Verified local facts
Create a chronology of cash actually received, with date, amount, source, currency and evidence status. Separate repeatable receipts from exceptional windfalls, borrowed inflows and unresolved promises. Choose an evidenced low-income month that is relevant to the current pattern; do not manufacture one by applying a haircut to an average. Place the proposed instalment and its due date beside essential costs and current commitments in that month. Then examine receipt timing, delayed receipts and repeated weak periods without turning them into a numerical rule. The output is a conservative household scenario, not a provider score or forecast.
Evidence and limitations
Use dated receipt records and household outflow records covering the period the reader can genuinely support. No minimum number of months is asserted. Keep gaps visible and explain whether a source is seasonal, project-based, commission-based or otherwise variable only when the reader's records establish it. Obtain the exact proposed payment, dates, fees and conditions from a current written quotation or schedule. The Reserve Bank's rights material supports accurate information and clarification; its framework says a regulated entity should assess ability to repay from the customer's current situation. Neither turns a historical receipt into guaranteed future income.
Questions before signing
Averages, best months and annual totals can smooth away the timing problem that causes a missed payment. A rigid haircut creates different false precision: without evidence, the selected percentage is arbitrary. A long history may be stale, while a short history may miss seasonality; the page cannot resolve that by declaring a universal period. Another error is treating irregular income as automatic ineligibility or approval evidence. Only the provider can explain its criteria for a particular application. The household test asks a narrower question: whether the full documented obligation remains manageable in an observed weak period without displacing essentials or relying on new debt.
Decision checklist
Label the scenario supported, incomplete or unable to absorb the proposed payment in the observed low month. Record why the selected month is relevant and which receipts were excluded as exceptional. If a material income source lacks evidence, a payment date is unknown or a charge is missing, stop and obtain the record rather than filling a value. Possible next steps include waiting for a clearer record, reducing the need, asking the provider for a different written scenario, changing timing where genuinely available or adding no new debt. Do not convert this classification into an approval prediction or a statement about product availability.
Build an evidence chronology, not an average
List each cash receipt with its date, amount, source, currency and supporting record. Mark exceptional, borrowed, reversed or unresolved inflows so they cannot silently become recurring income. Group entries into the same periods as the proposed personal loan payment, but retain the actual receipt dates. An average may be a descriptive note; it must not replace the chronology. The Reserve Bank's consumer-rights material says consumers should provide accurate and up-to-date information. That supports reliable records, not a required format or a promise that a provider will accept the household's classification of income.
Select an observed low-income month
Choose a low-income month that appears in the dated record and explain why it is relevant to the current earning pattern. Do not invent a percentage reduction from an average, assume the lowest possible future income or prescribe how many months must be reviewed. If the available record does not contain a credible weak period, label the scenario incomplete. Exclude an exceptional windfall only with a visible reason and retain it in the chronology. This low-month selection is a Credizen editorial stress-test method. The Reserve Bank does not publish this method, a standard history period or a mandatory income haircut.
Align receipts with the actual due date
Place each receipt date beside the quoted first payment, regular due date and any different final date. A month may contain enough total cash but still produce a gap if money arrives after the instalment. Record essential costs and existing commitments on their due dates as well. Do not move a receipt earlier or a payment later unless the written proposal permits that timing. RBZ says consumers should receive clear, updated information about features and financial obligations and should obtain clarification where needed. That supports requesting the missing schedule; it does not authorise the page to assume a grace period or payment-date flexibility.
Run the low-month household test
Use only the selected month's verified receipts, then protect its essential costs and current commitments before entering the full documented personal loan payment and separately collected charges. Keep each currency separate and leave an unknown charge blank. The result shows whether that observed month has a gap under the reader's records. It is not a forecast of the next weak month, a universal affordability ratio or a lender decision. RBZ defines over-indebtedness in relation to resources being insufficient for commitments without lowering living standards and warns against borrowing beyond repayment capacity. It does not provide the arithmetic inputs for this household.
Test volatility without a fabricated threshold
Review whether low receipts occurred more than once, whether timing moved across payment dates and whether essential costs also changed. Describe the observed pattern in words and dates. Do not declare that a particular number of weak months, a percentage variation or a fixed reserve makes borrowing safe. If a delay would require another loan to meet the instalment, record that dependency as a stop signal. The RBZ bulletin lists continuous borrowing, arrears, high repayments relative to income and debt becoming a burden among signs of over-indebtedness. It states no numerical threshold in this guidance, and its microfinance-specific passages must remain qualified.
Record a conservative decision and its limits
State the selected low month, the evidence dates, excluded exceptional receipts, the quoted payment and every unresolved field. A supported result means the method can be reproduced, not that the provider will approve or the income will repeat. An incomplete result identifies missing history, timing or loan terms. An unable-to-absorb result shows that the recorded weak period would displace a protected cost or rely on new borrowing. Preserve the option to wait or add no debt. If circumstances or the quotation change, create a dated new scenario. Never describe irregular income alone as disqualifying, safe or predictive of availability.