SMART MONEY TIPS.

Culled from: The Smart Money Woman by Arese Ugwu.

The smart money woman by Arese Ugwu is unarguably one of the best book I have read this year, and I have read a LOT of books this year. Her content is top notch, her description filled my head entirely and I learnt a lot from this book which is why I decided to give a mini review and share smart money tips which will be useful for all.

This book exhaustively describes a typical spending lifestyle of a ‘lagos big babe’, Zuri, who spends her salary of six hundred thousand naira (after taxes) on trivial and non-profit bringing investments.

Chapter by chapter, lessons are explained and Zuri began to learn how to keep her finances in check, save and still maintain her social life.

Firstly, Arese explained being broke as “if you lost your source of income today, you wouldn’t be able to maintain the lifestyle you have become accustomed to because you have no assets to rely on” – this is the best explanation of the term ‘broke’ I have read. Meaning even if today I lost my source of income and I had something to fall back on, I am not broke. But the moment I lose my source of income and I can no longer maintain my lifestyle, then I am BROKE.

The character, Zuri would be considered wealthy by society standards because she has an above average paying salary, a nice car and apartment and she wore designer accessories. However, wealth is more about how much you keep than spend. Here are some smart money tips shared by Arese broken down by me for your use!

1. Track your expenses:

A lot of people don’t know where their money goes. It’s like you have five thousand naira and the next minute it’s all gone. Transportation? Clothing? Food? Have you considered going through your bank statement? You may not spend recklessly but subconsciously develop a habit of spending, good or bad. Arese says, if you don’t treat the money you earn with respect, it will leave you with disrespect, you have to give up the excuses and learn to control the money, instead of letting the money control you.

1. Slay your debt:

Only borrow money to acquire assets that appreciate in value, this sentence alone tells you why and what to think before borrowing or being in debt, especially if you have no means of payback.
A lot of people make this mistake and find themselves in huge debts, ignore those tempting buy now and pay later, they are wide oceans that would drown you.

1. Build an emergency fund:

The society we live in is very unpredictable, you may have a financial plan for the day and end up spending 50% more than budgeted and that’s fine if you have an emergency savings.
An emergency fund is not there to make you money but to act as a financial cushion that protects your long term investments from short term unexpected expenses.

1. Develop a sustainable budget:

Being on a budget does not necessarily mean you have too little or in some cases too much, budgeting simply discourages wasteful spending. Create a weekly or daily budget to track your expenses which will reduce debt, create budget for your different financial goals.

1. Your network is your net worth:

Do you relate with people that encourage wasteful spending? Or with people that encourage you to save and invest?
Check your circle of friends; promote, demote, add and subtract. You are the CEO of your life, you should not give time to people that do not add value.

1. Discover your purpose:

To add to your monthly income, discover your purpose. What talents make you different from others? What special ability do you possess? Convert it to money. Use your skills to make some extra cash for your consumption. By this, you get to save more and fall back on some extra money if any situation arises!

I hoped you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it and I hope you would put some of these tips to practice.

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Cheers-@soorefunmi