One of the observations I made as a business manager is that managing finances is more challenging than creating them. I have worked in a team with individuals from diverse backgrounds and orientations and have learned that lifestyle is a big factor in wealth creation. I can tell that it’s easier to turn one’s wealth of knowledge, skills or creative talent into income but managing that income is where some people get it wrong.
Beloved youths, are you ready to level up your financial game? It’s not always about your earnings, watch your expenses!
The salary you earn and complain that you don’t have savings, another person earns with the same circumstance as yours but makes some savings. The difference is in the lifestyle and the expenses you make.
Is your lifestyle dictated by your income? Does it align with it? What do you compromise for the sake of making savings? Does the influence from your background or upbringing affect your lifestyle? Can you redefine and readjust it to accommodate your capacity?
It is pertinent to state that saving and living are both important, meaning that saving does not stop you from living the life you desire. You can splurge on good food, and good wear, go on holidays, live in a beautiful house, and treat yourself well, but not to the detriment of investing for your future.
Why not set aside some percentage of your income to save and some to live the life you want? Remember you’re saving for living life, for emergencies, and for retirement. You need to balance your income in line with your lifestyle and know when to upgrade or when to trim. Plan and back your plan with discipline. Have a healthy sense of your worth and understand that your worth is not in your lifestyle or in trying to impress people with it but in contentment.
Why make subscriptions that drain your pocket? Why crave expenses that are beyond you? Why copy a lifestyle you cannot maintain? Why live a beauty-focused life? Why save what is left after spending instead of spending what is left after saving? Why work like an ant and eat like an elephant?
Once you have defeated the urge to always spend when it feels like, you’ve paved a great way in showing love to your bank account and future prospects.
“There is no dignity quite so impressive, and no independence quite so important, as living within your means.” – Calvin Coolidge.
At the end of the day, it’s not how much you earn that matters but how well you have done with your saving portion.
✍️ Amara Ann Unachukwu
