{"id":7238,"date":"2022-05-31T19:43:43","date_gmt":"2022-05-31T19:43:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifg.local\/articles\/planning-your-muslim-finances-for-2021\/"},"modified":"2023-09-21T10:05:03","modified_gmt":"2023-09-21T10:05:03","slug":"planning-your-muslim-finances-for-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.islamicfinanceguru.com\/articles\/planning-your-muslim-finances-for-2021","title":{"rendered":"Planning your finances for 2021 &#8211; budgeting, saving, investing &#8211; IslamicFinanceGuru"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"l-section wpb_row height_small\">\n<div class=\"l-section-h i-cf\">\n<div class=\"g-cols vc_row type_default valign_top\">\n<div class=\"vc_col-sm-12 wpb_column vc_column_container\">\n<div class=\"vc_column-inner\">\n<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column\">\n<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n<p>It\u2019s really easy to get overwhelmed when thinking about your finances. As a result, you end up not really doing very much planning at all and staying stuck in a financial rut with no real plan.<\/p>\n<p><strong>I want 2022 to be your year.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"w-message color_green\">\n<div class=\"w-message-body\">\n<p>So I set myself a challenge. To come up with an easy-to-follow guide that would allow Muslims to quickly and easily understand where their money should be flowing. Whether that\u2019s budgeting, saving, investing or spending \u2013 and coming up with a plan for it all.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column\">\n<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n<p>That\u2019s what this article is about. In writing this piece, I\u2019ve piggybacked off the great work from the guys over on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/UKPersonalFinance\/\">Reddit UK Personal Finance section<\/a> with their <a href=\"https:\/\/flowchart.ukpersonal.finance\/\">flowchart<\/a>. I\u2019ve made some tweaks of my own and tailored it to a Muslim audience.<\/p>\n<p>It goes without saying (but I\u2019ll say it anyway) that this is not a substitute for personal financial advice and it is not intended to be. This is intended as general guidance using well-understood financial principles.<\/p>\n<p>Right, let\u2019s get into it.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"l-section wpb_row height_small\">\n<div class=\"l-section-h i-cf\">\n<div class=\"g-cols vc_row type_default valign_top\">\n<div class=\"vc_col-sm-12 wpb_column vc_column_container\">\n<div class=\"vc_column-inner\">\n<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column\">\n<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n<h2>Step 0: The Foundations \u2013 budget &amp; be savvy<\/h2>\n<p>If you\u2019re into cricket, think of this like putting on your helmet and pads, warming up and being confident that you\u2019ve done your opposition research. It\u2019s the basic foundation work.<\/p>\n<p>And it\u2019s the most often-overlooked part of creating wealth. There\u2019s a fantastic book called The Millionaire Next Door. The authors spent time studying wealthy people. To their surprise, most of them weren\u2019t in rich, fancy areas. They were average people who had diligent financial rules and accumulated wealth that way.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a great summary of the book <a href=\"https:\/\/fourminutebooks.com\/the-millionaire-next-door-summary\/\">here<\/a> and you can buy the book <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2R0sr35\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The key takeaways for this bit are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>cover off your&nbsp;<strong>essential<\/strong> expenses (no, Netflix is not essential). Essentials are things like food, rent\/mortgage, electricity, commuting expenses etc.<\/li>\n<li>understand where your money is going. Try creating a spreadsheet for yourself or download an app like Money Dashboard (on <a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.mdb.mdbandroid&amp;hl=en_GB\">Android<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/gb\/app\/money-dashboard-budget-planner\/id854499058\">Apple<\/a>). This will visually help you;<\/li>\n<li>set aside a day each month to check your finances (using your spreadsheet or Money Dashboard or whatever). Make it a habit, get your spouse involved if you are married. It will help you both. Money is a big cause of arguments, potentially serious ones \u2013 so it\u2019s good if you\u2019re both on the same page. It\u2019s not helpful if one person out of the couple \u201chandles all the finances\u201d and the other person is just in the dark. It also makes it easier when you need to make hard decisions like cutting spending;<\/li>\n<li>build an emergency fund of at least 1 month\u2019s essential outgoings to cover a worst-case scenario like job loss;<\/li>\n<li>if you have fallen into any haram, high-interest debt (particularly if it puts your home or anything at risk) then start a plan to pay this down regularly;<\/li>\n<li>really and truly analyse all your outgoings and call into question anything non-essential. Cull it if you can.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This step is really all about just getting a proper understanding of your financial picture. You should know, pretty much to the penny, what your essential expenses are after this.