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For a long time now, we have become very used to living off credit. This is unfortunate as we may find ourselves out of our depth, having totted up a huge bill and struggling to make the repayments on a monthly basis. And the trouble is it is just too easy to do. Credit card companies are continually offering us card after card and, being only human, particularly if we find ourselves short of cash one month; it takes just a few minutes to apply. OK so our immediate cash flow problems are resolved but what about the bigger picture? Maybe it is time to take a fresh look at our borrowings before our total debt is larger than we can manage.

But if it is not to be credit card, or even bank overdraft, what exactly are the options? Agreed that it is sometimes impossible to manage on our salary alone, particularly when unexpected debts knock our carefully planned budget for six. On paper, it may all look rosy. Our income is in excess of our expenditure and we should even be able to save £50 a month. But like most well-made plans, it doesn’t always work out like that. The £50 gets swallowed up by sundry expenses like lunchtime snacks and trips to the supermarket. The end result is no savings, so that when the car breaks down or the bike needs a service, the funds just aren’t there to cover the cost.

As we can see, credit cards can be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. So how about looking for something different that will not land us with long term, ever increasing debts? An internet search for ‘payday loan’ will bring up the name Wonga. But if you have never heard of Wonga or ‘payday loans’ then you can be excused for wondering what on earth this is all about. It’s a very simple process. Unlike credit cards and similar types of borrowing which let us borrow large amounts and pay back over extended periods, payday loans have to be paid back, in full, within 28 days or less. At first glance you may think that this is not so good. After all, with a credit card you can pay it back over years can’t you? But think again. The longer you borrow the money for the more it costs you. A payday loan can work out cheaper as there is no option to spread the loan over a longer period.

Added to that, a Payday Loan truly is fast and can be in your account within minutes. Once you have repaid it in full, the debt is gone. Wiped out. No horrific huge sum of debt stockpiling into the future. No worrying about monthly repayments. It really is worth thinking carefully before you take out another credit card to shuffle your debt from one card to another. Once you have gotten used to the new way of dealing with your money shortages, you should find it refreshingly simple and easy to use. Bye-bye credit cards!

In the UK the Archbishop of the Church of England has struck out at pay day lenders calling them “morally wrong”. Unfortunately after bashing the pay day loan industry it transpired that the Church had invested over $7 billion of its pension funds in a company which had then supported a pay day lender. Indirectly therefore the Church had invested in a pay day lender! The very industry it regarded as sinful. It seems they were suitably embarrassed.

In response to the Archbishop’s attack the pay day lender in question, Wonga, who is also a pay day loan provider in Canada (see www.Wonga.ca), created and released a very clever, tongue in cheek, advertisement based on the 10 commandments – the Wonga version is the 10 commitments. The aim of the advert is to better educate people when interpreting the Church’s comments about pay day lenders. It sets out the promises the company makes to its borrowers and highlights the fact Wonga is a responsible lender. Probably the Church is a little unhappy that the debate and the new advertising campaign has certainly given the lender even more publicity – the adverts have of course been reported upon by the media thus resulting in free advertising and increased publicity for the company.

Further, far from sounding like the loan shark the Church has tried to portray pay day lenders as, the Wonga advert pretty much agrees with what the Church has had to say on the issue of pay day lending. The lender stated it was transparent about the price of its loans, carried out thorough credit checks and froze interest after two months to protect defaulting customers. It also said that it welcomed competition.

The pay day loan industry in the UK is not regulated like it is in Canada. Many politicians, charities and other organisations are calling for regulation but do not have the solution – the Archbishop is at least trying to push forward an idea. He is proposing that Credit Unions work from church premises to offer similar loans at lower interest rates – his idea is to push pay day lenders out of the market. This certainly sounds like a challenge. For a start he wants to find church members to volunteer as staff at the branches. This may be a big hurdle in terms of attracting customers. The average church goer probably does not reflect the average pay day loan customer. No one wants to be judged when taking out a loan.

A recent study indicated that the average age of a church goer was 61. Anglican leaders have warned that the Church of England will cease to exist in 20 years because elderly worshippers will die. As a result of this the Church presently has an urgent national recruitment drive to attract more members.

