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Be financially disciplined this festive season
2016-11-25Staff Report 2 The festive season is upon us and many of us are in a joyful mood, buying gifts and ready to travel. The best way to ensure that you won’t overspend in the festive season is by saving for it in advance. The festive season is family time and one needs time to spend time with his/her family. Most people are very excited and they tend to do their spending without drawing an interim financial plan. Please avoid making financial blunders this festive season and draft a budget as a guide to your spending. Even though you have made money allocation to spend in the festive season, if you go by leisure without drawing a budget your expenditure could go beyond your expectation. Without a financial plan you will find yourself with less cash. Therefore you should avoid spending too much money on unnecessary things, and spend money wisely. If you are travelling have extra money in case of emergency. When it comes to buying gifts for your children, make sure they understand the budget so that you don’t end up overspending on them. For those that are going away for holidays consider booking and paying for your holidays in advance, as it is cheaper than booking with immediate effects. There is a British saying that I always love. “Penny wise, pound foolish”, which is when you try hard and save small amounts of money (pennies) and then on impulse or unthinkingly spend larger amounts to render the act of saving the pennies quite ineffective. “Penny wise, pound foolish” is to be cautious (wise) with small amounts of money but wasteful (foolish) with larger amounts. An example is a person who spends a large amount of money on drinking; for example he spends very little on the food during the week, and then blows all his money on drinking during weekends. He really is penny wise, pound foolish. Don’t hide from your bank or credit card statements! Check to see what you have and what you can afford before you hit the shops or have a night out. There’s nothing worse than starting the new year with lurching feelings in your stomach every time you think about your bills. I wish you a free-debt festive season. Save money and do not spend your money on unnecessary stuff. The more you save, the more money you have. Have a good one folks. Think of January and budget and budget. 2016-11-25Staff Report 2