<\/p>\n<p>In my experience, here\u2019s where a lot of people fall down. If you can identify with any of these, then take stock:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Car Leasing. Look, I know it\u2019s nice to have an E-Class in the drive. And I know it only costs \u00a3400 per month \u2013 you can easily afford that! But car leasing only makes sense in some pretty rare circumstances.To my mind, you\u2019re better off: (a) if you really want a fancy car, buy one that\u2019s 2-3 years old that\u2019s great spec and in great condition but only if you\u2019re going to keep it for a long time; or(b) put aside your pretences and buy an older, cheaper car. Not a rubbish car. But a sensible one. I bought a 2007 Audi A6 in Jan 2016 that cost me \u00a34,950. Even if it only lasts 4 years (1 month to go at the time of writing) in total and I receive nothing back for it, it will have cost me \u00a3103pm.I know you\u2019re going to throw the repairs and other expenses cost back at me but I\u2019ve not had anything major alhamdulillah.In reality, I\u2019d probably get around \u00a31.5k \u2013 2k back for it I think, so if it lasts me just 4 years, it will have cost me \u00a361-\u00a371 per month excluding my maintenance costs (which I admittedly haven\u2019t been tracking but aren\u2019t anything out of the average).In the equivalent period for a lease, I\u2019d have probably paid out at least \u00a314,400 (assuming a \u00a3300 lease per month and not even including any maintenance, admin costs or the up-front (non-refundable) deposit etc).Thinking about it now, that extra \u00a310k or so liquidity is what helped my wife to buy her small business. A business which is an <strong>income-producing<\/strong> asset, not 4 wheels on a drive depreciating away.I\u2019m not saying leasing cars is wrong, I\u2019m just saying think through the process fully and make choices with your head, not because you want to look good in your car.<\/li>\n<li>Holidays. They\u2019re great. I love them. But sometimes there are times you have to tighten the belt and understand that the \u00a33k you\u2019re about to spend on that holiday may be better served paying down some debt or something more boring. They\u2019re on the luxury end of the spectrum.<\/li>\n<li>General needless expenses. We all incur them, and they\u2019re part of the fabric of life. Contrary to what it sounds like, I\u2019m not saying we shout live like hermits. But maybe limit those \u00a3100 per head meals to once a quarter instead of monthly or half-yearly instead of quarterly. Perhaps don\u2019t get a takeaway every week this month. Or cut down on the daily coffee shop trips. It\u2019s all food-related stuff that\u2019s come to me there but there will be other types of needless expense too.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>You should now have a picture of how much is left after all these&nbsp;<strong>essential<\/strong> expenses.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"l-section wpb_row height_small\">\n<div class=\"l-section-h i-cf\">\n<div class=\"g-cols vc_row type_default valign_top\">\n<div class=\"vc_col-sm-12 wpb_column vc_column_container\">\n<div class=\"vc_column-inner\">\n<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column\">\n<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n<h2>Step 1: pay off urgent debts\/build your emergency fund<\/h2>\n<p>To continue the cricket analogy (sorry non-cricket fans), this is the start of your innings. The first few deliveries where you\u2019re trying to gauge the pace and bounce of the wicket. And trying to avoid a golden duck.<\/p>\n<p>As a Muslim, there\u2019s two really important reasons we should worry about debt:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>the Prophet (SAW) warned heavily about debt:<em>The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) refrained from offering the funeral prayer for one who had died owing two dinars, until Abu Qataadah (may Allaah be pleased with him) promised to pay it off for him. When he saw him the following day and said, I have paid it off, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: \u201cNow his skin has become cool for him.\u201d Musnad Ahmad (3\/629); classed as hasan by al-Nawawi in al-Khalaasah (2\/931) and by Ibn Muflih in al-Adaab al-Shar\u2019iyyah (1\/104). (<a href=\"https:\/\/islamqa.info\/en\/answers\/71183\/seriousness-of-debt\">Source<\/a>)<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Sometimes, our debts are unfortunately interest-bearing. The paying and receiving of interest is of course strictly forbidden in Islam.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>With that backdrop, I\u2019m deviating from the Reddit flowchart a little here. My preference here Islamically is to prioritise paying off debt, in particular anything that\u2019s interest-bearing.<\/p>\n<p>If you have borrowed from family and friends, without any interest, then that is less urgent. But as a matter of general principle, you should have a plan in place for this too. Even if they are lenient about when to return the money, it\u2019ll be a big monkey off your back once you\u2019ve got a plan in place to get it sorted.