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Finance is one aspect of life people can gain the necessary skill needed to turn it into wealth or misuse it and become even more poor than they originally were. I remember the first time I had enough money I didn't know what to do. I kept on buying things unnecessarily, like clothes, shoes, jewelleries and accessories.
Over time, I discovered that I was the problem. I had a problem with my spending habits. Immediately money entered my hands, I couldn't keep it, or save it. I wouldn't be satisfied until everything was finished. Sometimes I didn't even know how it got finished. All the money would just suddenly vanish and I couldn't even think of something reasonable I used it to do.
If you once had this problem like me, read along. I came up with a solution. I call it pre-spending habits.
So first of all, I did research, read books and videos on proper money management skills and techniques and it helped a lot because I discovered so many things I was doing wrong.
Secondly, I built structures and avenues that would help me spend wisely and save more. For instance, every month, I created a monthly budget. I wrote down in a notebook my daily essentials and things I would need to purchase for that month. Things like my daily allowance, data, transportation and the likes. And then I kept a specific money aside depending on my list that I would use for that month. I call it monthly budgeting.
This was liberating for me, it helped me manage my income more because I knew all I had for spending that month was a specific amount. And if it got finished, I would be stranded and would have to wait for the following month again. It was like a monthly allowance I gave myself.
Also, I created a savings account, more specifically a fixed deposit account. This helped me improve my saving habit. Every week, the application would remind me to deposit a fixed amount of money depending on how much I choosed. And I couldn't withdraw this money until the said date that I chose. Honestly this system helped me a lot. Now I can save more and be consistent in it.
Thirdly, I make sure to always have a list of the top 5 urgent things that I need at every point in time. This enables me to stop buying unnecessary things that I wouldn't need for a very long time. I realized that whenever I had some money, I was always tempted to buy one or two. So I made the list to include the top things I really needed that would help me greatly at every phase in my life. I resolved to check my list before impulsively purchasing any item on the road, market or street. This system limited my spending habits and made sure I had items I truly really needed not insignificant things that won't serve me any purpose.
Looking back now at my journey from when I first started financially till date, I am definitely not the same person, I've learnt, grown, evolved and improved. I can now proudly say I am a master at managing my finances and personal funds.