You do not have to be the cleverest person on your platform, on the bus, in the lecture theatre, in the office, the company you run or at a family event but doing these 2 things with your money is smart.
The 2 smart things you can do with your money are
Budget It
No matter how little or how much money you are making if you fail to make a budget, you will seriously underestimate or overestimate your expenses. So, make a budget before the money comes in and before you start spending it or committing yourself to different ventures.
This small but necessary habit will save you in the long run and talking about saving, make sure that you have a place for the budgeted money to park so that it is not tampered with. Put the money in a safe place and save yourself the grief of starting from zero or having to borrow.
The safe place can be a bank account or a mobile money account that you do not use daily. Move this money there and leave it there. If you do not trust yourself, set up an automatic transfer. Do ask your bank how to do this.
Resist Upgrades
As you begin to earn a little more money at your place of employ or in your business, the temptation to raise your style of living comes into play in the form of “I deserve this” or “I can afford to now”. These thoughts you have to justify spending more no matter how small, will cancel out the raise in income level.
The upgrades can be appliances for your house, buying your partner a car or even changing the children’s schools. These upgrades will slowly erode your efforts to build wealth so resist them for a bit.
Also, if something were to happen suddenly that erodes your income you will find that stepping down from this upgrade embarrassing and difficult. So, freeze your lifestyle for some months or a year after an upward movement in income.
Live in the same house for one more year, share a car and keep your child in the same school a little for just a little bit longer is a very smart thing to do with your money. As each month you put this money away or direct it to some other income generating activity you will be wealth building.
