I Act with us
Whatever your professional background, join these women and men who courageously help us to accompany, inform and morally, legally and socially support vulnerable households. Help those who help!
Here is our code of conduct
Whether you are an individual, a company, or a foundation, there are many possible areas available to you to empower our association and to grow solidarity and mutual aid with us.
If you wish to make a donation, please find here after Temida foundation's banking details, and a short reminder on tax exemptions for donations to NGO registered in public benefit in Bulgaria.
Companies as wel as individuals who are registered as sole proprietors, may recognize for tax purposes the costs for donations up to 10 % of their accounting profit .
Individuals have the right to deduct from their total annual tax base a relief for donations. The deductible amount is the amount of the donation itself made during the respective year, weheras it shall not exceed 5 % of the total annual tax base.
Beneficiary IBAN: BG45STSA93000027887847
Beneficiary's bank name: DSK Bank
Beneficiary's name : FPPS Temida
To share your experiences, send us your stories
Here some of our inspiring stories : the story of Lydia
The situation
Lydia, 52, is separated from her husband and mother of two teenagers. She has a stable job and feels her financial situation is in good shape ... until she does some math.
Lydia wondered if her personal finances were doing that well. After all, she spoiled herself a lot in 2020 and she "spent her emotions." First, she bought herself a new vehicle that now costs her BGN 500 per month, while the previous one was fully paid. She also spent a lot shopping online and also treated herself to a BGN 3,000 patio set, funded over three years without interest. All these credit purchases ended up weighing heavily on her budget.
PHASE 1: A revealing analysis
To find out, Lydia decided to put her bills in order to calculate the progress of her debt. She discovered the following:
As of December 31, 2018, she has a balance of BGN 4,522 on her three credit cards.
As of December 31, 2019, the balance is BGN 12,787 (+ BGN 8,265).
As of December 31, 2020, the balance is BGN 24,461 (+ BGN 11,674).
TOTAL: BGN 27,461 (including BGN 3,000 for her garden furniture).
She realizes that even though she religiously pays the minimum amount on her credit cards - BGN 733 per month, of which BGN 405 is interest only - at this rate, she will never be able to pay off her debts. “A lot of people think that as long as their credit card payments are up to date, everything is under control. However, it is the inventory of our debt balances that should rather guide us in assessing our financial situation, ". In Lydia's case, the analysis of her statements clearly shows that she is still paying for goods purchased in 2018, and even before. It is really time to give the bar a serious boost!
PHASE 2: After taking an inventory of your debts, the next step is to budget
“By adding her employment income to the benefits, Lydia gets BGN 4,600 monthly. In preparing her budget, we found that she is able to free up an amount of BGN 900 per month that she can devote to repaying her debts, ". She was also advised to ask her financial institution for a personal line of credit of BGN 30,000 in order to immediately repay the BGN 24,461 on her credit cards, on which the interest was 19.9%. Since the loan for her patio set is interest free, she will continue to pay it monthly.
PHASE 3: Keep the motivation
As a result, Lydia goes from interest charges of BGN 405 per month to just BGN 173 because the rate on her line of credit is lower than on her cards. “Plus, if she can stay the course by paying BGN 800 per month for her line of credit and BGN 100 for her patio furniture, in 35 months she will have paid off everything. Thereafter, her line of credit can serve as a safety cushion until she has put money aside for this purpose." She was also advised not to keep more than two credit cards and to eliminate the newer one, the older ones being more favorable to her credit report, but more importantly, to use them as payment tools, not credit.
Lessons learned
Growing your debt year after year or quarter after quarter is a sign that you are spending more than you are earning.
You don't have a financial cushion to deal with the unexpected. This is a real time bomb that will explode in the event of job loss, illness or major expense, for example.
You accumulate outstanding balances on your credit cards. In doing so, you are literally throwing your money away paying high interest month after month. A personal loan or line of credit costs less in interest.
You haven't made a budget. This is equivalent to sailing on sight in the fog, hoping not to encounter an obstacle in your path!