The New Book That Is Coming....

Hi folks, I do know that I've been off the grid for quite a while now and so you've not been getting my posts as regularly as you would have loved to. My sincere apologies. I've been bugged down with quite a number of things, one of them being work on my new book (pictured above) which I'm hoping to release pretty soon. The book is actually a final manifestation of thoughts that have been festering inside my mind for at least five years. Finally, I've been able to sum everything up and put them down in what I believe will be a very handy and easy-to-read volume for everyone. I'm sure you will all enjoy it.

With that assignment now out of the way, I will be making concerted efforts to pick up from where I stopped and hope that it will be of positive value to all my ardent readers and followers on this page. Just pray for me.

Soon I will put up another thought-provoking post for you all. You won't have to wait long....

THE MINORITY REPORT

In this life, those who do not have much will always be more than those who do. That is the stark reality. And it is not necessarily because the few are better than the many, but because the few know certain things the many do not. It is also because the few are willing to run with what they know while the many, most times, prefer not to do so aside from stand from afar to sometimes deride the few who, through what they know, always seem to be ahead of the pack.

What you know more than another will certainly always keep you ahead of them. That's how it works in every area of life. And when it comes to money, if you know the truth about how it works more than me, you are guaranteed to always have it more than me. It's that simple. However, to many, the world of money is one maze of headache they can hardly understand nor wish to, since to them it's just a spiral of complications they could rather do without.

Yet we all need money and so must strive to understand certain basics about it; after all, it's what the few who seem to always have it in their possession know and it has helped them to continuously have a hold over it. The minority know a few basic realities about money that we either don't know or simply just ignore, and I've made a little attempt here to list a few out to help enlighten us. It's the report the minority know about and you really also should know about too.

1.  ANYBODY CAN MAKE MONEY
     Yes, anybody can make money. And the reason is quite simple...everyone has brilliant potentials stored up inside their brains that can be harnessed to ensure money comes to them. Making money really isn't an exclusive preserve for just a few, but then the few that seem to have more than most people have actually accessed their potentials and so tend to stand out from the rest of the crowd. You can actually make money whether it be consistently or occasionally and that is one reality you must consciously carry about inside your mind.

2.  ANYBODY CAN HAVE MONEY
     In the same vein also, anybody can have money. There's no rule under heaven that says you cannot have it. As everyone of us have the ability to make money, so also do we have the ability to have it. Those who seemingly have more money than others do not carry more than one head and neither are their brains of a different colour from ours. So believing in the truth that you too can have money is one reality that must constantly be on your mind.

3.  ANYBODY CAN MAKE AND HAVE MONEY BUT NOT EVERYBODY WILL
     Despite the above two realities though, there is another reality that evidently is more apparent than those. And that is the fact that though anyone of us can both make and have money, not everybody will. And the reason for that are varied, principal among them being that quite a number of people don't believe in points 1 and 2 above and so hardly exercise any effort to ensure that money comes to them or even stays with them. Once you start thinking that you don't deserve money or that it's just for a few or that it's even an evil to be avoided (which really is very absurd!), then you stand no chance of doing what is needful to ensure that you can always have the money you need to be able to always meet your needs.

4.  YOU HAVE MONEY WHEN YOU CAN ALWAYS MAKE AND KEEP IT
     Making money and having money aren't exactly the same thing. Quite a number of people make money from their jobs, businesses, investments and sometimes hobbies, but can hardly tell where all that money they make has gone at the end of the day. Having money is the ability to keep what you make that ensures that you can always dip your hand into it in order to be able to deal with needs that may arise from time to time. However, you cannot have money if in the first place you cannot make it; both of them must go hand-in-hand. And, you must learn the art and skills of ensuring that you always have money otherwise your ability to make it will be of no use to you in the long-run. Having money is all about control for it is only that which you control that you can direct, and only that which you can direct that you have master of. So, control is what you must learn to master to be able to make and have money.

