Are You Struggling to Pay some of Your Debts? Are you finding it hard to meet your basic day to day needs like rent, transport and food?

David had just received his December salary on 23rd and thought it was perfect time to show off since his friends had scorned him for not preparing for December. With his one million he thought he was king and it was his turn to “chop his money”. He picked the phone and said guys everything on me, find me at our usual place. By the morning of 24th, he only had 150,000 left and still had the landlord to deal with and family in the village waiting for their Christmas package.

Personal finance management is the greatest challenge affecting the youth. The behavior of live for now has taken away the desire to save. It’s not only David who is excited about Christmas and New Year’s celebrations but it is a culture that has been trending in Uganda. Spending without clear financial plan and priorities about the future results into leaving outside one’s means and debts.

How best can you be happy but live within your means?

  1. Rank your needs and prioritize your expenditure. Not all expenditures have the same rank of priority and cost. This will help you know your essential requirements and desires which will direct your spending habits. For example, don’t spend on a holiday trip abroad, before you set aside money for school fees for your children.
  2. Plan on what you are going to buy and how much it will cost. Embed all household budgets, gift budgets and entertainment budgets so that you know how spending affects your finances over a number of months. Do not allow pressure from family and friends. Have a percentage of say 20% of your total income for spending on gifts. Do not starve yourself to make others happy.
  3. Have a record to keep track of your expenditures; for every time an expenditure is made record it against the budget to ensure you’re staying focused to your plan. This will help know if you under budgeted or over budgeted. You cannot improve what you don’t measure.
  4. Look out for discounts; always look around for deals many retailers are discounting their prices even when the festive season gets underway. Discounts help you cut your budget to have extra money in your wallet. It is a good idea to shop in February and late January when everyone else is broke.
  5. Avoid the “ I will pay later attitude”, Living in the future with your money by buying now and deal with payments later leads to debt burden. Do not spend until the money is on your account that is if you have to spend it. This will help manage your income flow and saving culture. Delaying payments is good for large businesses that put to use other’s money to make more.
  6. Stay away from group influence: Friends who do not understand your welfare standing are like a canning fox. They will lure you into spending and mock you after. Walk away if you feel you are not fitting in their ways. You don’t owe anybody anything. They are not doing you a favor being their friends.
  7.  Be happy with what you have; every time we are not happy with what we have we start leaving beyond our means. Be happy with the little you have and focus to work for the much that you want.

Happy 2017