Handling Your Finances Right..

The condition of your heart is revealed in how you handle finances. Greediness, manipulations, seems to be the order of the day while integrity is gradually loosing its value and place in our world. It is understandable that we want to have the best of things, give our children the best education, security and support at all levels. It is not out of place to desire rest after laboring for a whole year, neither is there anything wrong with dreaming big and desiring a better life for you and your loved ones, buying your dream home, or even saving big for that car you desire. The question is how many people truly know how to manage their finances?

Quite often we hear stories about rich and wealthy men who derailed and became wretched, if not poorer than a church rat. We’ve also heard about people who rose to affluent regardless of their poor and pathetic background. The difference between these two is “” Management “. One had poor management skills and the later not only had excellent management skills but also had the right state of mind towards finances.

You will be able to manage your finances properly only when you set your heart right. We have to guard our hearts diligently for out of it comes the issues of life. Every great achievement begins in the mind and every failure begins in the mind. We are responsive to our thoughts no matter how glorifying or diminishing they are. Any vision you can’t picture yourself in, you will never feature in it. If in your mind you picture yourself partying, buying liabilities other than assets, the moment you get any sort of finance, you discover that you end up wasting it before the cock crows. Oftentimes, you end up running into depts and crisis.

Managing your finances isn’t rocket science. It requires lots and lots of wisdom. Right after you’ve set your heart right, the next thing to do is to right down specific goals( Eg start with the long term goals which includes getting out of debts, buying a new home, saving for retirement etc. Then you set short term goals which includes reducing your spending and attending to the needful) of what you want to do with your money before you get it and not when you’ve gotten it. “Those who fail to plan, plan to fail”, if you decide to wait till you get money before you set your goals, you will miss it. You will discover that at the end of the day, your undesired will preceed your desired and you may end up borrowing to meet up with your desired. So, set your goals before you receive the next pay-check.

Secondly, once you’ve written down your goals the next step is to prioritize them and to do this you need to map out a plan and the plan includes making sure your budget does not exceed your income. Your budget must be able to align with your set goals and income, otherwise you end up spending more than you earn, making all your labor futile.

Stick to your budget no matter what happens. “Nothing succeeds like success” . If you can succeed at sticking to your budget then you will become a success with your finances. A wise man once said “A fool and his money are soon parted“,don’t live above your means. Avoid making financial plans based on fear. “Oh I need to change the binds, my mother in-law would be visiting,” oh I need to change my car before I attend that wedding, I must not be laughed at “. All these and many more are decisions based on fear. If you want to succeed in managing your finances then you must avoid them.