Common Money Mistakes ...How to Avoid Them On Your Financial Journey
- Never Ever Lend Money Kept In Your Custody: There is a reason
you were chosen to keep the money. People do not joke with their money
and so they carefully choose who keeps corporate funds. Even thieves
choose trusted people to keep their money.
When you betray the trust of people for whatsoever reason, you’ve soiled
your name. You will lose social capital, which is a very important capital
(this is one of those, not everything that counts that can be counted). That is very
hard to undo. Whatsoever happens, it’ll be hard for people to forget. My
dad will not touch the original money notes that are given to him to keep.
If you numbered your money, you will get it back the same way. Basically,
you will get the same notes you gave him to keep except he took the
money to the bank.
I learned this the hard way. A friend of a friend came with a need. He told
me he had funds in the bank but he did not have access to it. Also the next
day was a public holiday (this was pre-online banking). I loaned him money
that someone gave me to keep. The person who gave me the money to
keep, trusted me to the extent that he refused to sign a contract with me
because he trusted me. I was supposed to get the money on the next
working day, from this friend of a friend. Till today the next working day nefa
reach. I had to go to the guy who gave me the money to keep for him,
spoke a lot of English and paid back though I missed the day we had
earlier agreed on. It was sad but I learned the hard way.
- Avoid Impulse & Unplanned Expenses: No budget, no spend.
Spending without a budget is misappropriation. It doesn’t apply only to
politicians. Have a budget and stay on it. This is the epitome of discipline.
People will say what they want to say but instilling financial discipline is
more important. A budget creates boundaries. Without a budget, you are
on the speed lane to debt and debt...is cruel. Plan. Plan, Plan. There might
be surprises but a plan keeps you in order. It helps you know where you
have detoured. You must not buy every everything. ATM cards are sweet to
swipe but hard on the account balance.
One of the ways to avoid impulse buying is to hold cash. Yes! It sounds
not- so-tech in a tech age but believe me it works. When the cash is
finished, it is finished. Sitting down in one place also helps. Yes!!! Yas !!!
The more the outing, the more the expense. I can feel the envy I am generating
with this but na so e bi.
Money in the bank is like
toothpaste in the tube. Easy to
take out, hard to put back. ~ Earl Wilson
The Money Will Come: You are old enough now to know that the
money will not always come. Things happen. Have a buffer for
emergencies. The difference between politicians and business people is that
politicians do not understand why the money should not come. Business
people know why the money has not come. They know that you have to
make it happen. business people do not have an allocation that should
come to them. you go to the market place to “fight” for your share. Stop
planning your expenses based on the generosity of strangers. Hope is a
great aspect of life but it should not be your perpetual strategy on how to
make money. Your bills will not wait. Plan, plan, plan.Spending Based On Other People’s Purses. Don’t plan your wedding
with the hope that your uncle will foot the bill. It is setting yourself up for
frustration. Uncle also has his money issues that you have no clue about.
Don’t plan to fly business class with the hope that someone else will pay.
You are not on welfare. Even if you are on welfare, please bring something
to the table. That something is humility.
Responsible people spend within their means. They may not have Rolexes
but they hardly ask for help on predictable things like house rent, school
fees etc. It takes 9 months to have a baby. It is not an emergency; plan for
it. I take God beg you; plan.
Your kids should be in schools that you can afford. People have come to
me for fees of schools that my own kids cannot even attend. I once headed
a scholarship board and we set our requirements from day one on the type
of fees we can pick as a board. Sadly, parents kept coming for help in
schools that they could not afford and were above the set maximum of the
scholarship board. These were parents from households that both parents
were not earning any income. You see what I mean by the fact that you
have to contribute humility when you come to the welfare board?
Don’t buy with the hope that others will pick the bill. Agree upfront for a
joint transaction, when you are getting into one. For the fact that someone
paid upfront might mean that s/he expects repayment. Ask for the terms
of the transaction. Don’t think s/he is wicked when repayment is expected
and asked for. In joint transactions, always think of “going Dutch” except
you are advised otherwise. Err on the side of caution.
People suddenly know how to use
money when there are none left.
Spending Money Before It Gets To You: Things happen. Until
money enters your account, don’t go and pick something with the hope
that you will pay when you get the money. That habit will lead you into the
red. How about if that money does not come at the end of the day? I try
not to make promises to people based on expected money. I see people
start piling up debt just because they got a new job. It will distort your
balance sheet if you start that way. It never ends well. Unfortunately, it
grows into a habit.Money Sent Me On Errand: I have seen people who were given a
raise, upgrade their lifestyle in a heartbeat; fly business class by the next
day, buy an expensive toy they never planned for. Are these things in
themselves bad? I do not think so. You need to grow into them. They
come with time, experience and exposure. However, when you force these
things on yourself, it leads to a life of competition and sometimes
unplanned penury.
This is what happens to lottery winners. They buy up things they have
always dreamt of having. Most times these things have no passive value.
They pursue the appearance of wealth. The appearance of wealth is
demonstrated when you get those things that make it look like you’ve
arrived. It is the reason people take pictures sitting on cars; the same reason
musicians record videos in mansions and nice cars and private jets. Gang
stars wear fur coats. Same when people buy TV/stereo set/gadgets with
their first salary. Always allow the money to cool down. Take out time to
plan what to do afterwards. I have a one-month rule for windfalls. They
stay in the account until such a time that I have decided the way forward.
my money does not send me on errands. I, Gabriel E. Omin, would send
the resources I have, on errand.
I am not against the fine things in life. They are good. But ensure that
when you get a raise, it does not automatically upgrade your lifestyle. When
you become high maintenance, it becomes hard to save, invest and be
generous.
Stocks trading profit System:
- Depending on the Generosity of Strangers. This is living life with the
hope that somehow someone else will show up in the nick of time to pick
your bills. It leads to living in debt and hoping that those you are indebted
to, will forget. And when they remember, they will, willingly forgive and
write-off the debt. These people can come to you with their family to thank
you for the debt forgiveness you have rendered them. Meanwhile, you have
said nothing of such. They always convert the debt they owe others into
forgiven loans by themselves without anyone’s consent. They are experts at
this. They quarrel and get contentious if you do not forgive their debts.
Infact they demand it. Money problems abound.