For this week’s India United prompt, the community asks us how we manage our income. First off, money is a very important resource. It goes a long way in sorting almost everything. I find it surprising that when some people have access to money, they spend it lavishly on frivolous things. It doesn't matter how much you make monthly or annually, if you don’t know the art of managing money, you'll end up spending it on irrelevant things. And at the end of the year, you will start wondering where all your money went. There are so many tools that can help track how you manage your money. From saving, to budgeting and then creating a budget list that tracks your expenses from time to time. In this post, I'll share how I manage my income.
To start with, there's an important rule I try to live by no matter how difficult things get. That rule is to not buy anything if I cannot afford to buy it twice. So, there is this thing the youths of my country are known for. When they get a huge amount of money, they splash it on buying a car. For example, they get 12 million naira and then the next day, they buy a car worth 11 million naira and in worse cases, they squander all the money on the car. I don’t know how it works in other countries, but this is something that is currently affecting the youths in my country.
Some of them do it to impress their colleagues, while others do it because they lack sense. In financial terms, they lack the ability to manage income. If I cannot afford to buy something twice and at that point, that particular thing is not a do or die affair, I just live it because why not? If it is not something I desperately need it at that moment, then I just overlook it. I'll come back for it when I can afford it over and over again. And until that time comes, it should remain wherever it is.
Another way I manage my income is to save for rainy days. The importance of saving and budgeting cannot be overemphasized. These two work hand in hand. I learned the art of saving at a very early age, and it's been helping me all my life. Sometimes it's difficult because you save for rainy days, and then it rains the next day. But for the most part, it's helped me battle unforeseen circumstances and, at best, meet financial goals.
These are some of the little things I do to manage my income.
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Thanks for reading.
