Tuesday 25 March 2014

DO YOU HAVE A PIG?


We've looked at at how to ensure we get our finances right by the way we think, because the way you think is responsible for the way you act. Therefore, how you handle money or what you do with it is mostly due to how you think. So, let me try and put this in your mind, if I can...

You need a pig!!!!

Yep! You heard me right. You need a pig. A money pig. A pig that helps you hold your excess money or change, if you have any. And you should have!!!! You must have!!!! If you choose not to have one, please stop complaining that you have no money.

The mentality of savings must be a top priority for you regardless of whether you are making regular income or not. You must entrench that habit into your mindset so that you don't get swept away when whatever you describe as good money eventually falls into your laps. So, my friend, get yourself a pig...a Savings Pig.



Aside from getting yourself hooked on a workable budget, which is very important if you must be financially free, the best way to even run that budget is to have all your spending organised into percentages. And do all you can to stick to those percentages no matter how your income fluctuates. It will do you a whole load of good.


I had my first encounter with the Savings Pig mentality as a young boy when my stepmother gave me a small raffia basket that we used as part of our sitting room decor at the time. I converted it into my own personal savings bank and often would actually put it on the pedestal above the window and many thought it was just a decor element in my room and hardly paid any attention to it. Risky, I know, but it was the only way I could disguise what it really was and what I was actually doing with it. It worked.

At the time, being pretty young, I didn't really understand money; I just wanted to have control over mine since I realized that my parents won't always give me money for what I craved for from time to time. And it always gave me satisfaction to see and know that I had money stashed away from the little pocket money my parents would give to me and my siblings for school every day. I used to pick out the very shiny coins from the money my parents gave me and dropped them inside my savings basket. It felt so good. 

Today am a whole lot more matured, more educated and obviously more enlightened and I've discovered that the best way to handle your money is to always have a percentage of it saved. The usual rule-of-thumb is to constantly put away between 10 - 15% of your income into your savings box or container or bank account or whatever else represents your Savings Pig to you. Please, hear me....you need to have your own pig. It's the best way to lock up some extra cash that will come in very handy for you in the future.




Nobody will ever plan your life for you except you yourself. Give this a pig a little test. It could save you more than you ever know. I still have my pig. It's no longer in the form of a small raffia basket but it still does the very same thing for me now as it used to many years ago. And am pretty glad indeed.


Monday 17 March 2014

LET IT FLOW!!!


I used to think that the true meaning of being wealthy is to have loads and loads and loads of money. You know, an abundance of it, so much so that I will never have to complain of not ever having enough; so much so that I can always afford what I desire and at any time I want. You agree with me, right?

But if I do have loads of money and I also have loads of spending power, it means buying becomes an effortless and unrestrained venture. And if I get to keep on spending anyhow I want, it means that I will most likely be spending as much as am making. Now, what kind of wealth would I have if am virtually spending almost all I have simply because I think I have plenty money?

A serious word of caution. Nothing is perfect in this life, especially you. And so to think that you're altogether super just because you've started making some steady flow of money is a very serious error. It's the mistake many have made. One moment they have tons of money and the people around them plus the world will no longer hear anything else than their wealth; the next moment they are down and out and they so earnestly pray that the people around them and the world would stop noticing their plight.

Wealth is not defined by how much you make but by how much you retain from how much you make. How much you retain is the pot of gold you can always rely on because it is there for you unlike the channels of making money that may not always be available for you. And this is where you need to try to hone your money making skills on...practice the art of retention.

In earlier posts I did speak about having a good budget and the great benefits that it carries. However, a budget only works based on two telling factors:

(1) Sticking as much as possible to the budget you have prepared
(2) Making sure you don't spend at any whim the difference between your income and your expense, which is a result of you sticking to your budget.

That difference is actually your Cash Flow. And it is what you need to really take care of what you need to take care of should the need ever arise. If you keep on spending at will just because you seemingly always have money coming in, you will never have the cash to fall back on or use when the need arises. Your ability to manage how you release what you make is the best way to always lock up your funds and ensure that you can always have money on your hands. It's no magic, just pure discipline applied.


The money you work hard yourself to make or save is the one you will value and take seriously, because you knew the sacrifices you made and the efforts it took to make that happen. It's time to stop dreaming and instead wake up to face reality because the last thing you want is to suddenly come up short and then realize that you goofed when you truly could have been a whole lot better of.


Guess what? I don't have much but am never broke. Now, why do you think that is?

Please, pause and ponder a little about this. It will save you loads of money headaches in future. That's a promise.

You are free to leave comments on this post and the others before it. Your feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.

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