5.  MONEY CAN NEVER LEAVE YOUR HAND WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION EXCEPT IT IS TAKEN AWAY FROM YOU BY FORCE
    An understanding of this truth will immensely change your concept about how money works. Money will never ask you to do anything that you don't want to do. It will never buy anything that you  don't want to buy; and can surely never leave your possession without your approval except someone else forcibly takes it from your possession or without your knowledge (which is what we call stealing). So, the master of your money is you and the way you want it to operate. Be rest assured that if you don't spend the money yourself on something or if someone doesn't take it from you without your consent, your money will always remain where you originally kept it no matter the length of time that passes by until you eventually make the decision to make use of part or all of it. Yes, money is that loyal.

6.  TO MAKE OR HAVE MONEY, YOU MUST HAVE VALUE TO GIVE
      To make money, someone must have to give it to you. So, assuming you don't steal it from someone else, the only and best way to get it is for someone or some establishment to hand it over to you. However, for that to happen, you must have some value to give in exchange for the money you expect and once that is possible then you're guaranteed money. So, if you have some value to give me which could be defined by what I really need but cannot provide for myself but which you possibly possess, then once am willing to accept your value offer I should also be willing to compensate you for it. Money then changes hands and you make money.

        To have money, I must have value to give to myself  because it is that value that is able to ensure that what I make is constantly not thrown away recklessly. So, educating our minds become paramount and very important because it's from our minds that we make the decisions as to what we intend to do with our money. If our minds are more patient than impatient whenever money enters our hands, the probability of us being reckless with it and spending it frivolously will definitely be quite low. And the less of the money we make that we spend, the more it is possible to have more in our reserves to use whenever we need to.

 

7.  MONEY IS SIMPLY THE TUNNEL THROUGH WHICH COMPENSATION IS EXCHANGED FOR VALUE
         Money in reality is just a representation of value received. It's just the channel through which we compensate people for handing over a certain thing of value to us, be that a product or a service. That is why money is defined in financial terms as an acceptable means of exhange.  And that is also why money is co-notated in various ways; it can be coins or bank notes or cheques or drafts or credit and debit cards or bonds or stocks and shares, etc.

This is a very simple report that all of us need to know about and strive to understand. The above mentioned are just some of the basics about money that the few rich fully understand and have done all they can to master, and it has definitely given them financial success. Once you understand how money works and you do your best to work it, it will work for you without fail. So please, study this report; it will help your money cause.

ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD...

I have a few friends that I admire. I admire them because of what they all individually do for themselves. One of them owns and runs a very nice shop where she sells kiddies stuff, ranging from when the child is but a mere new born baby to about ten years or so. You get to see baby strollers, eating utensils, baby beds and rockers, lovely shoes for different occasions be they casual, sports or for parties. The list is endless. Another one of them owns his own IT and consulting firm. Still in its infant stages but yet making head-ways in the delivery of unique IT solutions and branding. Another owns his own mobile barbecue outfit, young but regarded as one of the undisputed best in the Federal Capital Territory, providing people with appetizing chicken or fish snacks that leave their taste buds itching for more. Another owns his own young but also thriving printing outfit, where he not only guarantees his clients quality prints of whatever they want that may range from letterheads, business cards, logos, banners, signage, etc, but also guarantees them a very creative design that befits their vision or dreams before it is printed. 

All of my aforementioned friends are very hardworking people, people with visions that burn within their hearts as they seek to fulfill all them so that they can always retire to their homes every day, with the hopeful pleasure of having achieved the plan for the day. And like them, I have other friends and acquaintances too, all daily pushing to better their lives, some running their own outfits, others working in offices of different kinds...but for sure, all hoping they could just have all the money in the world that would ease all their financial needs or plights. I feel them because I also have such dreams. Wouldn't it be so nice?

I believe it would be. But then, in reality, it isn't all that simple. For one, no one can ever have all the money in the world, so that desire is way off hopeless. For another, to really come close to having all the money in the world actually interprets to mean that we will always have the wherewithal to meet our needs our own selves without being under undue pressure. It's really the basis for which many, like my esteemed friends above, strive to have their own businesses, to gradually walk into the place of self-sustenance, the place where the sweat of financial hopelessness becomes a history that they can proudly archive and say they had conquered. Everybody seeks this level but, sadly (and I mean sadly) not many will ever get there. Why? 

