Light at the end of the tunnel

Time for another dog story. This time it was a dog with a deadline.

We had moved back from overseas, but unfortunately we were forced to leave Holly, our Kiwi border collie, behind on a friend’s farm until she met the strict biosecurity requirements to come back home. She was in good hands for the moment, but how long before she would make it back?

Eleven months later, suddenly it was all on. Our farming friends couldn’t host her much longer, and the deadline to get her over here was fast approaching – any more delays and she would have to start the vaccination process all over again. And despite all our best intentions, it became painfully obvious that a month of vet treatments, the travel and another month of quarantine over here were going to cost thousands more than the $4,500 we initially thought.

Yet all that mattered at the time was getting the beloved dog back. That’s all we could see – we had our own form of tunnel vision. And to cover the costs that were coming in fast, we became classic ‘crisis borrowers’, taking out a personal loan that ended up costing us more than we ever intended because of high interest.

You’ve got tunnel vision too

Now, everyone gets tunnel vision at some stage. Not literally losing our peripheral vision, but rather losing perspective whenever we block out anything that might distract us from the task at hand. When we’re short on time, we prioritise and let other things slip so we can get something done. When we’re short on cash, we borrow so we can do the same. We zoom in and can’t pan out.

Tunnelling is not necessarily a bad thing – it’s what enables us to focus and accomplish things. (I’m probably doing it right now as I write this; you may be too as you read.) And as a former reporter I can testify that a deadline can do wonders for your creativity – you can produce your best work when you’re under pressure.

What our brains do as we tunnel, however, is to block out the rest of the world, and suddenly all we see is all there is. This is particularly dangerous when it comes to borrowing. When money is scarce, we tunnel in on how to pay the bills and that’s all we can think about.

Researchers have shown that when funds are scarce and we tunnel, it leads us to borrow. We don’t think of the consequences that come with keeping up with the payments and what it will mean to have to pay it all back eventually.

The high interest rates on credit cards, for example, can set us back for years. And tunnelling in on the minimum payment only means that we end up paying much more than we ever intended, making life tougher in the long run. That’s one of those dumb debt traps to avoid at all costs.

What to do?

Here at Sorted our solution for tunnel vision is to make sure that the total cost of credit, and the long-term impact of taking out a loan, is inside your mind’s tunnel when you are thinking about borrowing. Instead of just thinking of getting through, or about what the minimum payment will be, you need to be thinking about what going into debt will cost you overall. There’s no sense digging yourself into a deeper hole.

Make sure to check our debt calculator to see exactly what borrowing will end up costing you in the long run, and make an informed decision about what you’re taking on.

Also, if you are in the habit of saving regularly and putting aside an emergency fund, you will have options when you find yourself in a crisis. Borrowing won’t be the only thing you see when you’re in that tunnel – you’ll have options.

Tunnelling is always going to happen; it’s how our minds work. But the more we realise what we’re doing, the more we can make sure that we’re looking at all our alternatives as we move towards reaching the light at the end.

She made it, finally

It was a happy reunion with Holly all those years ago, and she went on to live out her days here in her lovely homeland. We were even able to sell the crate she travelled in to help cover costs.

‘Holly has had a good life with a loving family. I know she will leave many happy memories,’ our friend wrote to us after shipping her over.

In hindsight, however, it would have been better if were able to bring her back home in a way that we weren’t still paying for years later!