Simple & Practical Ways to Spend Less/Save Money

The points below are all tried & tested and work great for me. All that being said don't forget to live a little and splurge on urself when convenient-take a trip, eat out, pamper yourself, get new stuff, etc.
If you build the habit of being accountable while resources are limited, it is easier to follow through when there's excess. Below is the list in no particular order:

• Have short n long term goals/projects n save towards funding them (keep in mind though that inflation and other economic factors may affect how soon u reach that goal)
• Prioritize ur needs over your wants (expensive wigs,accessories, jewellry, etc. are mostly wants)
• Spend within ur means
• Have a Monthly budget (expenses,income,charity/gifts,misc,etc) It helps you have a good idea of your expenses, hidden money drainers, etc. and to adjust accordingly
• Have an Alternative source of income if possible-{Blog, Craft, Plan small events, Sell stuff (used/unused) online (Instagram,Facebook, BuyMyLux, Jiji, OLX, Dealdey, Kaymu, Konga, Jumia). etc.}
• Invest in Yourself-Learn a skill/trade (Makeup, Tailoring, Beads, Baking, etc), Get Trainings & Certications in your field,etc.
• Invest in Property/Business-e.g. Keke Napep, Put ur car for up for use by Uber or other cab companies, Farming, etc.
• Invest in People-Help someone start a business and have a share in it or have a payment plan contract with interest or train them in a skill, etc.
• Sign up for a Health Insurance (Private HMO) NHIS/PHIS
• Reduce accommodation cost by renting a place with a friend or enjoy rent-free restricted life with the folks if single 
• Monitor Electricity Consumption
• Monitor your Phone Data/Internet Subscription consumption
• Monitor your Phone Credit consu,ption
• Make a Fixed deposit in the bank towards a future plan (Short or Long term)
• Skip buying Aso-ebi of people you sre not close to
• Save from ur gifts n income no matter how little 500 per day is 14k per month and 168k per year (have an account w/o ATM or checkbook.you can have a token kept away for emergencies n replenish)
• Lend money to only extremely credible debtors except when the request is amount you don't mind not being returned
• Drive more or walk(its a simple exercise) or carpool
• Avoid people that ALWAYS leech off u
• Reduce Unnecessary Clubbing/Outing with friends (Save your drinks/outing money as they r usually triple the regular price)
• Cook more n eat out less
• Buy Groceries and Foodstuff in bulk @least a month's worth
• Farm if you can (veggies, fish,poultry,snail,etc)

There are sooo many other ways we can spend less & save money but i hope this list helps someone. If we evaluate our lives and learn to do things in moderation, we will find contentment & be able to increase our seemingly limited resources.

Toodles!XooX

HOW MUCH SHOULD A MAN EARN BEFORE GETTING MARRIED?

This was the title of the Poll being taken by The Naked Convos blog last Friday, followed by a short write-up and a range of figures to choose from.
The option i picked was  Any amount of money is okay (as this was more or less applicable in my life) and in the comment section i explained my point of view after reading comments from other readers.
This was my comment

"I agree with @toolsman, marriage is a game of compromise. A man can earn as little or as much as possible before getting married. As far as i’m concerned being ready for marriage and having stability has more to do with the mental maturity of both individuals and their will to make compromises towards a better future. How much do civil servants make and they are married with kids to support now and even back in the days and they make up a large part of the Nigerian middle class. If you marry the right partner, set priorities and you both align accordingly on the best path for growth, savings, investment and a better future, money becomes a small matter. Marriage is not about the wedding ceremony and that’s where most people miss it, we want the loud, splashy, costly bellanaija type weddings and end up paying 4it in frustration and sometimes in cash for the next few years into the marriage, not the best tone to start the foundation.

Contentment is scarce-constant comparison is now the norm, everyone is in the ‘his money is our money, my money is my money’ mentality, the men wanna be the ‘man of the house’-ego driven, YOLO lifestyles-spending all they earn now ‘cos who knows if we’ll see the rainy day if we save, vulnerabilty is now weakness, etc.Cut your coat according to your size and it’ll fit just fine till you get more material. a.k.a Have a budget and plan accordingly, work towards it, be a team and support one another and God go bless the rest. #shikena'."

You can check out the post on their blog.

