If you look inward and check the amount of money we waste at home, it will amaze you. From the wastage of match sticks to gas, food, and fuel; all these combine to become huge amounts of money being wasted by individual families each year.
lf you want to amount to anything financially, you must close this back door of your family finances so as to make the most of your financial life.
How can you do this?
1. Train all Members of Your Family on the Need to Avoid Wastage.
2. Trail Your Income and Expenditure.
Most people (non-salary earners) do not know how much they make every month and how much they are spending; they just see that they have money in their pocket today, begin to spend and at a stage, they discover the money is finished.
They do not know where the money went. You need to trial your money at least for three months, so as to know what to do to minimize wastage.
Ask yourself, how much am spending monthly:
- Foodstuff
- Fuel/gas
- Car (Repair/servicing)
- School fees.
- Electricity bills
- Transport
- Snacks/drinks
- Gift
- Pay television
- Water
- Clothing
- Beverages
- Newspaper and magazines
- Baby (food, clothing, diapers, drugs, etc)
- Phones and recharge cards
- Drug/medication
- Entertainments
- Pleasure, etc.
You need to get the right answer to this; be disciplined enough to record your spending for just three months; Compare the months with one another, and you will be amazed to discover some needless expenses you are making. Your financial life may not improve even if your income is doubled or tripled unless you close the back door of your finances. Trail your expenditure to close the door of wastage.
3. Classify Wants and Needs
Longman’s Dictionary of Contemporary English defines:
Want as “To have a desire for Something”.
Need as “A situation in which something Is necessary, especially something that is not happening or is not yet available”
Based on these definitions, you need to look at everything you want to buy; list them, and then differentiate them with letters “D” and “N”. D’ for desire (want); and H for necessity (Need).
Often, you will discover the things you need and the ones you really need. You may desire others just to show off, to show that you have arrived; to show your passive enemies that God has answered your prayers or just to ‘spoil myself a little’.
If you can focus more on your needs and abandon your wants for now, you will discover that you will have more money to save and invest instead of wasting it.
4 Be Open to Your Spouse
If both of you can be open to each other and plan very well, you will be able to eliminate a whole lot of loopholes in your family finances.
5. Be Yourself
Don’t live your life for others. Don’t seek to impress anybody; show-off will slow you down. Be yourself, don’t buy what your money cannot buy, just because you want to show that you have ‘arrived’. Buy what you need to satisfy yourself without breaking your pocket, not borrowing to buy just to spite your enemies. Must you buy a plasma television because others are buying it? Must you buy an iPhone because others are getting it? Don’t live for others; live for yourself, and make your future certain.
6. Block all Loop Loses at Home:
NEVER allow any food to be wasted, and never cook beyond what you need. Frown against wastage of food. Buy in bulk; avoid environmental purchases that will increase the price by almost fifty percent. Put out the gas immediately after the food is cooked; don’t leave electric bulbs lighted in the afternoon. By all means, avoid wastage, do not allow it to happen.
