PRACTICAL TIPS TO FREE YOUR MONEY FOR SAVINGS & INVESTMENT

“ I can barely survive on what I earn,” “I have no money to save or invest,” are two of the most common excuses people make when it comes to building wealth. They earn so little compared to their expenses that before the month ends they are already broke and in debt, with the cycle going on and on....

However all hope is not lost. I want you to know that no matter your income you can free up some money that can be put to use working for you. Consider these ten tips:

Cut spending on internet subscription plans on your smartphones or at least one of them if you are only using it for chatting or social purposes. Switch on this capability when you are in a free wifi location like the office.

Review your Cable TV subscription. Now is not the time to be spending on the premium bouquet if you are a man. You can subscribe instead to the lower bouquet, which show key matches/highlights later. Going for a lower bouquet could fetch a whopping N100,000 in savings in a year.

Check your call logs to find out the purpose of the calls you make. Use online social media to connect with people unless it is business related or urgent. Cut 25% of what you currently spend on all social calls.

There’s nothing wrong with holidaying in the tourist spots of Nigeria this year. Holidaying in Nigeria can save you a huge load of travelling expenses.

Buy groceries and by all means cook at home instead of eating out. One meal outside might be enough for to cook food that can be consumed for several days.

Original designer handbags, shoes, sunglasses and accessories can be jettisoned for the good quality imitations which normally cost 60% - 70% less for the fashionistas. Believe you me most people can’t tell the difference between original and fake!

If you drink or smoke make plans to curtail these vices. Ten cigarettes a day equates to 3650 sticks or 183 packets in one year. This will set you back around N73,000. Quality alcohol is also quite pricey. Aside from being bad from your health they are bad for your pocket.

Limit your purchases of uniform clothing for weddings and other events to not more than 4 times in  a year with family events the priority purchase. Every year hundreds of thousands of Naira are spent on social gatherings.

Energy consumption is another area where one can free up monies for investment - electricity and generator costs. Nigerians currently spend N796 billion annually to fuel their generators. A portion of this could have been put into investments by running generators for fewer hours.

You would also do well to revisit your drycleaning bill. Sending only the sensitive and essential clothing to the drycleaner while using the services of the local “Washerman” for the others will result in some savings.

You can always commit to making more money as your strategy towards making funds available for investment. However the chances are you are already sitting on some monies meant for investment by scrutinising your current expenditure and making required adjustments.

Also it is easier to free up funds than it is to grow your income so seriously consider deploying these tips to free up the resources meant to work for you. Believe me these funds have been with you all all this while!
  
By Kenneth Doghudje