<\/p>\n<p>My practical advice here is as follows in a list of potential options:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Set up regular direct debits that you can commit to. If you are paying off interest-bearing debt, at least you\u2019re on a path to getting those out of the way. If you are paying off family and friends, at least they know repayment is occurring. You\u2019ll probably feel some relief too.<\/li>\n<li>If your debt relates to family and friends, a slightly higher-risk move would be to set aside a monthly payment, but invest it. For example, you could set up a Wahed account (if you do, then please use our <a href=\"https:\/\/campaign.wahedinvest.com\/ifg\">link<\/a> as it helps us), and put the regular payments in there knowing that the money will be put to work. If you go for an equities fund (i.e. a fund that invests in the stock market \u2013 usually the aggressive\/very aggressive strategy for Wahed), then you may well grow the money over the course of a year by 7% or so.The risk here though is that you don\u2019t spend enough time in the market to get your returns (e.g. you invest and the stock market has a bad year or a stagnant year). Stock market investments tend to work best when you\u2019re leaving it for a while. So if it\u2019s just a short-term path to repayment (a year or less), then probably easier to stick to cash.But if it\u2019s longer-term, definitely look into investment. You should speak to the person to whom you owe money about this first though \u2013 and you should be prepared to cover the losses if the investment goes south.<\/li>\n<li>Sort your will out. That hadith above is enough to spark action. I\u2019d want to be recording within the will \u2013 or in a separate document \u2013 all my debts. And then make sure your executors pay them off from your estate, or that a family member is kind enough to cover them.Our very own wills service means you can do your Islamic will at home in 30 minutes. It\u2019s suitable for the majority of people in the UK, compliant with English and Islamic law and costs just \u00a398. Check it out <a href=\"https:\/\/wills.islamicfinanceguru.com\">here<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Alongside that, just make sure you are building a small emergency pot to make sure you can cover your fixed outgoings in case you lose your job or something drastic like that.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"l-section wpb_row height_small\">\n<div class=\"l-section-h i-cf\">\n<div class=\"g-cols vc_row type_default valign_top\">\n<div class=\"vc_col-sm-12 wpb_column vc_column_container\">\n<div class=\"vc_column-inner\">\n<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column\">\n<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n<h2>Step 2: short-term goals<\/h2>\n<p>Once you\u2019ve covered off step 1, you start turning your mind to your short-term goals. Hajj? House? Wedding? Kitchen renovation?<\/p>\n<p>This is the part of your innings where you\u2019re \u201cgetting in\u201d. Trying to get to that 30 runs or so where you\u2019re well set.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a few things on a Muslim\u2019s mind depending on the stage of life you are at. Generally speaking, younger people tend to have more typical short-term goals (particularly buying a house). As people accomplish these goals, you either start to have different short-term goals (e.g. buying a business, improving your house, etc) or you go to step 3 \u2013 long-term goals.<\/p>\n<p><strong>So have a think now \u2013 do you have a short-term goal? If no, go to step 3. If yes, keep reading.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not rocket science to say that short-term goals require saving up. There\u2019s little more to it than that. Just set aside a certain monthly amount from your salary. <strong>If you\u2019re saving for a house deposit, check out the IFG top tip later on.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Practical tip:<\/strong> the way I have historically saved for short-term goals is in a separate joint bank account that my wife and I have. We conduct our day-to-day financial lives in our own separate bank accounts and don\u2019t mingle them (I\u2019ll cover why in detail in a separate article). But when we are saving for a short-term goal, particularly one we are both contributing to, then the visibility of a separate bank account that starts from zero and builds up is nice.<\/p>\n<p>At this point of the savings journey, the Reddit flowchart suggests finding the highest-paying interest savings account for these short-term cash savings. Of course we can\u2019t do that as Muslims!<\/p>\n<p>What is a Muslim to do then to get a return on cash savings and get to the goal quicker? The key here is to make sure that whatever you do, you can <strong>quickly<\/strong> and <strong>easily<\/strong> take your cash back out. A few ideas (feel free to contribute more ideas in the comments):<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Low risk<\/strong>: open up a sharia-compliant savings account. Just make sure that you can take out the cash quick enough. E.g. you don\u2019t want a 6-month notice account if you know you\u2019ll need the cash at much quicker notice.