Staying Motivated And Continuously Learning About Money #AfricaSaves
We are close to the end of the Barclays #AfricaSaves savings challenge. If you have not read about this challenge yet, please start by reading the previous posts. I started by introducing the Hand and the Heart conflict and why the hand keeps winning- why we keep impulse buying (reaching with the hand), instead of holding out to accomplish our long term goals, which are in our hearts. I then set a goal to save 40,000 shillings after tracking my spending to identify areas I could save more by identifying behaviour. Along the way I got derailed, but I rectified it and managed to get ahead on my savings goal.
This post is about learning. Personal finance principles are very simple. I have argued before that you do not need any finance classes or a finance seminar to know how to manage your money better. I have been writing on this blog for 7 years now, and I still read personal finance books. I often see an interesting video or article about saving, investing and planning and then proceed to read it. Why? Because we need that constant reminder of the basic principles. Otherwise we slip into bad money habits, because the world forces us through adverts and social media to ALWAYS spend now.
In this post, I want to share a number of short videos that I feel are immensely helpful.
The above video is about how to best track our expenses. The first approach is to keep receipts and then tally them and record them as per their classification, e.g food, utilities, transport, fuel etc. The second method is to use a card when paying all your bills. At no cost to you, swiping when purchasing ensures that there is a record of your spending, which you can then review at the end of the week or the month. The final way to track your expenses is using a budget which works together with the other two methods.
People like to say that we accomplish more by “staying motivated”, but few people tell us how to stay motivated, other than willing ourselves. The video above gives wonderful tips on how to stay motivated:
- Breaking down our goals into palatable chunks. Take your one year goal, and divide it into weekly, or even daily goals, linked to your activities.
- Give yourself little challenges. Start simple, with a challenge like carrying food to work for a week. Completing a little challenge gives you motivation to do even more.
- Keep your goal visible. My goal is right above my bed, so every day I see it and think about it.
- Have accountability partners. This can be your family members, friends, virtual friends, or even blog entries.
Finally, by identifying your vices and seeking to manage them leads you to save more. What is your vice? Mine are eating out and buying clothes. By tracking my spending, I was able to see how much I spend indulging on these vices. I have not stopped eating out or buying clothes, but now that I am aware of them, my spending is controlled – I only eat out during the weekends. The best part is, when I treat myself now, there is no guilt because I know I have saved. To see how much you can save by limiting your vices, use the Barclays Savings Calculator.
Other than this blog 😀 what resources do you tap into when you need to refresh your personal finance knowledge? Do you have books or blogs you follow? Please share by commenting below, or tweeting me. Remember to use the #AfricaSaves hashtag, so that others saving with us can gain the knowledge too.
This article is the sixth in a series of sponsored posts for the BARCLAYS SAVINGS CHALLENGE. I hope the challenge has been as interesting and impactful for you as it has been for me. You can follow the discussion on Twitter and Facebook and share your own experience by using the hashtag #AFRICASAVES. Visit the Barclays page for useful savings calculators and information on their savings accounts.