Simple. Because they are poor.

Being POOR means PEOPLE OVERLOOKING OPPORTUNITIES REPEATEDLY. When we repeatedly overlook the many opportunities that come our way that are able to change our lot, we miss out on great life changing moments, moments that can empower us financially. The problem with most people in the poor category isn't the absence of money but rather the unwillingness to take advantage of chances to make some money, no matter how small. They keep dreaming, hoping and wishing for that day that the heavens will open up and rain down an avalanche of money into their laps that can change their lives and destinies forever. Such people will forever remain where they are because they have simply not understood that this life will always give everyone (and I mean everyone) opportunities to better their lot and that whatever they choose to do with it will determine where they may be per time, and especially as it relates to financial freedom. If they keep missing opportunities, they will keep being at the mercy of those who have more than they do. Always.

In contrast, being RICH means REASONABLE INITIATIVES CREATING HARVESTS. This is when people take time to mine the positive thoughts inside their heads that are able to create their financial change for them. When they spend time doing so, they create their own opportunities of making money or even eventually collide with other opportunities for which they have the mental solutions to and so are compensated by the owner of such opportunities. You don't need all the money in the world to get by, you just need to be RICH in your head and in your ability to recognize opportunities. 

Opportunities are basically needs of others, needs they themselves cannot meet but which you may be able to. The opportunities may be big or may be small but what matters is that you are able to recognize them and possibly able to take advantage of them by supplying a solution. And that is why I said at the beginning that I admire some friends of mine; because each one of them always have reasonable initiatives capable of creating harvests for them, which in turn, if sustained, can guarantee them financial freedom and free them from the mercy of those who may have more than them. Having the solution for pregnant women and mothers as regards their baby's wears or toys is an opportunity my friend took advantage of. Being able to provide IT solutions to individuals and businesses in the city in this present IT-driven dispensation is an opportunity my other friend took advantage of. Specializing in providing a great barbecue for parties, events and outings is an opportunity my other friend also took advantage of. And being able to tap into his creative ingenuity to give clients good designs and prints as value for their hard-earned money is certainly taking advantage of an opportunity. What reasonable initiative do you think you can come up with in order to provide a solution to someone that can in turn help change your financial landscape?  

In any case, financial freedom is simply always having the wherewithal to meet your needs whatever they are and whenever they arise. And when you eventually get to that level, it sure does feel as though you have all the money in the world!!!

The choice is yours.

  

FUN THINGS!

I remember years ago when I was thinking of what best to do with my life, financially. Bills aplenty on my hands to deal with, growing premature grey hairs from over-thinking on how to deal with them, knowing fully well that my take-home pay at the time would not in any way be of any help to me. I had to find a way. I really needed a way. Am sure you most likely must have had such an experience as well, or know others who have. It's no longer news that many of us tend to contend with so much heavy expenses in our present world despite our various 8 am to 5 pm jobs every week. Many of us feel all we need is a salary increase or a huge bonus for all the sweat we put into our jobs at the office. If that doesn't happen, then we'd prefer to have a job change and go somewhere else where we most likely would be paid like princes and princesses, kings and queens. After all, we are worth much more and the best thing would be to have a job with very adequate security. I thought so too for a very long time but was soon to realize something; that there's really no job security anywhere in the world. 

The only place you can ever have good job security is inside yourself. The truth is that every one of us is particularly very specially gifted and endowed. We have innate natural skills, talents and intelligence that we've all been blessed with and that were designed to help us stand our own anywhere on this planet. With what we've been blessed with, we all have the very job security we so dearly crave for that can comfortably provide for us all our lives. Our biggest challenge, therefore, would be to discover and then properly harness these gifts so that they can start giving us the desired results. 

Every gift we carry has its value. That value, once harnessed is what people will pay for. Once people start doing that and we can regularly always assure those who will pay for such value its continuous availability, then we can be guaranteed constant payment for it even when we are asleep! Most times though, such gifts we carry are mainly the fun things we love to do! The things we would naturally prefer to do even at no price. The things that come so easily to us that they look so simple. The things that we delight in and take great fun to do. Things that would give us far much pleasure than our regular office jobs. 

