In Chapter 12, our savings tip was how you can determine your capacity to save. We talked about the need to have a detailed list of your mandatory expenses. You will most likely be shocked when you do this diligently.
For a month I embarked on the tedious task of keeping copies of all my expenses. I made sure I would take a picture of all the receipts with my phone. I knew the difficulty of keeping hard copies. I would certainly have been unable to keep all of them as part of my habit is to throw receipts in the shopping bag as I leave the shop. That is normally the last time I get to see the receipt. Hence, the idea of taking a photograph of the receipts was a great one.
At the end of the month, I sat at my veranda for my first review, the first surprise was the sheer number of receipts I had accumulated. I would never have imagined that I make so many purchases in a single month. The second was the nature of items on the receipts. I honestly had difficulties understanding why I bought some of the items. I was also able to know the shops I bought from the most and appreciated my mandatory expenses. This helped me determine my real surplus.
This experience leads me to one of my most important savings tips, that is, never to impulse buy. Always remember that shops and indeed shopping malls are designed to promote sales. I know of people who cannot leave a shop/shopping mall without buying something or after buying something they never planned to have. Such is the power of marketing and sales. That’s why we must guard against impulse buying.
I know that there are those that cannot resist purchasing items that they never planned to buy. I suggest that you only carry enough money for what you intend to buy. That you endeavor to carry a list of the items you are looking for. You must make it difficult to buy something you don’t need. Sometimes it may be worthwhile to avoid the company of those that have no discipline such as children, spouses and or friends when you go shopping. I am sure we know them by now.
Always keep in mind the fact that your income is usually fixed while your expenditure is as variable as your spending temptations. This is why I am inspired by a common proverb which goes “The art is not in making money, but in keeping it”.
I end this short Chapter with yet another inspiring quote from Warren Buffet where he says “If you buy things you do not need, soon you will have to sell things you need”. Take time to reflect on these wise words. It may be you or a close acquaintance who at one point had to sell something so dear to your heart such as your only house, your only car, your jewellery your furniture to settle a debt when you remember full well that at some point you spent money on something you did not need. This is something to avoid through ensuring you manage your expenditure!
Author: Ralph Watungwa
BAZ President
ENDS