Just recently the Rt Rev Paul Butler, Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham stated that teachers should not illustrate math lessons with examples of “profit and loss”, or encourage children to save in order to buy bikes or toys Instead, lessons should focus on the math involved in giving donations to charity, saving for an overseas project, or even “tithing” – giving 10 per cent of one’s income to the Church.

When the Church is making statements like this you have to wonder whether it is the Credit Union/pay day loan “solution” is one part of its necessary recruitment drive. Pay day loan providers want profit, the Church wants people in seats: both have their own agenda.

Although the Rt Rev Paul Butler might not think it important, educating children about profit and loss and savings is all part of money management. This is vital in today’s society – Surely it is better money management which will reduce the need and desire for pay day loans.

Admit it. You’ve daydreamed more than once about hitting the investment jackpot. Your goals are modest. You just want to earn enough money to buy yourself an island. Or at least a second home on an island. So, what’s the secret to discovering the next big thing? Read on for some tips that’ll help you chart a course through the murky waters of investment toward big returns and the island of your dreams.

Tasty Profits: Invest in Restaurants

Consider industries where there will always be demand for the product. For example, people will always need to eat. So, restaurants, especially trendy ones in heavily populated or touristy areas, offer a sweet deal to investors.

Get your slice of the pie early and eat up the profits when the restaurant takes off. Celebrities know the restaurant business is lucrative, too: Ashton Kutcher and his Dolce Group have launched several venues including Ketchup, Dolce, and Geisha House with great success.

Don’t Forget Diversions

Just as people will always need to eat, they’ll always need diversions. Even when the economy’s bad, they still see movies, go bowling, and attend sports events to help them forget that their finances are in the toilet. Take a cue from Jay Z who invested in the Lakers, and consider how you could capture some dollars by investing in a sports franchise.

Entertainment delivery companies such as Hulu, Netflix, and Vudu are leading the way into the new frontier of time-shifted television viewing and on-demand movie watching. Investing in the early stages of these and similar companies may have big pay-offs in the future.

Follow the Big Dogs

Celebrities are making big bucks by investing in industries where there’s a reasonable expectation of success. However, expectations and a company’s size aren’t always harbingers of profit. Just look at Circuit City and Kodak. So, to avoid putting your money in a company that may become a sinking ship, garner wisdom from investment gurus who make a living by spotting the next big thing. Read an article by Fisher Investments about how Ken Fisher navigated his way toward a ginormous portfolio.

Tech is Trending

People are investing in tech companies and partying like it’s 1999. Yep, it’s cool again, and potentially profitable, to put money into online and high-tech ventures. Getting an early piece of the action on a revamped or brand new social media platform could net you profits worth tweeting about.

Let Justin Timberlake be your guide:  he and a group of other savvy investors just re-launched Myspace, making it available online and as an iPhone app.

Even if you don’t have thousands of dollars to pour into multiple ventures, leverage your dollars in the crowdsourcing movement. Considered to be the ground-iest of the ground floors of investment, crowdsourcing lets you give small amounts of money in exchange for recognition and in-kind gifts. While that may not sound lucrative, an early investment could open the door for additional opportunities in the future with a company that’s on its way to becoming the next big thing.

Strategy #1: Expand by Contracting

While it may initially appear counterintuitive, for many small businesses, the best way to expand is to contract. The logic of this strategy is fairly straightforward when we recognize that the number one metric owners want to increase is profitability (as opposed to simply adding growth for growth sake), as additional sales can often be closed, but at the expense of margins.

Two of the ways that businesses can expand profitability include adding more high-profit work and subtracting more low-profit work. By reviewing their client base and actively pruning those projects which take up large amounts of resources yet yield a small amount of profit, firms can better optimize their workforce to pursue higher margin work and expand their profitability for 2013.

Strategy #2: Specialize

An off-shoot of Strategy #1, specialization challenges companies to narrow their brand messaging and business model to focus on going deeper within a specific domain, and thereby becoming more valuable and dominant in their sector. The proliferation of advanced technology, and a connected, worldwide workforce means that competition will only increase in intensity in the years to come. By choosing to double-down on specific verticals riddled with complexity, small business owners can increase barriers to entry for potential competitors and buttress their reputation within the industry.

