In about two months is festive season and the year 2015 is coming to an end. What have you achieved this year? How did you contribute to the developmental agenda of your country? Or what it is that you have done for someone? Ask yourself all these questions and evaluate yourself on how productive you were during the year. On money matters the festive season is upon us, and for most it means overindulging, overeating and overspending! How do you keep your cash flow under control at this time of year?
Be self-disciplined with money. Don’t buy expensive gifts and don’t buy too many gifts. Start a Christmas savings plan from January 1 each year in a high interest savings account and you will be amazed at how much you can save in 12 months. Remember the more you save, the more interest you earn. You then earn interest on the interest. Overall, look at who you are buying gifts for and make sure you are not the only one buying gifts because when you have others helping you buy gifts, you spend less money (and so do they). Keep it short and sweet so you will not have to cut out on anything else, and so you could pay your bills on time.
Avoid last minute shopping. You will end up spending more because you are pressed for time and out of options. The holidays are for getting together for family bonding. It’s not for spending more than you have and going into debt than paying for it all year – that’s a big ouch in the pocket.
Festus Hangula
Windhoek