Financial goals are financial needs that you would like to achieve in the future. Things like saving for stationery, saving for a family event (Weddings, Unveiling of Tombstones) are more short-term goals. Long term goals will be like saving for children’s education. The truth is, to save for financial goals, you need to stick to a budget. A budget is actually a way that can help your reach you goals and live a better life.
Lately the price of almost everything has gone up and salaries have remained the same, which puts pressure on budgets. Now is the time, more than ever to develop good money habits and in order to do that you need to review your bad money habits.
- Do you use airtime advance more often than necessary?
- Do you buy clothes on credit?
- Do you gamble in the hope to make a quick buck? (i`.e Sports bet and Fafi)
- Borrowing money from loan sharks “Mashonisa”?
These are some of the good habits that can help you not to spend money you do not have:
- Use airtime advance only in case of emergency, do not make it a habit to use that service whenever you need airtime.
- Lay-bye clothes instead of buying them on credit, also plan for buying clothes during the sale season. Normally sale season for winter clothes starts in August and for Summer it starts in February.
- Avoid gambling, it can become a habit and you lose more money than you make.
- Avoid Loan Sharks, they can charge up to 30% – 40% of the amount you took, so you are losing money when you are borrowing money.
Sticking to a budget is not easy and requires discipline. Discipline requires you to be strict and honest with yourself. By letting go of the financial unhealthy habits, it creates an opportunity to save money and be able to achieve some those financial goals that you have set for yourself.
When your budget is tight it seems that all you must do is pay your bills and never set a financial goal. You need to really make changes in how you spend your money. You might need to challenge yourself to go on a “financial diet” for a week. This means that you spend money only on necessities and let go of anything extra, even buying a can of coke or takeaway