I call them FUN THINGS! 

Think about it... Wouldn't it make more sense for me to work on and develop something I derive so much fun from, enjoy and do with relative ease? Knowing that once am able to harness its value and present to the world, people would get to notice it and then gladly pay me for it? Your natural gift is really your job security in this world. Go ahead and pay more attention to it. It could change your financial destiny for ever and you'd just be having great fun doing it! You can turn that thing you love doing for fun into a serious money-making pipeline; the dancing, writing, acting, organizing or singing; helping  people out or just taking very good care of kids; teaching people how to study properly for their  exams or even teaching etiquette that can help people in social gatherings or private ones. The list is actually endless. 

  

Like every other venture in this life though, nothing good comes without a bit of challenge. But have you ever bothered yourself with any opposition whenever you're busy having fun? It's just simple...you always want to keep on doing it and you will hardly mind about the naysayers or detractors or hurdles that may stand in your way. I was greatly encouraged by a friend who recently told me how he will never give up until the business he set up almost seven years ago really begins to bear the right fruits. He has had several disappointments that have at times left him wondering if he took the right step by delving into that business, but he told me that he just realized that it would be very difficult for him to let go as he has always had a love for that very venture. It always made him feel alive and always gave him a sense of purpose. He knew he was good at it and only needed to find the right strategies to eventually ensure that his business was profitable. He was certainly having fun doing it and really deserved to be positively compensated for it because he knew he was providing a very good service that was of value to people. And so for that reason, he wasn't going to give up.

Doing the things you love to do as a business doesn't mean you should sink to the ground while doing so. It's a business and should be profitable. Yes, your immeasurable love for it is very good motivation and the needed foundation to give you a good boost, but you will definitely need more than  that. You will need proper planning. If you don't know how to go about it, seek help. There's no need to have an ego trip on matters like that, because if done properly and right you will be singing right down the line.

It's fun to pursue and run with the things you love and once your right plans start falling into their places, the profits that abound and that will start rolling in will surely guarantee you all the job security you can ever want. You can take care of your bills, go on holidays with the family and acquire some of the things you've always dreamed about. But most importantly, you will always go to bed with a big smile on your face and a warm fulfillment in your heart.

I WANT TO BE RICH!

We all desire to have money because of what it always can potentially do for us. The acquisition of things and settlement of bills will never be possible if we had no money. And we usually do have quite a list of things we want to have or want to do, and money is the center point of most, if not all. So, the trick is pretty simple, isn't it? We need to get as much money as we possibly can so that we don't have to try to explain to our lives why we can't afford our desires and make our stay here on earth comfortable. We just need to be rich.

To be rich, however, means we need to have loads and loads of money, or that we should at least have more money that can overshadow our desires, money that is always available when we are in need. It means that we have to be money magnets, that we have to be rich as much as we possibly can because it is the only way to answer back those constant desires that keep pulling at us endlessly.

But being money magnets isn't ever going to be enough if that's only how we think our money issues are going to be solved. If you're hoping to fill up a bucket with water and you put it under a tap gushing endlessly with unrestrained gusto, you will be guaranteed that in no time the steady flow will hit the tilt of the bucket and possibly overflow. But that, in truth, will only be possible and realistic if there's nothing wrong with the bucket, if the bucket isn't tilted, has no holes or isn't damaged in any way whatsoever. If that can be guaranteed then we are also equally guaranteed that our bucket will be filled with time. However, with us and our money...hmmmm...it's quite a story we all seem to have from time to time.

And why is that so?

Personally, I think it's because we constantly always tend to overlook certain realities about us and our money. Realities that we should stop overlooking and make the concerted efforts to monitor. And below are a few of the realities we must face if we are ever going to have any remote hope of being rich ( at whatever level) in our lifetime. Quite a number of us:

OVERSPEND

Overspending simply means how it sounds. Sometimes we buy more than is necessary or needed. We acquire things we really don't need or get ourselves indulgent in things that at most will leave us with fleeting satisfactions. We long for so much and our desires far outweigh our capacity to meet them and so we are spending on items and things that really may not have any lasting value to our lives but instead will leave our accounts empty and our minds wondering....

