Now that Your Finances Are Booming, Here’s How to Keep that $$$ Energy!

If there’s one thing (almost) everyone prays for, it is financial freedom – the opportunity to want something, be able to afford it and still have enough money left.

Attaining financial freedom is a laudable goal. If not for anything, but for the fact that we have trekked under this hot sun, and hustled hard enough, so we need to let go of this broke life and join the money geng. Abi how una take see am?

Anyway, money can be deceiving. You will think you have made it in life when you have many of those notes, and then before you know it, fiam, they have disappeared… one after the other. Before you know what’s happening, you’ll find yourself reverting back to your old broke days and doing corporate bambiala.

Attaining financial freedom is awesome but being able to take charge of your money and finances is more important to having long-lasting wealth.

How can you maintain your finances so you won’t start singing E Nu Gbe very soon?

Track your spending

It is very easy to go to that club and splash money on expensive wine or decide to have breakfast, lunch, and dinner in that exotic restaurant. While this is not a bad thing – after all, you’ve worked and paid your dues, it is very important to track your spending and know what your money is being used for and where it is ‘entering’. This is one way to ensure that your finances will not run dry very soon.

What tracking your finances does is to help you identify your spending weakness and determine if you are a spendthrift and if you need to improve. Tracking also helps you realise how the majority of the things you’re spending money on are (probably) irrelevant and which of them you need to cut off. It will also help you separate your needs from your wants. Don’t assume that because you have left the ‘broke-zone’, you can choose to spend money anyhow. It will end in tears.

Save up for important needs

To maintain your financial freedom, you need to conquer impulse-spending. One way to do this is to save up for important purchases. So let’s say you want to buy a new car, a land or a house, these things are quite important but you don’t need to purchase them immediately – even if you have the money at that particular time. You might be tempted to just bring out your ATM card and just swipe it – fiam, you’ve paid. But except it’s a matter of urgency, life and death, or a really good offer that will last for a short period of time, you shouldn’t be so quick to make payments – especially if you don’t have a concrete plan on how that product you’re buying will fetch in more money to replenish the one you spent.

If it’s not so urgent and you still want it, then give yourself some time to save up for it. That way, you don’t dip your hand into your savings and you also have enough time to think it through on whether you really need to make that purchase or not.

Have accounts for different purposes

With multiple accounts, you can save for different goals. You can also have emergency funds, healthcare funds, and even enjoyment funds without having to dip your hands into your main account. Having different accounts helps you with financial planning.

Prepare for retirement/pension

You’re not too young to start planning your retirement and having a pension plan is one of the most secure insurance policies for your future upon retirement. What do you want to do in the future? Will you go into business or just chop life? If your plan is to start a business after retiring from the ‘corporate world’, where do you want to get the money from? If you just want to chop life, do you have enough money stashed away for it? Even if you plan to have, have you factored in inflation, what the value of Naira and the economic situation might be then?

Now – that you have attained that financial freedom – is the best time to start planning, saving or investing in your financial future.

Invest. Invest. Invest

We know you are (probably) tired of hearing the saying “let your money work for you”, but guy, it is nothing but the truth and it is solid advice. You don’t always have to sweat and labour before you make money, one of the many ways rich people remain rich is by earning passive income – i.e, letting their money fetch in more money.

Now, we admit that this cannot be achieved while you are still struggling financially and what is always left of your salary – after paying off debts and removing monthly expenses – is money for guguru and popcorn. But since you have gotten to that stage where you are financially stable and you have attained financial freedom, you should begin to invest and ensure that you are getting passive incomes.

No one is saying you shouldn’t eat the life of your head now that you have ‘arrived’ financially. But financial responsibility, smartness and proper planning are ways to ensure that you don’t run down, money-wise. Nothing in this world is truly certain and yes, even money has wings.