THE PROBLEM WITH MY MONEY

Have you ever been in a situation where you wanted to embark on a project so you decided to either save towards it or borrow money from somewhere or someone for it, only for you to have the said needed money for the project and later discover that you could no longer do the project because the money is either no longer enough or no longer available? And your next reaction may be to start wondering what the problem is with money that it just wouldn't stay in your hands? You conclude that you may never be able to embark on that project because you may never have enough money. If only you had more money than your original estimate.

Or you work quite assiduously to earn a living every month but your eventual take-home never seems to be enough. If only you had more money than you currently earn. Ah…there must be something wrong with money. It must prefer some people more than you. Money must run in the veins and families of others and not in yours. How come others can have it the way they want and you can’t? All you have are bag of stories to tell of how you didn't have enough for this or for that, or how you really can’t afford this or that because you don’t have enough. There must be a problem with money.

You are right. The problem with money is you!

Surprised? Please, don’t be. Haven’t you noticed that money can never leave your hand without your permission except it is taken away from you by force? Money cannot stand up from where you left it and walk away except you remove it from there yourself or if someone else does without your knowledge. Money will always move in the direction that it is made to move to. Nothing less, nothing more. Money doesn't spend itself to buy things, you do. Money doesn't spend itself to pay for anything, you do. Money doesn't spend itself to pay for a car, house, trinkets, jewelry, or anything else, you do.

The biggest problem with money is actually its owner or handler because it will ALWAYS take the likeness of the person in whose possession it is. Before you start protesting, please take this to heart…there are those who seemingly have very little compared to others yet they seem to be achieving more with the little they have. No matter the amount of money you have, you must take responsibility for it because EVERY amount of money has VALUE. When you recognize that every amount of money has value, you will treat it more with respect. And once you start doing that, the money in your hands naturally will take your likeness and subsequently also treat you with respect. If you stop being a problem, so also will your money. Change the way you look at money to change the way you treat money, and you are very well much on your way to riches and wealth.

And one of the best ways to show your respect for money is to put in place a structure or platform that will allow it to flow in the possible right way. My suggested structure is a BUDGET. And you need to make the effort to have a personal working budget; you owe yourself and your money that much.

With a very good budget in place, your money will only go to where it's meant to go. If you set up one that you will make concerted efforts to respect, you are guaranteed that your money will be safe. Don't forget what I said earlier....that, "Money can never leave your hand without your permission except it is taken away from you by force." So, control your money by preparing a budget; it's the right structure your money needs in order for it to be safe.

Please note that a budget is not just meant for the Federal, State or Local Governments in your country but for everyone who truly wants to have a sound sleep every night without the worry burdens of insufficient funds to live on. And a good budget helps you to shut the door on unnecessary spending and helps to open doors of opportunities instead.

The budget doesn't kill; it just helps trim your financial health and helps to give your finances some good balance. And with it, you can easily take proper stock of your income, expenses and cash flow (which is the reason for most of our headaches anyway, when we can't lay hands on ready cash to sort out what we determine as immediate or urgent needs.

So, the problem with money isn't money itself but you...as well as your lack of a good budget structure that will help you effectively control your money.

Please take out some quality time to pause and ponder on these thoughts. We shall continue next week.

WHERE IS MY MONEY? (PART 2)

Money, money, money.

Every one of us, it seems, must have an encounter with its intriguing personality. We all need it, and it affects all of us one way or another, whether directly or indirectly. And without doubt its powers and abilities are endless. It pays bills and buys things. It runs governments, businesses and other organisations with the non-profit making appellative. Some believe they need it (and plenty of it as a matter-of-fact) for their lives to be very comfortable. Others need it to show their power and class. Others need it just to get by for a while, at least. You know what I mean, because even you need it.

Does everyone, however, deserve to have money? Stupid question, you think? Maybe, maybe not. But you still need to ask yourself that question…if you actually deserve to have money. And if your most likely answer is yes, ask yourself why you think so.

And why am I even saying so? It’s pretty simple, really. Some of us don’t deserve to have money because it is not just an item that we must have, but something that we must respect; and some of us, quite frankly, don’t respect it. Our lack of respect for it is arguably one of the main reasons we hardly have it, and not just because we don’t have the dream job or dream business or dream contract or dream whatever else that should guarantee us a steady supply of money. Our lack of respect for money makes our handling of it careless and so money in turn reacts carelessly towards us.

The personality of money, I keep saying, is intriguing. In fact, money is neither good nor bad, careful or careless. Instead, it always takes on the personality of the person in whose hands it is. Money x-rays and amplifies itself in us. And the way we handle it is the way it will behave.

