They say money is a spirit that varnishes quickly. But you can learn to minimize it through self-discipline, self-control, conscious awareness, and most importantly, proper management.
The future is ahead of us and we may never know what emergency issues might arise, which could shock us especially when we always spend recklessly, forgetting the place of savings and proper management of money. It is what you save today, that will save you tomorrow, and one of the ways to keep your extravagant spending in check is through BUDGETING.
Many of us are fond of spending based on two things; our wants and needs. We do not understand the difference between both, and this is why we spend more than we earn, and at the end of the day, we feel regretful. But that doesn't mean we won't keep up with such an attitude again. Don't preach to an avid spender, he or she would find reasons to keep spending even on unnecessary things.
When you are attracted to things you do not need, you would have bought them, and getting home, you realize how unwise you have been, just because you refused to go with the effective method of budgeting. Why should I budget when I know what I want? You will ask because I have people like this around me and I just keep mute since my advice isn't in any way working for them.
I have been in situations where I don't even budget too, and in the end, I feel sad because there is no money in my account and I starve myself, expecting money to come in quickly so I can do what I need to do. Nobody taught me to start making a list of what I need and having some money left in my account.
I thought about my ways of spending one day and this is because on many occasions, I have bought things I do not need and would want to beat myself over it, but the deed has been done already. I have a few things I don't need at home and some, I have dashed out, all because I failed to control how I spend money, leaving me to wallow in self-pity when there is no money on me again.
I had to consider some factors to make my budget which I found so useful today and effective.
My Goals:
The primary purpose of budgeting is to enable you to reach your financial goals and every other thing you have set out to do. Like getting a new house, buying a new car, getting something very important for yourself etc.
This is the first factor I consider that made me start budgeting. I have many long and short-term goals that I have been working on for so long which made me start to save for them.
I always remember this whenever I make my budget so as not to spend above my limit, removing some as part of my savings before working on my budget list.
My income:
How much am I expecting at the end of the month is something I have always had in mind as a question for myself, and this would be a guide to how much I am sparing for my savings and budget. Spending more than your income would bring you to bankruptcy.
As a blogger, I wait till the end of the month to calculate my income from all platforms. Then save part of it for future purposes, before working on my budget for the month and would be conscious of leaving some as pocket money which could be used for unexpected expenses. With this, I don't need to touch my savings at all.
My family:
Every month, I think of how much would be going to my Dad and siblings and with this, I know how my budget would be for the month, including my family into my list because it's necessary and important for me.
My needs:
Of course, this is important. My needs comprises of food, water, clothes, housing, body treatment, toiletries, beverages, etc and these are considered important for me. Though, I don't even buy clothes every month because I have a lot I have not even used. So, food and other necessary needs are always considered on my budget list.
Price of things (Inflation):
One thing about my lifestyle is that I buy in bulk to save money. Once a month, I go to the main market to get cheap stuff instead of going to the school market area because they sell high thinking students are the richest. I don't want somebody to kill me before my time 😂 So, I move over to the main market where I easily price things in bulk and it saves me.
Spending habit:
This is one reason I resort to budgeting. One way to reduce your spending habit is through budgeting and this has been proven so effective. Of course, with self-discipline, self-control and the rest that I mentioned at the beginning of my article.
With all these factors in check, I am good to go in attaining financial independence because without making a budget, you will always live to regret your actions when you keep buying things that aren't important or necessary.
If we do not want to keep thinking money varnishes quickly like a spirit, we have to come to understand that it is important for us to stay within our limits through budgeting and we would be happy with the decision we have taken.
Thanks for your time.
