The end of the month, a cherished time in the lives of millions of people. You might ask why?
Imagine waking up on days between the 27-31st of the month knowing that your bank statement is going to look different. Knowing that the addition of a couple of zeros to your current balance has the power to change your countenance, appetite, and put a pep in your step! This is the feeling we all get when we have been paid for our month’s work.
Despite how happy we get a few minutes after our monthly salary comes in, we are often weighed down by how much of the salary goes into expenses, planned and unplanned. Expenses are to us, the dreadful necessities that rear their ugly heads when your account has ‘gained a couple of zeros’.
The thing is despite all the expenses you would have to one way or the other pay, you are still expected as an adult to put away some for savings and believe me it’s way more difficult that it needs to be.
So, to avoid running out of money before the last week of the month, you might have to go on a strict saving-plan, a financial diet, starve yourself to achieve the desired effect; anti-brokenness.
Depending on how much you earn and your social status, you can divide your monthly salary into the following:
1. Turn –up: Whether you work hard at your job or while away time till it is pay day, we all like to have a good time. It is a necessity to relax and unwind after long working hours. The thing is, nothing good comes for free; well except long hours of uninterrupted sleep on the weekend. Save appropriately and make sure you reach your ‘turn-up’ quota for the month. Don’t be the boring friend that never has money for a good time.
2. Food: This should have been number one. Whether you like it or not, you must eat. Whether you cook yourself or buy take-out, you need to apportion a healthy amount of your salary to feeding yourself. Take note of prices of things you store at home regularly like water, soda, cereal, cookies and more so that you have a mental picture of how much you should budget for the coming month. This also lets you know what you should cut back on if the need arises.
3. Cost of Living: This refers to all your other bills such as Wi-Fi, utility bills, transportation etc. Also, unless you have an inverter which doesn’t require the kind of continuous upkeep as a generator, you will need to have some cash stashed away to fuel your generator on almost a bi-weekly basis, depending on the stability of electricity in your environment.
4. The un-foreseen forces: No one can explain it, but during the course of the month while you live right, drink water and mind your own business, expenses you had no intentions of incurring will rear their unwelcome heads and engage you in a stare down until you cough out the money. For instance, a sudden car break down, burst tire, wedding aso-ebi cost, broken/stolen phone etc. Be wise and plan for the unexpected.
5. Savings: Despite all the cash that will be evicted from your account, you will still need to save up some money. This is rather important as money saved up will save you.
Try this and at the end of the month, grab your phone and go in front of a mirror, check your balance, see all the zeros you’ve saved and smile!