Money doesn’t buy things, people do. Money of itself can’t deliberately waste itself or invest itself, people do. So before you start stammering again about not having money and how if you had you would do this and achieve that, please take out some time and look at yourself again. Don’t look at money, look at yourself.

So that you know, money can never leave your hand without your permission except it is taken away from you by force. Think about it. If you keep your money anywhere, except someone else takes it or moves it without your permission, you will still come back to meet it where you kept it. Money will always obey its owner, it will always obey you. Money is very loyal and never causes problems for its owner. That means you are solely responsible for how money has moved in your hands over time regardless of how small or inadequate you may feel it is. Handling money is like driving. The fact that you can move a car from one point to another does not mean that you can drive. For you to be classified as driving, there are rules. You must respect every other road user, you must keep to your lane, you must adhere to speed limits rules, etc. In like manner, having money isn’t about volume, never about having it in millions or billions, because if you don’t know how to handle it properly, you will waste it. Money has its own rules too and when you properly operate them, then you have money. That is why someone may be earning Fifty Thousand Naira (Nigerian currency) and will be comfortable compared to someone who possibly is earning One Hundred Thousand Naira or more.

So, the way money works in your mind is the way it will work in your hands. If your mind is filled with the spending and wasting mechanism, that’s how your money will perform; and if your mind is thrifty and much more careful at spending, that’s exactly how your money will perform. The problem, therefore, with money isn’t money itself but the person in whose hands it is.

In truth, we really can’t have everything or buy everything because we really don’t need everything. Some people buy on impulse, others just crave to buy, spend, buy, spend, because they feel that their status in society seriously depends on it. It’s an incredulous way of thinking but it’s pretty rampant in our society today. We are so caught up in the desire to impress others who may or may not be bothered with our impressions anyway. I have always asked myself, “Why should I spend money I don’t have to buy what I don’t need in order to impress people I don’t like? (and who MOST LIKELY DON’T LIKE ME EITHER!!!!!!). It’s a terrible life to live and an unnecessary pressure to carry. But some allow themselves to be under such pressure and inevitably make decisions that now negatively impact on their money.

So, where is my money? My money is inside my head, inside my mind. Whatever my mind says, my money does. We must therefore learn how to control the things happening inside our minds and consequently control the money we have in our hands.

WHERE IS MY MONEY?

One of the trickiest things to handle and manage in this life is money. Because of its essential nature, everyone of us need it...to buy things, to pay for our education or for others under our care, to pay for a vacation, to pay our landlords or get our own houses in order to avoid sleeping in the rain or under the bridge, to have a steady supply of food in the house or to be able to afford it whenever we need to eat, to handle health-related matters...settling of hospital bills and the like, to acquire that car we say will help cushion the stress of transportation in our city, etc. The list is endless. And for all of the above and more to be possible, we all need a steady supply of money.

And this is where it gets tricky. For how do I ensure that I have steady money that's always available when I need it? I know for a fact that my monthly pay at that job of mine never seems to be enough to handle all my needs. My business may be thriving, yet still my dividend from it never seems to be enough to handle my needs. Money  is never enough in my hands, it seems, especially as am always in need of this and that and those. I enter every new year with great enthusiasm and expectations, dreaming of a special box of money that I can always go to whenever I need to settle any pressing need, yet somewhat I keep falling short, keep having disappointments. I dream of a better-paying job, or of winning a dream government contract that will change my financial world forever. 

Yet somehow, I can't explain why I hardly have enough money the way I dream of it, the way I see it in my mind. Sometimes I actually do have money coming into my custody, but I can't ever explain where it always goes. I get my dream job or start my dream business and see loads of money fraternizing with my bank account, yet I can't explain at the end of the month or the year what happened to it all. Where is my money?

Do you identify with the aforementioned or even have an experience that is close to it? Have you ever wondered how it is that you don't ever seem to have any luck with money? I have certainly often wondered why in the past (and, let me not lie, even at times now it still bothers me), and it led me to really search myself, made me to observe myself more and to critically watch how money moves in my hands. The little I came up with has helped me to make some adjustments that have also helped me to gradually improve my financial state. I strongly believe that you will benefit from them yourself and can go ahead to improve your own financial state too. So, if you will be kind enough to give me a few minutes of your precious time, I will show you what I found out and help push you in the possible right direction you need to go in order to find out where your money is.

Will you let me?

If you will, then be ready for the next part of this post... I will try to make it worth your while. I promise.