How many balls are you juggling?

Managing money can sometimes feel like a bit of a circus. Bills to pay, repayments to make, cash to save, plans to progress - there's a lot to juggle. Once you've been doing it for a while, that juggling gets much easier - but what if life throws an extra ball out of nowhere before you're ready? Sometimes all it takes is one extra 'ball', and the whole lot can come tumbling down. Knowing how many balls can be juggled at once and how to put some down if there are too many is a crucial skill that someone has to learn if they want to master their finances.

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How are finances like juggling?

Here's a real life example of what we mean. Let's say that someone has a personal loan, a credit card, and a car loan that they're managing all at once. They've gotten comfortable with the repayments, they know how the schedule works, and they've got a rhythm going. Life is good - but then suddenly, life gets 'interesting' instead. Something important breaks. Maybe an appliance, or their car, or maybe even a bone! Suddenly, that person has extra costs to deal with on top of the other stuff they're already juggling. That extra fourth ball throws their rhythm off.

First, one ball drops - they miss a repayment on their car loan. They get smacked with fees and default interest. That siphons away cash that they were going to use to pay off the credit card. That's the second ball dropping. They scrape together enough to cover the personal loan, but now they're tripping over themselves trying to get those balls back up in the air and re-find their flow. It isn't just a case of not being able to tackle that one extra unexpected issue. Sometimes the unexpected makes everything else harder to manage too.

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Refinding that rhythm

So what's the solution? Giving yourself the space to tackle unexpected costs means that you won't lose that rhythm. That might mean getting insurance so you're not out of pocket, or having an emergency fund dedicated to unexpected issues. Some people ensure that they never hit their limits around obligations, so they're never juggling the absolute most balls they can. You could even take a step back and 'put down' one of the balls you're currently juggling by working to pay off a particular loan or seeing if consolidation could take the pressure off. There's no one-size-fits-all solution - it's all about knowing yourself, your finances, your limits and your options. That's the mahi, and just like juggling, it's a skill that's developed with practice.

Quick summary: Even if life is going swimmingly, it's a good idea to take stock of how much you're juggling and making sure you have space to tackle anything extra life might throw at you. There are heaps of different solutions, including emergency funds, setting limits, or stepping back and 'putting down' a ball or two by paying off debt. The key is knowing your limits and your options.

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