A LITTLE MONEY HOMEWORK...

Money, money, money!

I need it and so do you. We all have bills to pay and things we'd love to acquire. Places we'd like to travel to or businesses we'd like to start. Without money we really can't buy or pay for something we want.

For many money is an enigma and an intriguing thing. One moment we have a bit, the next moment that bit has gone...and we can't really say where it went! In this article today, I will try and give you a little help on how best to account for the little money you have and how to possibly ensure you stop losing so much every time. It's just a simple homework.

Every year for the past seven years, I've always had a target of savings I would love to have by December 31st. Because I've always been aware of the reality that money speedily leaves my hands to deal with a myriad of things, I realized that if I wasn't careful I would end up having little or nothing by the end of the year and subsequently nothing to kick-off the new year. I couldn't really explain why my money was always either not enough or even non-existent by year end! 

So I came up with a plan to first of all track all the money I was making and all the money I was spending. I realized it was the only way I could be close to being certain as to how my money was moving. And to do that I got myself a book, which I now demarcated  into half. The first section was to record every  money that entered my hands, whether as salary, a loan, a gift or from any small business I must have done. And the second section was to similarly record every money that left my hands irrespective of what I spent it on or to whom I gave money to; as long as it left my hands, it entered that section.

If you're able to do likewise, what will become very glaring to you as it was for me, is that quite a lot of money actually passes through your hands in a whole year, but because the money doesn't come to you in one major bulk, you rarely realize that some good money had been in your possession over time. But once you can as much as you can keep a record of every naira and kobo that comes into your possession, you see it clearly. When I did it, I was pretty surprised at how much went through my hands in one whole year! You should do the same thing with the second half of the book, recording as much as you can all the money you spend no matter what it is spent on.

Collating both what comes in and what goes out on a monthly basis helps you to have a good idea of how you're using your money, and then you can now critically look at the things you've been spending money on and ask yourself if you truly need to spend money on them. There's a good possibility that you will see and identify a few items that you really could do without and that you may just need to stop wasting money on. And once you're able to do that, money usually spent in that direction on a steady monthly basis will stop going there and can now be saved every month. Imagine being able to identify one N20,000 somewhere that you spend monthly (as was in my own case) that you really don't have to...in 12 months that will be a whopping N240,000 saved!!!!

The pleasant surprise that gave me further emboldened my resolve to continue keeping my records and subsequently helped me to identify some unnecessary spending habits of mine, which further helped me to put a stop to such spending, and instead redirect such money into savings.

I really think you should try this for yourself because the inherent reward is quite immense and very satisfying. You will be surprised to find out that you've always had the money you anxiously always look for in all your daily or monthly hustles.

P.S.

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Thanks.