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Medium risk:<\/strong> invest in a sukuk fund (via Wahed). Note: sukuk funds are generally considered low-ish risk but I\u2019m putting in the medium risk category here because there\u2019s a risk that the value of the fund will go down and because you might only have your money in for a short time, you wouldn\u2019t get a chance to stay invested long enough for it to recuperate.<\/li>\n<li><strong>High risk<\/strong>: invest in short-term sharia-compliant loans to businesses. This has existed for a while on the mainstream side where individuals can lend to businesses. But we\u2019ve seen some activity on the Islamic side too. You can get great returns with this investment class (1%-1.5% per month) but it\u2019s higher risk than the other options I\u2019ve mentioned. We don\u2019t invest in this ourselves yet, but when we do we will let you know. Click here to <a href=\"https:\/\/islamicfinanceguru.typeform.com\/to\/FkU8P2\">register<\/a> interest in investing in this sort of thing and we\u2019ll let you know when we have any updates in this area.<\/li>\n<\/ol><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"w-message color_green with_icon\">\n<div class=\"w-message-icon\">\n        <i class=\"far fa-star\">&nbsp;<\/i>\n       <\/div>\n<div class=\"w-message-body\">\n<p><strong>IFG Tip<\/strong>: if you are saving for a deposit as a first-time buyer, set up a LISA. Read our article on how to make sure it\u2019s halal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.islamicfinanceguru.com\/personal-finance\/is-a-lisa-halal-or-haram\/\">here<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"l-section wpb_row height_medium\">\n<div class=\"l-section-h i-cf\">\n<div class=\"g-cols vc_row type_default valign_top\">\n<div class=\"vc_col-sm-12 wpb_column vc_column_container\">\n<div class=\"vc_column-inner\">\n<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column\">\n<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n<h2>Step 3: long-term planning<\/h2>\n<p>In cricket terms, this is what gets you to the century and beyond!<\/p>\n<p>Ok so there\u2019s a few really key things here. But the key principles to remember are that&nbsp;<strong>time is your advantage<\/strong> and you just cannot beat&nbsp;<strong>consistent, long-term<\/strong> actions when it comes to saving and investing.<\/p>\n<h3>Step 3.1: get into your workplace pension<\/h3>\n<p>Pensions are such a quick and easy win that I feel so disheartened when I hear people opt out of them. Why do Muslims opt out? Two reasons I hear all the time: 1) They\u2019re haram (or I\u2019m not sure if they are), 2) I need the money now.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Here\u2019s why both those reasons are wrong.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Firstly, a workplace pension, like an ISA, is just a label. It\u2019s like saying drinks are haram. No, it depends on what\u2019s in the bottle.&nbsp;<strong>Workplace pensions are halal as long as what the provider is investing in for you is halal<\/strong>. So get on the blower to your workplace pension provider and tell them to put you into a sharia-compliant fund. If they don\u2019t do that for you, get in touch with us. We\u2019ll have a chat to them.<\/p>\n<p>The second objection about needing money is a more compelling argument. I can accept this, but only in about 0.5% of cases to be honest. Like if there\u2019s a short-term need for that liquidity for some emergency. But if it\u2019s just because you prefer to see the money now than tuck away for your future, then you need to get out of that mindset quickly.<\/p>\n<p>The reasons pensions are such a no-brainer is because of the employer matching your contribution. This varies from employer to employer but the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk\/en\/employers\/managing-a-scheme\/contributions-and-funding#d9863d32d08e432789c921bed8428527\">minimum statutory<\/a> is enough. If you contribute 5% of your&nbsp;<strong>pre-tax<\/strong> salary, then your employer matches 3% of it. So if you earn \u00a34k per month pre-tax, you\u2019re committing \u00a3200 and your employer puts in \u00a3120. That\u2019s an immediate return on your investment of 60%! Name me another asset class that does that.<\/p>\n<p>Not only that, that \u00a3320 then goes into an investment (which you\u2019ve made sure is sharia-compliant). The stats tell us that stock markets average around 7% a year. So let\u2019s do some quick calculations to understand the power of what we are achieving here. This is assuming your salary and everything stays the same, so this scenario is conservative.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a3320 goes in your pension every month as outlined above. That\u2019s \u00a33,840 per annum.<\/li>\n<li>Over 35 years you save \u00a3134,400. But you\u2019ve only contributed \u00a384,000 of that.<\/li>\n<li>And because the money has been invested (assuming a 7% annual return), guess how much your final balance is? \u00a3550k.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Have a play around with this calculator to understand. Just be sure to change the compound frequency to annual if you are basing it on annual returns (which we are in my example).<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"w-separator size_small\">\n       &nbsp;\n      <\/div>\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column\">\n<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n<p>All that with \u00a384k of your money. This is what I mean about consistent, long-term actions being the key!