44 •
The Lion King
• October - December 2017
FEATURE
BY LOVETH UDUIGWOMEN
MY REAL MONEY
LESSONS
I
didn’t really grow up around people
that were so much bothered about
saving and planning their money.
Most of the people I grew up around
were people that made money to
spend money, no much investment,
no proper saving, no proper planning.
My Dad is a spender I call him the
enjoyment minister. Money comes,
money goes. This life is one. In his own
words ‘Something must kill a man!’ I
always laugh at that statement. In my
mind I’m like oshe ‘YOLO’ daddy.
My Mom, hmmm, let’s see. ‘Loveth this
year I plan not to buy any asoebi. I
want to save my money.’ Oh Mommy
that is good. I can help you budget
and plan your money.
Following week, ‘Mommy this cloth is
fine oh, where did you buy it?’
‘You know Mama Somto, her daugh-
ter is getting married, I had to buy. You
know you will get married someday.
Someone will buy my own too.’ I am
not sure I even want aso ebi. Lol
Out of all my siblings I was always
termed the ‘stingy one’ but the thing is
I am always on a budget and I plan for
most of the things I spend my money
on, if it’s not necessary or can be
avoided I don’t bother myself.
When I got out of school and got a job,
I thought saving would not be a prob-
lem. Since I had gotten accustomed
to saving while in school, I thought
I could easily save any amount of
money I wanted within a year. But the
thing is, it wasn’t like that at all. I heard
people say the more money you have,
the more problems. I used to think that
was for people who did not know how
to plan so I never really believed that
until I started seeing responsibilities
stare at me so much I could not take
my eyes off them either.
For a while I was able to save some
substantial amount of money, my plan
was get it up to a certain level and
then invest in treasury bills, and then
a necessary need came that I could
not avoid and pooooof, half the
money was gone. I wasn’t happy.
I felt I had failed myself, I searched
on the internet ‘how to save amidst
responsibilities’ what I saw didn’t really
help much.
I saw points like budget 10 percent for
long term investment, 10 percent for
short term investment 10 percent for
this, 10 percent for that. How much do
I earn biko?
I finally stopped beating myself and
realised I can still save amidst all these
responsibilities I just have to learn to
balance it. I can attend to most not all
of these responsibilities and still have
some money saved.
So here are some of my real money
lessons what I call the beginners guide:
•
For money you earn, take out a
percentage for yourself. Before you
pay the tailor, the boutique owner
and other bills, pay yourself first. I got
this tip from the first personal finance
book I ever read; ‘The richest man
in Babylon’. I urge you all to read it.
It has helped me in so many ways.
Now some people like to overdo
and take out a large sum of money
to save thereby leaving them with
almost nothing. That is really dan-
gerous because at the end of the
day you end up going back to your
savings.
•
Have a budget. Yes I said it, a bud-
get. You don’t have to be so techni-
cal as to use a spread sheet. Have a
notepad. Don’t use the budget you
set in January for February. Different
expenses for different month. Some
have the same expenses for a cou-
ple of month. Still create a budget
every month. Trust me it helps.
•
Learn to say no. If you don’t have,
you don’t have. Some things are
not necessary. Give but not at the
expense of making your savings pot
