HEALTHY FINANCES

I don’t know about you, but almost all my life I've always envisaged having a very strong financial base that will ensure that I never have to worry about my next meal, or house rent, or electricity and water bill, or what to wear, etc. And without doubt, being able to handle issues that need financial solution helps to ease the pressure on one’s mind. It really helps.

Interestingly, I've come to find out that it’s not really about having a house full of money as it is about being able to handle whatever comes into your hand per time. And you must have heard me say before that money can never leave your hand without your permission except it is taken away from you by force. Please ponder on that statement for a little while. Money doesn't move around on its own except people make it to. If you leave it on your desk and step out of the room, you will come and meet it still there except someone else other than yourself has either moved it or taken it. So, without someone’s permission, money kept in a particular place will stay there. It will always obey the person in whose hands it finds itself. Money is just simply a tool.

On the backdrop of that, therefore, it’s very clear to me that am the one most responsible for my finances and not necessarily anyone or anything else. Yes, we can blame the economy or our family background or the kind of job we are presently doing or our spouses or whatever else, but when the power to make decisions concerning our finances lie with us, we actually have no excuse. All we really need is to develop personal healthy financial habits and we can be sure that in time we won’t be complaining much of not having enough money to handle this or that problem.

The first way, I believe, to healthy finances is that WE MUST ALL HAVE FINANCIAL BOUNDARIES. This is very compulsory. We must set an area within which we will operate our money. A budget is so very important yet many of us rarely give it a single thought. We somehow think it’s the exclusive preserve of Governments and companies in our country and around the world. Not so. A budget actually helps you to see first-hand how you fare with the money in your hand. And if you handle it properly, you can be sure you won’t have sorry stories to tell in future.

A budget isn't that complicated, and you don’t need to develop one in the magnitude of Governments and companies for yours to make sense. All you need is something very simple that captures your possible income and possible expenses over a period of time. It helps for planning over the next period and gives you some level of control. Yes, emergencies will occur, but that also can be factored into your budget.

Our budgets, if we do prepare them, fail basically because of a lack of commitment on our part to stick to our financial plan. We are often carried away by desires we hadn't originally factored into our budgets yet feel we desperately must assuage. I have often asked myself one question, “What if I really didn't have any money? Would I buy that item or spend on that matter normally?”  If your answer is sincere, you would notice that you may not so necessarily have any need for spending on that thing or issue at all. But our lack of commitment in this area is essentially fueled by either our ego or greed or some inordinate desire that really will not profit us in any way. I handle my ego on spending temptations by asking this question…. “Why must I buy something I don’t need with money I don’t have just because I want to impress people I don’t like?”

This is one very big cancer that bores into our finances and we rarely notice. I should know because I've been there before. Trust me, until you really get the financial freedom and independence you need that can help you handle certain expenses with ease, you have no business spending on a whim just because your ego says you must have a certain thing or look in a certain way so that certain people can give you a certain kind of respect. If that doesn't happen, you will always run into debt so that you can always keep up appearances. And that’s quite some tiresome venture, don’t you think?

Let’s get our commitment levels back in place. It’s the veritable place to start. And it doesn't matter if you've failed at having and keeping to a budget before, you just have to keep at it until it finally suits you well. Remember, you really have no point to prove to anyone (contrary to what some may think) because at the end of the day you’ll be the one who will either feel the comfort or the pain of your financial decisions.

Do kindly pause and ponder on these things....