“Money is a great servant but a terrible master.” This quote, credited to P.T. Barnum, essentially warned of the two relationship options between people and money. It also indicated a thin line between being a servant to money and its master. An observation that buttressed this was that most people’s current job or pay used to be a dream, wish, or prayer point. This makes one wonder what happened between having your dream fulfilled or prayer answered and now. It further marvelled how the joy of having the dream job suddenly fizzled out after six to twelve months as we became disgruntled while seeking a pay raise through promotion or a new job offer elsewhere.
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Previously, I highlighted the importance of investing in employees’s well-being and the critical steps needed before developing or rolling out employee wellness programs. However, there are limits to what an organisation can do regarding each worker’s financial health. A company may do all it can to alleviate money stress, yet the employees still find themselves in rabbit holes of money mess. This unfortunate situation will be out of the company’s control and taken seriously as a red flag. Hence, there is a need for people to have personal reality checks on their financial wellness.
Q: “All that is required to turn around any horrible score is a mental shift, personal determination, consistency, and patience.”
Therefore, a healthy relationship with money is determined by one’s level of financial independence, consistency with budgeting, and the ability to consider opportunity costs at all times. The assessed person can easily pinpoint these three key factors by critically looking into and answering questions like, How often do they have money to meet their current expenses? How consistent are they with budgeting and sticking with it? How many financial aid sources are they aware of and have access to? If they are in debt, are they aware of their total debt amount? These non-exhaustive questions should trigger an in-depth evaluation of one’s finances that warrants the paradoxical term of squaring the circles.
The need for people to achieve financial discipline may stem from answering these tough questions. Interestingly, no hope is lost, regardless of your assessment outcome. All that is required to turn around any horrible score is a mental shift, personal determination, consistency, and patience. So here are ten fun ways to get things back on track, even from ground zero.
Spend a free day:
Set aside a particular day of the week to avoid spending money on anything. Most people spend money daily without paying attention to what could pass. A no-buying day will help you save money and become more creative with things you already have or can get without purchasing them.
Gamified savings:
Cultivating the habit of saving money does not need to be boring, tasking, or complicated; otherwise, you may be discouraged. So, start by piggybacking every hundred or two hundred naira notes you receive. You will be amazed by what you accumulate as change after twelve months. Another fun way to save that may appeal to those who rarely handle cash is to set up a direct debit to move a tithe of your daily spending to an account that is not easily accessible. After all, you pay the bank and government to spend your money, so why not pay yourself, too?
Budgeting hobby:
Get a mini notebook or create a notepad on your phone to record all expenses you make daily. At the end of the day or week, match your spending with your budget and your earnings. This exercise will discourage you from incurring daily expenses and make you dedicate specific days for transactions, except if they are inevitable. It will also reveal if you are personally overspending. Overspending may be okay if you plan to make up for it or if those expenses are necessities and not frivolities. Your awareness through budgeting is crucial to determining which is which and how to deal with it.
Bargain hunting:
If Oprah Winfrey could be thrilled to use coupons and vouchers to the point that she taught other people, it would not only be exhilarating but also a wise move to ensure you are not leaving money on the table. Going for the tag price simply because you don’t want to look cheap, even when no one is watching, doesn’t elevate your worth. Your worth is often determined by the price people are willing to pay for what you own, not by the price you pay for stuff.
Love DIY life:
When you start doing certain things yourself and can add up what each would have cost you, you will marvel at how much money you’ve been wasting over the years. This awareness is undoubtedly one of the lessons the COVID-19 pandemic taught us as people realised how much they could be self-reliant. Another eye-opener was the quality of produce I harvested from my little home garden. The joy, quality, freshness, bountiful yield, convenience, and money saved from growing my vegetables are enough reasons to love DIY life where and when applicable.
Call To Action:
Watch out for the concluding part of this article next week. I invite you to email me at [email protected] with your inquiries, feedback, in-depth analysis, or corporate engagement.
Olayinka Opaleye is a Wellbeing Specialist and Corporate Wellness Strategist from Lagos. She can be reached on 09091131150 or via www.linkedin.com/in/olayinkaopaleye
