HOW TOBE MONEY-WISE

Have you ever noticed that no matter how much money you seem to make
there is never enough? Do you wonder why you never seem to get ahead
financially? Have you ever taken an assessment of your relationship
with money? This will determine where the problem might be. Then
together, we can diagnose your financial disease and develop a plan of
care to treat it and cure it.

Identify your Needs
You need many things in life including food, shelter, clothing and
education. Needs are those things that you cannot live without or that
living without would cause hardship and distress. Knowing whether
something is a need or a want is important since your perception will
determine whether you spend your money on it or not.

There was a time – not so long ago - when there were no cellular
phones or E-mail – and we managed, just the same. New technology is
created to make things easier and enhance the quality of your life.
But technology doesn't eat a hole in your wallet or put you into debt
– you do that when you choose to purchase things you cannot afford.

Many people feel they deserve to "treat" themselves to expensive items
or spend money they don't have on living a lifestyle they have yet to
earn. They charge these "rewards" on borrowing. But there are costs
for borrowing money, besides the fees and the interest, you experience
the stress of being in debt and you are living a lie. And yes, you
still need to pay the money back for those expensive things that you
purchased.

As you know, companies use advertising to market their products. The
role of advertising is to create "needs" for the things that you
"want" which influences purchasing behavior. It's your job to decide
whether each new product is something you really need, something that
will make your life easier or add to the quality of your life or,
whether it's something you can continue to live without.

The amount of money you have to spend is finite; everything in life is
a trade off. If you are going to spend your money on one thing today
then this becomes money that is not available for saving or for
purchasing more important items in the future. Just as you prioritize
your time, learn to prioritize your spending. Before you make a
purchase, ask yourself whether the item is a need or a want and decide
accordingly.

Use Cash Only
Accept responsibility for your financial situation and change your
spending patterns. Reward yourself by purchasing items with good old
cash and developing a savings plan. A couple of things will happen.
You will think twice before you spend your cash and you will start
building a reserve of money to support you for a "rainy day". Not to
mention, you will have the ability to save more for your retirement.

Identify your spending habits by writing down every naira you spend
for a week or two. Identify how much you're spending, on what and
where your money is going. Eliminate all unnecessary spending such as
unnecessary phone calls, unneeded gadgets, and wasteful purchases.
Return items you will never use. Examine every bill you pay; is there
any way to lower your bills – perhaps eliminating a luxury item?

Put money back in your pocket by identifying areas to cut back. My
clients have found hundreds of naira that they were able to cut back –
a week! Make a game of it and include those in your family.

Owe No Man!
Eliminating debt is an important part of the process. Debt is created
from many sources: a spending addiction, living a lifestyle beyond
your means, being driven by wants, impulse buying and a lack of
respect for your money.

Save For A Rainy Day
Open a savings account and start saving 10-20 percent of your
earnings. If you can, have the money deducted automatically out of
your pay cheque. Take pride in saving your money; after all, you are
working hard to earn it.

Imagine your bright financial future with plenty of extra money and no
longer living hands-to-mouth. Imagine having #1,000,000 in the bank.
How would that feel? What about #5,000,000 or #10,000,000? You might
think it's impossible, but all it takes is learning to make better
choices. It's about learning to exercise the proper respect for your
money. It's not the big-ticket items that are the problem; you
carefully plan for those purchases. It's the small, day-to-day
purchases that are stealing your financial freedom away. What is
#100,000 anyway? It's one hundred thousand of those little one-naira
bills!

The path to financial freedom lies before you. You have the power to
take responsibility for your money and to make better choices. Take
control of your current financial situation by becoming aware of your
spending habits and patterns. This will empower you to shift from a
spending mentality to a saving mentality and start you on the path to
building wealth. Then, you can develop financial goals and create a
financial plan to keep you focused on creating financial reserves.
It's your choice - choose to make better financial decisions, one
naira at a time.