The effective implementation of this strategy will initially involve entrepreneurs scrutinizing the current offerings of their firm, aligning them with the expected trajectory of the industry, and then making the tough decisions to refine the product mix from trying to be a “Jack of All Trades” towards becoming a highly specialized industry expert commanding top dollar. By applying the 80/20 Rule and determining which 20% of their clients are responsible for 80% of their financial success, small business owners can better customize their offerings, and selectively cater to the most profitable niche of their marketplace.

Strategy #3: Embrace Daily Deals

Over the past 24 months, there has been a meteoric rise and fall of the “Deal of the Day” or “Flash Sale” phenomenon. While the frenzied euphoria of this business model is now behind us, the measured and pragmatic benefits of a correctly applied Daily Deal approach can serve as a valuable arrow in the quiver of entrepreneurs seeking growth. Whereas earlier, small business owners would look at Daily Deals as a profit maker, today they are leveraging this model as an inventory management tool (facilitating rapid turnover of aging products to make way for new shipments), as well as utilizing the visibility of these deals to complement ongoing marketing initiatives and build brand awareness. While many firms still can and do generate profit from Daily Deals, the true business value of this marketing strategy must be taken in total with these other organizational benefits.

Strategy #4: Offer Self-Serve Options

For years, the Internet has offered individuals the opportunity to peruse and purchase products 24/7, yet many companies have still not structured their business to accommodate this environment. By designing a website and ecommerce system with a wealth of information on request, as well as FAQ’s and standardized order forms, businesses can leverage the power of automation to take some of the burden off of their staff using highly refined online content to advance prospects through the marketing funnel and engage them precisely at the critical time they are making a buying decision.

Strategy#5: Go Big or Go Home

While Strategies 1-4 provide solid expansion options for 2013, for those small business owners for whom incremental growth is just not enough, private equity funding is the way to go. By providing the founder with the security of cash in his pocket, plus sufficient capital to pay off all outstanding debts, expand internal systems and infrastructure, add more top leadership, and scale the organizational footprint to bigger markets, a private equity investment offers the fastest way to get there. By removing the month-to-month financial pressures of payroll and production costs, business owners can enjoy a renewed focus on making the strategic decisions that will position the firm for accelerated growth in 2013 and beyond.

With any type of long or short-term investment, there are always a number of risks that will effect the success of your investment. If you put too much money into one particular investment, of course, you stand to lose a large sum. Likewise, if you are perhaps too hesitant, and do not invest enough, your savings may very well become eroded by inflation. By seeking professional Investment Management advice, you will ultimately minimise the risks of your investment and gain some degree of protection for your capital.

Listen to The voice of Experience

Investing is often a complicated and complex procedure, and understandably, you may be concerned that your lack of market knowledge will result in a potentially large loss of capital. Professional Investment Management firms however, are decidedly experienced in their field, and with a detailed understanding of the current market, will utilise the latest advances in investment theory in order to secure your investments.

Peace of Mind for the Present and Future

To succeed as an investor, you must be able to dedicate a considerable amount of time to evaluating the market and keeping track of your investments. This will involve ongoing personal dedication, and a sizeable amount of paperwork. By entrusting your financial investment to experienced Investment Management professionals, you are not only providing yourself with more time and space for the demands of the present, but you are also helping to secure a potentially stable life for yourself and your family in the future.

Empowering you as an Investor

The main reason why people chose to hand over the responsibility of their investments to Investment Management services is that it provides them with far greater security and far less risk than if they had overseen their investments personally. However, the more ethical and supportive Investment Management firms will actually offer services to support your own understanding of your investments, allowing you to eventually take control yourself. Such an approach will allow you to eventually take back full control of your investments, with a superior understanding of investment strategy and a greater financial return.

Ongoing Personal Support

Naturally, you will want to stay up-to-date with the progress of your investments and will desire ongoing support and perhaps reassurance from those who you are entrusting with handling your investments. Investment Management firms are very appreciative of this and accordingly, offer continual support via phone calls, face-to-face meetings, online webcam meetings and email. The very best Investment Management services will extend their support throughout the weekend, in the knowledge that your concerns may arise at any given time.

Tailored to Suit You

If you are seeking investment guidance from a professional firm, the chances are you do not understand which investment choices are most suitable for you and your specific needs. Of course, professional services such as the Investment Management from Sanlam have extensive experience with clients of all backgrounds and will have specific tailored advice based on your personal investment needs.