Financial management is about finding value and creating value in every situation. It bothers on maximising benefits, time and spending. Experts in financial tips look at the day-to-day activities of people and here offer tips on how you can achieve healthy financial life.
1. Not only does drinking plenty of water have great health benefits, but water drinking also has financial benefits, too. Drink a big glass of water before each meal, and not only will you digest it better, you won’t eat as much, saving on the food bill. You’ll also find yourself feeling a bit better as you begin to get adequately hydrated (most Nigerians are perpetually somewhat dehydrated).
2. Go into a room and go through every single item in it. Do you really need that item? Are you happy that it’s there, or would you be just fine if it were not? If you can find stuff to get rid of, get rid of it – it just creates clutter and it might have some value to others. You also improve the perceived value of your house – and you’re likely to get a lot of cleaning done in the process. It’s a frugal win-win-win
3. Check all airlines for cheap fares. Since no website lists all discount carriers, also check out the websites of discount carrier, possibly saving you hundreds of naira, if not thousands.
4. Aim for short-term savings goals, such as setting aside N2,000 or more a week or month rather than long-term savings goals, such as N200,000 over a year. People save more successfully when they keep the short-term goal in sight.
5. Don’t pay for space you don’t need. Nigerians have relatively large houses, condos and apartments. Think about more efficiently using space so you can purchase or rent less square footage.
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6. Don’t toss out a shirt because of a broken button – sew a new one on with some closely-matched thread. Don’t toss out pants because of a hole in them – put in a patch of some sort and save them for times when you’re working around the house. Simple sewing can be done by anyone – it just takes a few minutes and it saves a lot of money by keeping you from buying new clothes when you don’t really need to.
7. This one’s simple – just wash your hands thoroughly each time you use the bathroom or handle raw foods. You’ll keep yourself from acquiring all kinds of viruses and bacteria, saving you on medical bills and medicine costs and lost productivity. That’s not to say you shouldn’t explore the world and get your hands dirty sometimes – that’s good for you, too – but basic sanitation does help keep the medical bills away.
9. Go through your closets and try to get rid of some of the stuff in there. You can have a yard sale with it, take it to a consignment shop, or even donate it for the tax deduction – all of which turn old stuff you don’t want to use any more into money in your pocket. Not only that, it’s often a psychological load off your mind to clean out your closets.
10. Whenever you pick up an item in order to add it to your cart or to take it to the checkout, stop for 10 seconds and ask yourself why you’re buying it and whether you actually need it or not. If you can’t find a good answer, put the item back. This keeps me from making impulse buys on a regular basis.
11. Do you have an extra bedroom that’s not being used? Rent it out. In our home, we could, if times were tough, rent out our entire basement – it has a “living room,” a bedroom, and a bathroom and has a stairwell right by the kitchen. If we found the right person, this would bring in a lot of extra money.
Modestus Anaesoronye
