“Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time.”
~ Jim Rohn
When you are young, building your career can be exciting. The beginning stages are the most exhilarating. The world is open with possibilities, and you have many years ahead to see which way your career will take you.
Life happens though, and more often than not we end up in a career that we did not expect for better or for worse. For a few of us lucky ones we end up doing what we love.
Regardless, there will come a time, if you are not careful with your money that you may end up living month-to-month.
The end of the month becomes a financial slump, and two days after your payday, you find yourself back in that ‘wishing for payday’ space. Financial worry eventually ads up. It can affect your mental, physical, and emotional health.
This is usually where a rise in loans become prevalent simply to get yourself to shift out of this way of life. Making more debt is not the answer here. Even if a temporary shift is something you are begging for, rather use healthier methods that will serve you in the long run.
If we concentrate on making only today better, tomorrow will come back to bite us. If we work hard on planning in the long run, and making small, yet lasting changes that will affect the overall financial health of our life, we will only be happier for it.
Here are some small but powerful practices to integrate into your life to lessen stress and increase your financial wellbeing in the long run.
Would you like to watch the video explaining the three powerful financial practices instead? Visit our Money Moves YouTube Channel here.
Learn to Say No!
The first powerful financial practice is learning to say no.
Everywhere we look there is someone who will be asking for money from you. Because our financial decisions are usually tied to deep-seated emotional ones, we end up parting with our finances because of guilt, fear, resentment, willingness to please etc.
Learning to say:
“No, I am not in a position to assist you at this time” will work wonders for your financial health. This means saying no to family, friends, and basically anyone that you meet who is asking for financial assistance. A wonderful gem of wisdom to remember in difficult moments is: “you cannot be of any service to anyone if you have not fixed yourself first”.
This is permission to begin building your financial health until you are at such a stage where you feel completely confident about the future. Until then, if you cannot, you should not.
Know the Difference between Luxury and Necessity
The second powerful financial practice is learning to see the difference between momentary luxury that will depreciate the second that you purchase it, from lasting wealth. Are you building a career, working every single day, only to throw your hard-earned money into something that will simply bring you temporary relief?
You are working to build wealth, to maximise the return on the hours that you put in. You are working to build a life for yourself and your family and to enhance your lifestyle.
Whatever this means to you, if you are living month-to-month, you are most certainly not doing this.
Try to keep these two words in your mind throughout the day and especially when you make financial decisions: Wealth or Luxury. Wealth will get you where you want to go, luxury will keep you where you do not want to be.
Save, Save, Save, and then Save some More.
The third powerful financial practice is to save money. The best method to save your money is not in a bank account but in assets. However, a bank account is a fantastic place to start. If you have not started saving and are also not able to start, try cutting back on one single R5 per week, then R10, then R50, then R100. This may seem small, but building the saving mindset is one of the most powerful gifts that you can give to yourself.
Saving allows you to work for something. It allows you to see your hard work every day in front of your eyes and remember why you are doing what you are doing. Balancing the book of life towards a positive and not a negative balance can take a while, but the importance is to begin shifting your mindset and focus to building your wealth and not building a wealthy looking life with luxuries that will never get you where you want to be.
Everyone has their own financial situation to contend with and to master. There will always be emotional triggers, debts and bills. There will always be costs incurred which you did not think of. This we cannot change, but we can change how we handle these circumstances. We can also ensure that no matter what financial predicament we are faced with, we stick to the three financial practices mentioned above.
Remember, that if you are in a financial crisis or believe that you are heading for one, maybe it’s time to see what your finances really look like and if you qualify for instant financial relief by filling out our obligation free quote online.