<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column\">\n<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n<h2><strong>Step 3.2: long-term investments<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>If you\u2019ve got your pension sorted, you can focus on other long-term investments. What you go for completely depends on how much money you\u2019ve got and the risk appetite you\u2019ve got. But you should be building a&nbsp;<strong>diversified portfolio<\/strong>. That just means that you should have your eggs in a few different baskets and dump all your money into one investment.<\/p>\n<p>In particular, it means investing into different&nbsp;<strong>types<\/strong> of investment and risk profiles. Again, your percentage allocations will depend on your own risk appetite, and they\u2019ll probably change over time too. For example, whilst I\u2019m quite young, I\u2019m deploying a large percentage of my capital into buying small businesses. That\u2019s risky though, and it\u2019ll change over time.<\/p>\n<p>What you need to understand here are the ideas that you can go for. I\u2019ll bullet point some, and then give you a couple of resources that will help you.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Open a stocks and shares ISA<\/strong> and invest in either halal funds or directly into companies. If you want to invest directly into companies but you\u2019re not sure how to make sure they\u2019re halal, it\u2019s worth investing into our course that tells you exactly how to do it properly (don\u2019t rely on automated calculators):&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/courses.islamicfinanceguru.com\/p\/a-jargon-free-walkthrough-on-how-to-make-sure-a-stock-is-halal\">https:\/\/courses.islamicfinanceguru.com\/p\/a-jargon-free-walkthrough-on-how-to-make-sure-a-stock-is-halal<\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong>Invest in property<\/strong> either directly yourself or through a hassle-free platform like Yielders.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Invest in start-ups<\/strong> and make potentially astronomical returns if you catch the next Deliveroo or similar. We do start-up investing ourselves \u2013 sign up <a href=\"https:\/\/islamicfinanceguru.typeform.com\/to\/VqPvtP\">here<\/a> if you want to invest alongside us.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There\u2019s loads of potential ideas here but these are three key ones that I like mainly because they offer varying risk. Property is the safest of the three, the stock market is the medium risk, and start-up investing is high risk.<\/p>\n<p>Two resources I\u2019d recommend:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Our own halal investing page because it summarises things nicely and clearly signposts you \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.islamicfinanceguru.com\/halal-investments\/\">link<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Our halal investing course because if you are serious about building a portfolio it is worth investing in yourself to get your head in the right place \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/courses.islamicfinanceguru.com\/p\/halal-investing-for-busy-professionals\">link<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"l-section wpb_row height_medium\">\n<div class=\"l-section-h i-cf\">\n<div class=\"g-cols vc_row type_default valign_top\">\n<div class=\"vc_col-sm-12 wpb_column vc_column_container\">\n<div class=\"vc_column-inner\">\n<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column\">\n<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n<h2>What\u2019s your next step?<\/h2>\n<p>It\u2019s all well and good for me to bleat on about a financial plan for 2022, but it means nothing if you don\u2019t act on it.<\/p>\n<p>Tell me in the comments below or direct via email \u2013 what is your next step?<\/p>\n<p>Do you disagree with anything? Any further suggestions? Lay it all out, I want to hear from you!<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s really easy to get overwhelmed when thinking about your finances. As a result, you end up not really doing very much planning at all and staying stuck in a financial rut with no real plan. I want 2022 to be your year. So I set myself a challenge. To come up with an easy-to-follow [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":7239,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","wds_primary_category":0},"categories":[8],"tags":[33],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.islamicfinanceguru.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7238"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.islamicfinanceguru.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.islamicfinanceguru.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.islamicfinanceguru.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.islamicfinanceguru.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.islamicfinanceguru.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.islamicfinanceguru.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.islamicfinanceguru.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.islamicfinanceguru.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.islamicfinanceguru.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}