The Pathway to Financial Freedom

This is a guest post by Adeyemi Peter Adeleke

Have you tried cultivating the culture of saving? Have you failed in your attempts? Did you try enough? Did you succeed? If yes, do you save enough?

I have gone through that road before. I read all the books you can think of on Money, Finance Management, Business, Entrepreneurship, Investment, Network Marketing and Savings. In short, currently I have over 1,300 of such books in my private library but the truth still remains that there are other few (nitty gritty) things one must put up as a new attitude in order to break through the habit of not being able to save.

 

First and foremost, I want to bring your attention to the fact that MOST people still don't know the difference between NEEDS and WANTS.

Needs : These are those essential things that you most likely can't do without i.e, transport fare, Feeding, House rent, Certification or Professional courses, Utility bills (PHCN, Water, Recharge card, Internet).

Wants : These are things that we get to help us feel better in our social life. Sometimes we think we can't do without them or they are very important but as soon as they are paid for, we realize that we could have used the money to pay for more essential things. Examples of wants are 'excess' clothes or fashion accessories, communication gadgets (Phones, tablets, iPods, Itouch, camera), eating outs (eateries, pizza/shawama joints, suya spots),excessive clubbing, Satellite TV subscription e.t.c.

Below are immediate steps to take to curb excess spending :

==> Have at least THREE bank accounts in different banks. If at all you want to have an ATM card have it for ONLY one of the accounts. One account should be for very long term expenses e.g., house building projects, towards starting a business, planning for your wedding, retirement plan.

The 2nd account should be for average long term projects e.g. House rent (once a year), buying a car, Going for pilgrimage, vacation.

The 3rd account should be for your monthly expenses e.g. transportation, recharge card, internet, Cable TV, clothes, fueling of car/generator, feeding, and alms giving (charity, tithe, allowance to parents, siblings and relatives).

NOTE : You should only have one ATM card for this 3rd account and no other account.

==> Have A Budget : Everything in life is all about planning, there's an adage that says "he who fails to plan, plans to fail". Budget and budgeting is an extremely important part of planning to have a profitable business, happy marriage, successful career and every other facet of life.

Ensure you have a budget for every single day, week, month and even year. To be very honest, keeping budget is a very difficult task but with discipline and determination, it is very possible and worthwhile.

You MUST STOP Impulse spending as that is the only barrier between a rich man and an average man.

A rich and successful man will NEVER enter a shop/market/mall to pay for what wasn't initially on is to-buy list no matter how fine or attractive the item is, unless he thinks he is getting it far cheaper than the usual price.

* Have more friends who are more Business inclined than Social inclined :  I can tell you today that this is the MAIN reason why some people will most likely never have a breakthrough in life.

Remember, "Show me your friends and......" Also "Birds of a feather......".

As funny or strange as it may sound, you will NEVER find the likes of Dangote, Jimoh Ibrahim, Jim Ovia, Tony Elemelu, Otedola and others going to a social gathering or event without the intention of coming out from that event being more successful. They always and only go to events to Network (expand their business horizon), track that someone of great relevance to them (say, a top Custom Boss, CBN director, Governor, Minister and the rest). If they weigh their option and see such event will not benefit their business and financial status, trust me, even if Queen of England or Obama will be present, they will not step a foot there.

So many of us today gather friends (majority of whom are not useful) just as a symbol to prove how social and friendly we are. Some people have been going to Viewing centre every single saturday for the past 10years to argue about EPL matches and all through those years they have NEVER benefited one single positive thing be it contract, admission, business or finance from the people they meet there and yet they still claim they can't do without going to viewing centres to watch match. The people you have been going to scream your voice out are getting paid and becoming richer whereas the same can't be said about you.

==>; Avoid Friends and Family who always make you spend : If you have friends who always encourage you to eat out rather than preparing home made meals, urge you to go to the cinemas, malls, events / shows e.t.c. These are the types of people you should urgently avoid.

When your friends want you to attend all the Musical and comedy shows, film premiers, cultural and sporting events, these are things that unknown to you, wipe out money from your pockets than you can imagine.

Imagine going to at least 3 shows in a month which the cheapest ticket you bought per show is N5,000. That's approximately N15,000. Yes it looks small but have you ever sat to imagine those long lasting things N15,000 could get you? It could get you company shares, few bags of cement and blocks, microwave oven, vacuum cleaner, deep fryer, so many beneficial and life changing books to mention a few.