HAVE TOO MUCH DEBT

Chasing after things we don't have the capacity to acquire often leads us into borrowing money from others. The moment we borrow, we are indebted to the person we got the money from. Now, borrowing isn't really the problem, over-borrowing with little or no strategic plan to cut down the mounting and crushing weight of that ominous load is. Quite a number of us just seem content in asking for loans here and there under the illusion that our luck will soon change and that when that happens our money problems would be over. Better wake up from whatever fantasy you've walked into and realize that life is real. Debt is serious bad news. And if you're ever going to make any headway with your money, you need to start taking concrete steps to cut down your debt to the barest minimum. Otherwise, you'll possibly be rich, but only in your dreams.

ARE NOT SAVING ENOUGH

You must learn to save. And not just once in a while but constantly. Don't be too fooled to think that the rich only have money wells and money taps that constantly and ceaselessly release money for them without measure. Aside from those who have made it their career to steal what doesn't belong to them by cheating either people or organizations out of their money, the rich actually save part of all that seemingly ceaseless flow of money that they are making. In fact, I dare say that it's because they've mastered the art of savings that it seems like they always never ever run out of money. You will need to save enough and that takes quite some serious effort to attain. But unless you don't consider savings as a vital and veritable means of building a rich portfolio, then you're free not to be serious about it. Take my advice though...be serious.

DON'T HAVE A PLAN

Our money, am sure, would pretty much love it if we could always take out some good time to plan how it should be used or spent. Good planning is more often the best way to direct our money in the right path. Granted, things we like or we consider we like will from time to time pop up into our desire range. But if we always have to allow that to be the norm rather than the exception, then we surely can't be serious about this being rich business or dream. We must learn to lock up our emotions and free our heads. Taking out quality time to plan how best to spend our money often times yields great and glorious rewards. And the satisfaction that comes with that too is inexplicably immense. Planning helps us to curb overspending, reduce our debt and also aid our savings. We should put some good work into planning our money.

PUT ALL OUR EGGS IN ONE BASKET

One of the best ways through which you can start building yourself into the rich level is to never put all your money into one income generating basket. Always look for multiple others. The rich don't only increase their money by simply doing just one thing or having just one source of income, they strive to have others, Yes, you can start with a primary source, maybe like your job or your business, but you must then learn how to gradually diversify what you earn into various other investment possibilities. This is so because as life isn't perfect, so also is the world's economy; and from time to time each possible income generator could have issues or go through a low patch, and when that happens it could adversely affect your money. You can imagine what happened some years ago when the property market crashed almost worldwide. Many people and individuals who had sunk in their life's savings purely and wholly into properties never recovered. Before the bust, they no doubt were making good returns but because they didn't seem it fitting to diversify some of the good money they were making, they paid the terrible price when the unthinkable and unimaginable happened. Always thoughtfully look for different places to put your money where it can steadily grow for you.

DON'T HAVE AN EMERGENCY FUND

An Emergency Fund is like savings but not entirely like it. It demands we consciously put aside some of our money quite right but also demands that we consciously regularly ignore it except there is a serious emergency.

Now, this is very important. While savings are good, they actually are there to take care of certain issues that may be recurrent but that we really need to plan for; like holidays, school fees, wardrobe upgrades, etc. With the Emergency Fund, it's slightly different but equally important. As the name already connotes, it's for emergencies only. What may constitute an emergency may definitely differ from person to person but then it should only be an issue that is so bad and demanding that we will have no choice but to break into our Fund to rescue.

We must plan for our money and an Emergency Fund surely has its merits and positives. And if we are ever going to look at ourselves and say we are rich, we must start using our heads more and our emotions less. We need to stop complaining more about our financial status and start committing more to personally changing it. We need to stop living for today only and start thinking for tomorrow. Being rich really isn't about how better the other person is than me but how well I have arranged my own resources to ensure that what I need is always taken care of by me.

So, the ball is in your court. What are you going to do?

