2022 has been an unusually tough year for personal, national, and global financial management.
While things may have been bumpy, regardless of what happens in the economies of the world, you’ve got to protect your finances and preserve your wealth.
Personal finance allows you to take the driver’s seat of your financial life and gives you the freedom to achieve your goals. It is important, however, to eliminate loopholes and strengthen your cash flow.
Here are a few things that can help you effectively spring clean your financial life as we approach the remaining 4 months of the year and, ultimately, a new year ahead.
A career evaluation is an exercise to consider ahead of the new year
If you are operating in the employee quadrant, which means you have a job, according to Robert Kiyosaki’s Cashflow Quadrant, it may be a good time to strengthen your resume.
You want to make sure you’re on a good career path and can generate income both in season and out of season.
Do you have marketable and transferrable skills, and how easily can you pivot?
Consider adding another line of income
An asset is a resource that a person owns and that has the capability of providing economic value. Examples of assets are investments and properties, and whilst your income may not be classified as a traditional asset, it is also a form of asset.
Learn new skills, evaluate existing ones, and consider how you can monetise some of them.
Collaborate your way to making more income
Creating systems by leveraging other people’s time, skills, or collaboration is a form of business.
The world continues to witness profitable alliances across various sectors and continents at phenomenal rates.
Who can you do business with and what can you do with them? Who can you jointly serve? What are the terms?
Read also: Halima Ibrahim Abba – Associate Vice President/SA to the CIO at the Africa Finance Corporation
Cashflow management is important
Expense management is where major spring cleaning needs to be done.
Benjamin Fraklin says “A small leak will sink a great ship”. Small purchases won’t necessarily plunge you into financial failure. The problems start when they become regular and unimportant.
Don’t be miserly, but don’t be a spendthrift instead.
To create wealth, your income must always exceed your expenses per month, and you must learn to put the excess in savings or investments (as assets).
To sustain wealth, your assets must always be more than your liabilities.
Identify the things that are necessities, and prioritise them. Don’t burn your cash unnecessarily. Buying now and paying later is not always in your best interest.
Choices
Carefully weigh your financial options. Learn to negotiate better and think through your choices. Identify leakages and bleeders, and take necessary action where necessary.
When you feel pressured to make a purchase, apply the 24-hour rule, that is, give yourself 24 hours before making the purchase, and see if you feel the same way 24 hours later.
For capital expenditures, weigh your options and see if you really need to make that purchase.
Contentment is key
Here’s where the importance of dealing with FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) comes in.
There will always be temptations, and the “shiny object syndrome” will continue to plague the world. When others flaunt their possessions online, please remember your financial picture at that time, and most importantly, what your current income can afford.
Don’t borrow to shine. A popular slang in Pidgin says “Shine your shine, I shine my shine.”
Count your blessings in the midst of it all, and be hopeful for better days ahead
Gratitude unlocks the door to more blessings. It helps you unleash your creative genius within.
Sola Adesakin is a Personal/ Business Finance Coach and Chartered Accountant with over 20 years of hands-on experience. She is passionate about helping people understand the “make-manage-multiply money” message, maximize their resources, achieve their crucial financial milestones and build true wealth, through the concept of financial planning.
She is a member of the Forbes Coaching Council, as she continues to leverage global alliances and partnerships to amplify the money message around the world.