* Before you spend on anything always ask yourself "Is this item really needed?" If yes, "how will it change my life?" Just like so many arguments we get into, so many spendings we make are absolutely not necessary. If you can't get excited for an item you paid for after 3months, then that item isn't (wasn't) really needed in the first place.

* Never buy things because they are in vogue : There's always a newer version of every phone, tablet, Laptop, car, wristwatch, hand bag, jewellery you buy. If you have a blackberry bold 4 that is working perfectly, why want to buy a Bold 5, 6, touch 1,2 and 3 Z10 and iphone 5 just to prove to people you are a big boy or girl.

Don't forget those people producing these things keep producing the same thing (with extremely few changes) just to remain in business, pay staff and make profit. Using a phone for a whole year or more doesn't make you less of a successful person.

Have you noticed that most employees use phones far more expensive than their employers? Does this now prove they are more successful than their employers? The answer is NO!

Most people acquire things thinking they can get respect and honour from it whereas a successful person lets his/her bank statement, investment and connection speak for them.

==> Never always be the one to foot the bills when you go outing with friends : I learned this a very long time ago. When you go out socialising with friends never be the one to always foot the bill. It is always better to have an agreement with everyone that each person should pay for whatever they ordered. It doesn't make you stingy or callous, it only means you are financially intelligent. You will be amazed to discover that so many people never get to eat or drink as much or expensive when they are paying for it by themselves. A guy who averagely drinks 5 FREE bottles of beer will only order for one and sip on it for over 2 hours when he knows he is the one to pay for his drink.

==> Never be too scared to say NO : So many people today are bankrupt because they always said "YES" when they should have said "NO" when people came to meet them for favours. There's a very big difference between a nice man and a silly man. If what you are giving out is within your budget and to do list then it is fine. But a situation where you have to deep your hands into your long term savings just to help a friend pay his child's school fees or a cousin pay for his house rent is totally not acceptable. Statistics has proven that most people have at least 3 other options of people they can meet in terms of need, therefore, if you can't help them at that very moment, they are most likely going to get helped by one other person.

Most people protect and save their money jealously and religiously but go to other people to help them out on some certain expenses.

Take an example of a friend accommodating and feeding another friend for 2 good years. The squatter made his friend believe he didn't have money to rent an apartment and occasionally collected transport fare from his friend to go to work.

Along the line, these two friends started having misunderstanding. The squatter only told his friend 2 days to his final stay at his friend's place that he has gotten a place on the island (a two bedroom apartment at Argungi in Lekki area of Lagos). Bearing in mind his friend who accomodated him was staying in a room and bedroom self contained in Sabo Yaba. The apartment was tastefully furnished within 2 weeks and to make matter worse, the squatter launched his apartment with a Honda Accord( baby boy). When his friend who accomodated him had not even gotten a car wiper or tyre not to talk of buying a car.

==> Never pay for things you don't make use of : Why pay a Dstv premium bouquet of over N10,000 every month just to watch football match only 4 times a month (weekends) and you are out of the house for the most part of the month. That's utmost WASTE. You just only pay for things you really need and of importance. If you can survive without TV then it makes no sense paying such.

==> Always Price! Price!! And Price!!! : No matter the highbrow mall, market or shop always for the habit of pricing. Never be too shy or ashamed to ask for a discount even when there is a price tag already attached to an item.

I once entered a shop in cedi mall Accra and a wrist watch with a price tag of equivalent of $700 I ended up paying $430 after speaking with the manager. Isn't that a good deal?

Price tag are only put to make maximum profit after the timid and shy one wouldn't want to negotiate.

When you enter an eatery and you notice the portion of food they dished for you isn't equivalent to how much you are paying, don't be shy to ask the attendant to add to the portion of food. It doesn't make you look hungry or local, it just makes you appear to know what you are what and the value of your money.

==> Also, don't think you are working so you can be everyone's saviour. It never has, and will never work that way! Problems and challenges will always be with us. Choose what you want to tackle based on needs and solve it. You can't solve everybody's issue just because you are working and doing better than they are financially.

I hope with these few salient points, I have been able to teach you how you can start saving up for your tomorrow. It is so essential. After today, comes tomorrow. Save wisely. Spend wisely!



This is a guest post by Adeyemi Peter. You can follow him @adepetcares on twitter or on facebook. 

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