Toodles!!XooX

My Dairy saved me Money!!

Today started on a pretty good note. I was in a much better mood than yesterday when it seemed all possible forces were working against me *sigh. My friend Ishaya Bako won the 2013 AMAA award for Best Documentary 'Fuelling Poverty' (you can check it out on YouTube) and he had a lil get together to celebrate this. I'm extremely proud of him and i tell him every chance i get. My mood improved during the party as i did not want to carry a long face and my Significant Other was making it a task to cheer me up (i love my man so much!!). Anyways, back to today, so i woke up in a chipper mood, got things done and i was ready for work before time, i had breakfast and decided, since i had time to spare, to do some pending money transfers. I was supposed to send N50,000 to someone as payment for the purchase of some items. I love to multitask!. makes me feel like a superwoman, and i had done enough online transfers to count this as just another one. I put the phone on speaker and spoke to my colleague while i went ahead to initiate the transfer on my phone, i was done in a matter of minutes (i am one of those people that maximizes all of the functions my Blackberry phone has to offer, E-mail,Twitter,Facebook,Foursquare,Whatsapp,etc.). I get an alert on my phone about the transfer and WAIT! WTF!! do mine eyes deceive me!!! THAT IS NOT THE PERSON I TRANSFERRED MONEY TO O!!MO GBE!!! God please let this sms be an error. My mind is screaming as i try not to panic and hurriedly open my online banking site, deep down i knew i had clicked on the wrong beneficiary details. HOW DID THIS HAPPEN!!!OH GOD!! Just when my day was going so good. The page opens and i enter full panic mode as it confirms to me what i just saw in the text, i had sent the money to the wrong person and that wasn't even the main cause of my panic, it was the unfamiliar name and acct no. that drove me nuts! Lemme slow down here and do a lil explaining, i hate Nigerian Banks! the queues,customer service, etc. I avoid it as much as humanly possible, i only go when i absolutely have to make deposits or online banking is down and i have an urgent transfer to make. That said, i tell whoever i want to send money to to provide a GTbank account 'cos its easier than NEFT Transfers which is to other accounts and requires more info. Okay, so thanx to all these past transfers i have done, i have unfamiliar names and accounts in my stored beneficiary details and because i wasn't paying attention, i did not know that i had selected the beneficiary just above the person i wanted to send money too and i did the same breeze-through while typing in my token details. I started thinking of the next course of action to get my money back. I called GTBank connect (prompt response btw) and after verifying my identity, the lady told me i could not get my money back except the beneficiary sends it back to my account because online transfers are instant. The most she could do was send a mail to the persons branch informing them of the mistake and to contact the person or something like that...i just phased out and started thinking of another way out after she sed they could not reverse the money. I started cracking my head for who had sent me the Acct no. after calling a no. of people about the no. to no good news. I called my significant other to tell him, he could hear the panic in my voice and that i was at the verge of tears. He told me not to panic, that it'll be fine and he'd try to make some calls. I believed him and calmed down and prayed to God that my money would not enter voicemail as no be chicken change. After i calmed down i was able to think, i opened my online banking site and opened my transaction log, i was able to trace the acct name and no., the day i sent money to that account and how much i sent. This was where i was grateful to God that i keep a physical diary.

I have had a diary for as long as i can remember, i had those fancy organizers in JSS1 before graduating to diaries in JSS3/SS1. My organizers used to be very detailed when i was much younger but after an episode where the got into the wrong hands, i switched to coding them but even then i would forget the meaning of the code when i wanted to read it. I finally learnt to keep them brief, in tiny writing and pieces of info only i would understand except the parts i wanted to be understood if anyone got their hands on it. I fished out my diary and Jotter of To-do lists and traced the dates i made the payment with the my diary log and to-do list and i was able to trace the person i owed that amount and where i ticked off that i had made the payment on my to-do list. I hurriedly called her and she confirmed she was the one that gave me the account no. I explained the situation to her and she quickly called the guy before he will spend my money thinking its awoof. I was happy to get my money back. Thank God. I am learning to cast my cares on God, Do my best and leave the rest to him, as worrying will not help or add a single moment to my life. It is well.

Toodles!XooX

Money!!Argent

Money's slow to enter,quick to go..so do not be penny wise and pound foolish.