If you’re sick and tired of being broke, it’s time to take control of your finances! Being BROKE ain’t cool, you’d agree with me.
Below are 6 things you could do, to end broke-ness and boost your finances.
Learn to live below/based-on your means
Spending above what you earn will only leave a trail of debt behind you. You’re living beyond your means. You earn 50k a month, but you’re spending 70k monthly. You don’t need a degree in Economics/Accounting to know that the numbers don’t add up. Yet, many of us consciously go into debt to keep up appearances. Or treat ourselves to things we think we deserve despite not having the money to cover it.
The obvious solution here is to downsize, but I know that’s not always easy. It’s a blow to the ego, and you may be afraid of how you’ll be perceived by those around you. Worry about yourself and your financial health instead of what people probably would think. You’ll get along much easier in life that way.
If you’re spending beyond your means because you need to keep up with your friends or show others that you can afford a certain lifestyle, you’re doing yourself NO good. Stop worrying about what others can afford and think about how you can live within your means.
Develop and promote your skill
You are often broke because you don’t earn enough money to pay your bills and afford the lifestyle you want. Therefore, you can’t do without spending more than you earn (i.e. bad debts). As much as you need to cut unnecessary expenses; some bills cannot be left unpaid. Most importantly, you need to increase your earnings. However, this requires three MUST-HAVE fundamental skills.
- How to MAKE money.
- How to KEEP money.
- How to GROW money (i.e. make MORE MONEY)
You can’t keep or grow the money you don’t have. Therefore, the most fundamental among the three is to MAKE MONEY. After that, learn how to KEEP and GROW your money.
Have a FINANCIAL PLAN
If you are truly serious about not being broke, it means you are serious about being RICH. And anyone who will be rich MUST have a definite financial plan. At least 1-5 years plan. Have detailed short and long term plan on how younwill increase your net worth.
Set definite targets, goals, and milestones. Follow your plan, although flexibly. Be deliberate about your desired future. Don’t just dream it. Make it happen!
Increase Your Income Streams
Create and have multiple streams of income. You cannot and SHOULD not rely on a single income source. That is very unwise.
Your financial plan should detail how you want to locate and access other money-making opportunities around you, as many as possible. It could be business, investments, part-time jobs, freelancing, or vlogging etc.
Find more than one stream of income and you will gradually deliver yourself from the bondage of being broke always.
Embrace Investments
By now, you should know that without investments, you can never be rich. Ohh, you are just knowing? Now you know. Yeah!
Investing is like planting seeds. If you don’t plant, you cannot multiply your seeds, hence, no harvest. You need to plant money to make more money. That is how to grow your money. When you make money, plant it. Make it grow. Watch it grow. And you will always have money. This is an open secret of the rich.
Now that you know… you also need to learn how to INVEST. I explained how to invest like the rich here.
Stop Saving to spend…!
Stop saving to spend.
Yes, saving is good. But it is only as good as what you use the money you saved for.
If you save to spend, you will go back to being broke. Instead, save to INVEST. Worst case scenario, save for emergencies. But you see, that is only feasible for a middle-income earner. But for a hustling young Nigerian who is barely making enough, that is not realistic.
So focus on saving your money for investments. Then when you are making enough, you can save towards emergencies.
And if you are making enough to save for both, Good. But my point here is, DO NOT SAVE TO SPEND!
IN CONCLUSION…
LEARN HOW TO MAKE MONEY AND MORE MONEY. LEARN HOW TO KEEP IT.
AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, LEARN HOW TO GROW (I.E. MULTIPLY) IT.