THE BUSINESS OF DREAMS

Every one of us wants to be financially free and secure now or possibly sometime in the future. Am sure there’s no argument about that one. And more often than not, owning your own personal business that ensures you never have to worry about your finances tends to be one of the best ideas around. Yes, to have healthy finances, a good business with good, steady income is very necessary and would be most appreciated. At least I know I’d appreciate it BIG TIME! And I have a few good ideas on how you could make that happen for yourself. 

Owning your personal business is always a dream for many but it’s not always that easy to start and run. And that’s usually because of a few things we tend to overlook in our quest to be business owners. In this article, I’ll pay more attention to the small business owner because that’s what I am primarily myself and the little I’ve learnt over time will definitely be of benefit for you. So, the following tips are key: 

1. YOU MUST LOVE THE LINE OF BUSINESS:

Never go into a business you have no love for. The reason for that is because, being a new business, it needs plenty of attention and work and all of that will stretch you. So, if you have no love for it, should you not be getting the kind of immediate results you expect in time, it will frustrate you and possibly demoralize you to the point of an early quit from that line business. Is it a business that you've had building up in your head for some time? Is it your creation or an idea you've always wanted to work on and see come into fruition? This is important so that you're not just jumping into a business simply because someone down the street started a similar one and is doing well. There's something apparently driving that person's success; make sure you have yours.

2. DECIDE WHAT YOU REALLY WANT:

Running a small business can be a sweet dream, yes. But if you already have a job, you need to decide whether you are going into it as an aside/additional source of income or whether you intend to make it your mainstay of income and quit your job. Why so? It’s because the logistics and time for each are not the same and whichever one you choose will play out the choices you have to make in its daily running. So, be sure.

 3. BE SURE THE BUSINESS IS LEGAL:

You certainly don’t want to go into a business or an industry that doesn’t have the approval of the Government. That won’t be nice. Also do all you can to obtain whatever permit or license that is mandatory for that line of business so that you don’t run into trouble with the regulatory authorities over your operations. 

4. AGGRESSIVENESS IS NEEDED:

Let me not kid you; to run your own business isn't as easy as A-B-C. But it has its rewards. However, you will need to be aggressive in running it, especially in the early stages of the business and at the points when expected or proposed dividends aren't rolling in. You must understand that you aren't the only person in that industry and that it takes quite a lot to gain customer confidence, loyalty and continuous patronage. So, you must aggressively keep at it and not be slack in all your business operations. 

5. SEARCH OUT RELEVANT RESOURCES:

Like I said in Point 4 above, you aren't the only one in that industry; there are others who equally desire to make hay, as it were, when the sun shines in that area. So to help you build your business, you must constantly look for relevant resources/information that relate to it. Changes occur almost daily in this life and more so in business and having access to the right kind of information will help you stay in the game and also help boost it. In our world today, the internet itself has become a veritable source of very vital information; make use of it. 

                 

   

6. TIME MANAGEMENT IS VITAL:

Proper planning and organizational tools are very important and can help you plan and execute your daily activities as regards to your business. You can’t afford to toy with time when it comes to business. It is one key element that binds your business with your clients, the goods or services you provide and your possible profits. Therefore, the best management of your time would make all the difference to you and where you hope to see your business get to. 

7. TRY TO ENCOURAGE YOURSELF:

Running a business will get to you, make no mistake about that. It has its pressures and you must guard against that. You must understand that you are actually competing against yourself and not necessarily against others even if they are in the same industry as them. So constantly endeavour to tell yourself that as a way of encouragement especially when certain business goals aren't being met as originally planned.

8. PLEASE, GET A MENTOR:

For where you want to get to in business, you will need to learn from others; especially those who already have gone that route before and have proven testimonies of achievements that you can lay hold of. They may be physical mentors, those you can meet one-on-one and get good tips from, or those who aren't around your vicinity but can be reached via emails or phone or books or CDs or DVDs. The most important thing is that you can learn a lot from them concerning the line of business you have chosen to make your living from. 

9. FIND TIME TO RELAX:

Try to relax and rest whenever you are tired from all the push you give yourself as regard your business. It helps a lot to have hang outs with friends or you visit pleasure places like a beach, an amusement park, a zoo, etc, because it allows your head to breath.

P/S:

Your comments about this post will be greatly welcomed. Thanks loads.

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.