MY LOAN EXPERIENCE

in #blog5 years ago (edited)

Approximately six weeks ago I had the intention of getting a new phone. I had started vlogging some months earlier and one of my major constraints was the video and audio quality of my phone. So getting a better phone was the best investment I could make. I had no money, just steem. Fortunately, @markkujantunen saw me whining about it and he introduced me to @neoxian and I was able to get the loan (about $260). I purchased a midrange smartphone with decent specs and some other accessories that improved my both vlogging and blogging experience.

So it is one thing to collect a loan and another to pay back. I have always dreaded borrowing money. I have seen how debt has crippled the finances of many people. It is always a case of one debt leading to another and before you know it you've lost control of your finances. Although I have been taught debt financing is one of the cheapest ways of investing in your business as you're simply using other people's money to make more money, and given the fact that what I intended to use the money for will generate income for me, I thought it was worth the risk. Although I was kind of projected that my earnings will increase by a significant margin when my content improve, that hasn't really happened. In fact, my earnings kind of dwindled this month. I guess maybe it was because I was powering down to pay back the loan, and you know steemians feel about people who power-down. Plus I fell ill at some point which stretched for over 3 weeks. This affected how much content I created.

What did I do wrong?

  1. Let's start from the terms of the payback clause. I think I should have chosen something more flexible and for a longer period.
  2. I took on another project during this period. So during this, I went for my university clearance which cost me a lot too. I had to take on another loan from somewhere else. So basically I have been paying two loans for the past two months.
  3. I did not do my research. So I was hoping to pay back part of the loan with some fiat I had (which later was used for hospital bills). The major problem was converting fiat to steem. That was a seemingly impossible task. I tried all the exchanges I knew, they were not offering their services in my region. The only one I was lucky enough to find charged a high fee and I could only buy bitcoin.

The next time I would consider taking a loan I will factor all these things. I hope there isn't a next time anytime soon.

My deadline is on the 14th of this month and giving my calculation I would be short by $40-$50. I don't know what penalties I might face but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I do not regret my decision. I think I leveraged on what I had and if this only tangible thing I get out of here then I'm fine with that.

After sorting this out (hopefully) I will be going back to growing my account. I should be around 3,000 SBD by now. My overdependence on my steem earnings has mitigated my growth. However, things might change soon. I don't want to let too much out of the bag just yet. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed. Hopefully, on my one year anniversary, which is about a few weeks from now, I would have some great news to share with you guys.

I hope this helps someone who plans on getting a loan with their crypto asset as collateral. Please do your research, take as much time as possible and don't take on more than you can handle.

It's currently raining here. There isn't much happening on my timeline currently and I am done with my tasks for today. Might be going to bed soon.

©nonsowrites

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Still a good investment fornyour journey. I kind of feel the tide shifting for the better despite the uncertainty with some of the coming changes. We will find our way and adapt accordingly.

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I hope so. Plus I got an extension to pay back. So I'm positive I will do so before the month ends.

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I'm gonna give this a 100% because I feel somewhat responsible because I recommended @neoxian's loan service without urging you to exercise due diligence first. Not that @neoxian's service is somehow bad. But as in short term loans, the interest rates he charges are not very low.

Well, it's really not about the interest rate. I have earned enough to cover the loan. I just did not plan well.

Posted using Partiko Android

Can feel the situation, falling short of a timeline which one thought would be achieved by certain period.
The lesson will go a long way into us too, that is before we initiate a thought to get a loan under unclear situations (unclear here meaning not knowing what other commitments might be waiting on us).

If I was you I would look into communities like Steemhunt and Oracle-D as well. They offer great incentives for people who participate in their platforms. I am a daily steemhunt hunter, nearly everyday I make $4 for just finding cool new products and sharing them. With OD, We get tasks for corporate clients nearly every week and get a decent upvote for contributing.

If you don't like those, you can look into other communities that fit your niche. There's so many of them you'd be spoilt for choice. You should look into expanding your reach if you wanna grow faster and pay off your debt faster too.

You can check out steempress,earthtribe,tribesteemup,ulogs etc

Best Wishes xo

Thanks for the tips. As the debt I should cover that by the end of the this month.
I participate in OD tasks. Not such I can do the hunts. I find it difficult writing reviews.
Used to use ulog(dont write too many personal stuff these days)
Steempress cost a lot. Tried to link my WordPress account. I have to upgrade to use steempress patch, which should cost me over $200 per year.

Haven't tried any of the tribes. I'm too troublesome to work with a park. I'm a lone wolf

Posted using Partiko Android

Lol, I don't think they work in parks.

As for steempress, if you are open to starting over, @gmuxx can set you up for $25 per anum. Check his blog, he helped me set up my wordpressblog. And yeah, it comes with a steempress plugin.

Are you a Pro or Regular Member in OD?

I think regular. Since I do mainly open tasks, one is currently open.

I will check gmuxx out. I don't mind starting over.

Posted using Partiko Android

LOl, I don't like to take loans except I've seen a clear way to pay it back before time. The last time a loan went wrong for me, goodness, neoxian drained my steempower, i made a huge deal mistake....I'm still recovering now even after 6 months.

Don't worry if you cant payback, he would power you down.

You can use luno to buy btc or ETh...send them over to bittrex, convert to steem and send to your steem wallet. easy peazy

Wow! Worry about your experience with neoxian. I think he is lenient enough. Most times we take these loans without making provision for other factors that might affect our chance of paying. He actually gave me two weeks extra to pay back so I'm grateful.

Never heard of luno. I'm always sceptical about buying bitcoin because of its transactional cost. Maybe ETH will be a better option for me.

Posted using Partiko Android

Naa...Neo is chilled, my guy. Business is business thats all.

if you buy like 10k naira of bitc or eth, luno takes like 100naira i think, you can check, but its quite negligible. Its a very safe wallet too..u need to be verified, it buys straight from ur bank account in app...

The only difference or advantage eth has over btc is when you buy eth, it takes about 40 mins to send to your eth address on bittrex...but btc takes like 6 hours or more...30 confirmations i think

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