What do you do to save money successfully?
Saving money requires lots of practice and a commitment to follow through on your savings goal.
Saving money is more of behavioral finance than science. It requires you to embrace the savings attitude and mindset for its accomplishment.
Saving money is boring when it is approached mechanically, it can however become fun when you begin to reap the benefits.
Your savings represent your seed. In the analogy of the farm, no sensible farmer eats all his harvest, he must keep some aside as seeds that will be planted in the planting season, otherwise his family will starve.
View your savings as seed that will be planted (Invested) to produce even more.
In the law of the seed, a seed planted multiplies, so also will your savings wisely invested into sound investment will bring you compounded gains.
Now, how can you successfully save money, which literally has the capacity to save you at some point.
Let’s delve in more.
Set up a savings plan
You have to set a savings target to work towards. Your saving goals should be part of your overall investment strategy.
Savings alone will not yield you the desired result. The amount saved must be invested into income producing assets.
The beauty of saving money is that regardless of the size of your income, you can still save some out of it.
When investing considers your risk appetite and the vehicle you are deploying. Investing in shares can be risky but the rewards can be high, likewise with investment in treasury bills and bonds, the risk is low but the rewards also may be low.
You have to understand the risk to reward ratio to any investments and the opportunity cost relative to your age and the prevailing circumstances around you.
- Track your expenses.
The ability to track where and how you spend your money will open your awareness of the value of what you get in exchange.
The data generated by you tracking your expenses will reveal which expenses were reasonable and necessary to your needs and which expenses represents wastages and speak to want and not need.
Your discovery will help you in analyzing your expenditure which will assist you in allocating your income based on this new information.
The unnecessary expense can be cut out and the money saved and spent on acquiring income generating assets.
There are many expense tracking apps out there, some are free while others require subscription.
- Seek financial education.
Always seek financial education through books, mentors, coaches or financial experts before you invest.
Financial education helps you in becoming financially literate with your money.
Financial literacy is your ability to make wise and informed decisions with your hard earned money. Financial literacy helps you make better financial decisions thereby improving your overall financial well-being.
The end game of financial education is financial peace, by saving a portion of your income over time and investing consistently and beginning early, anyone can achieve financial freedom, regardless of the size of his income.
- Automate your savings
Let technology help you develop the discipline of savings and investments.
There are many apps out there that can help you automate your savings and make your savings experience fun.
Apps like cowrywise is good for automated savings and investment in mutual funds.
Apps like chaka though not a savings app, can be helpful if you desire to invest in foreign and Nigerian traded shares and equities.
Always seek professional counsel before you invest in anything.
Bottom line.
Your financial peace is your responsibility 100 percent, all you need to become a savvy money saver and investment manager is financial education.
Income generation, savings, borrowing, spending and asset protection are all elements of financial education.
With the right mindset and the the will to, any one regardless of his income and background can achieve financial independence.
Start your savings journey today.