay his house rent for a long time.
Subsequently, he followed the financial plan of Dabasir. Dabasir, after his re-arrival to Babylon, wanted to be an independent man with free of humiliations and he was determined to live a respectable life among Babylonians. A Gold lender, Marthon, advised him. He had three fixed financial plans and spent his money according to plans.
First, he paid himself from his income to save with him. It was 1/10 of his income. He wanted to accumulate that fund into gold and silver. He thrilled by jingling sound of them.
Second, he spent only a 7/10 of his revenue for his expenditure on his family. When he had lesser income he did not buy extra items and ate on herbs. When his 7/10 portion was adequate to pay for cloths and sandals and meat foods, then, he spent on them. He determined to live within his means.
He always paid his debt from 2/10. It was his third plan. He wrote down all his debts against the name of his creditors. He showed it to all his creditors and explained his plan of repayment. He paid all creditors with an equal amount at each month.
He got a mixed response. Some persuade him but some wanted more money at a bigger proportion. Dabasir disregarded creditors requests but adhered to his plan as he determined to repay them fully. He, furthermore, explained to them, that first he should be worry less and nourished to get his income and pay others. He paid all his debts within two years. That day he started to carve on his final clay tablet as the happiest man in Babylon. That shows his 3rd plan essentially depend on other two plans.
The archeology lecturer in England also followed Dabasir’s way. He wrote down all his debts and went to all his creditors and pledge to pay as Dabasir did it. He gave his up most priority to his saving plan and allocate 1/10 of his earning to accumulated with him for later investments. Success in that plan supported to debt payment plan. He paid his debts successfully within three years. He started his investments while his payments were continuing.
Taking and paying debt is a habit and addictive and related to mental strengths. Like any addictive forming material debt also gradually destroy mental healthy strengths such as self-identity, self-esteem, self-control and ultimately self-respect. We consume debts first later debts take us into their control. Saving 1/10 and spending thriftily for family with 7/10 are very imperative endurances to link with debt payment plan. Saving and thrifty spending would fill the vacuum of emptied debt taking habit in addition to improving mental strengths, which were already weakened. Both Dabasir and lecturer stressed their enthusiasm with jingling sounds of saved coins. In addition, Dabasir wrote he was happy as he saw a light in his wife’s eye.
Determination and commitment also strengthen your mental balance. While Dabasir was ridding in the desert, after escaping from his master, on the 9th day he was thirsty and tongue was swollen. He laid down and felt let him die in the desert. But he promised to Sara that he would get back to Babylon and pay his debt and be a free man. On that promise, Sara supported him to escape with two camels load of food and water. That promise waked him up and energizes him to proceed some more days in the desert.
The modern system of credit cards also take us into revolving debts which is a vicious cycle and turn us to a worst situation. An important thing in credit card payment is paying it in full even before the bill. If you have a heavy balance of loans on credit cards you better follow the snowball technique. Pay more than minimum in your highest interest paid loan in the credit card while paying minimum in all other credit cards.
After finishing with the highest interest loan use that entire amount on to next loan and continue like a rolling snowball, which collect more and more snow on it. As we want to consider about psychological factors, I feel, we must save and keep a proportion of 1/10 as our own payment from earnings. Payment to others must be our 2nd priority to saving. Savings will accumulate enough for our next step of investing. We try to take the advantage of compounding interest to our side rather than giving it to the side of creditors.
Taking a lower interest loan to pay other loans is another option. Remember, until we have uncontrolled mental weakness of debt taking habit, it will not be successful. This is not an opinion but a proven fact in debt payment strategies. Therefore, I feel a stronger plan is the snowball strategy.