I am often asked by friends and clients if I have any money-saving or budgeting tips. I guess that is why I started a blog because so many people have asked and appreciated the input I gave. Recently I was asked again, and this blog post answers the question of my top advice tips and my personal financial priorities.
The most important advice I can offer is planning. Like anything in life, if we plan or prepare correctly the implementation will have a better chance of succeeding. From the shopping list that has been correctly planned according to the meals you will be eating that week; to planning for current and future expenses. All preparation is good and an effective budget requires planning on multiple levels.
Recently someone told me about YNAB – You Need A Budget. I am still in the 34-day-free trial period and am really enjoying the software. It enables you to allocate your budget into categories – spending and saving categories. If set up correctly, you will spend what is left in the budget rather than spending what is left in the bank balance.
I believe we live in a community and I like to support shops, businesses and friends in the community. I love shopping at the same butcher and grocery shop every week. I love visiting my favourite coffee shop and chatting to the owner who is my friend. I love the community feel within a big city. I enjoy supporting small businesses and sharing in their successes.
When spending my money, I also believe in honesty. When I leave a store I will always check my receipts to ensure all the items are correctly billed for. I have often picked up that an item was incorrectly billed for or not billed at all. I recently bought a jacket at Woolworths and when I got home, realised I was never billed for the jacket. When I returned to the store to pay for the jacket, they could not believe my honesty. They were blown away and said it hardly ever happened. I was amazed that we expect our leaders to be honest, yet we are not. We expect our children and spouses to be honest, but we are not.
By the same token, I do let a store know when they have incorrectly charged me for an item. I have stopped supporting a retailer as they consistently overcharged me for my groceries. When I have informed them, they have always reimbursed me but have never corrected their tills. I do not want to support a retailer that knowingly charges their customers a higher amount than indicated in the store. I want to steward my finances well and support retailers who feel similarly about their customers.
My last priority and the most important, is generosity. We cannot enjoy our hard earned money if we hold it so dear that we cannot share it with those around us; when our hand is clenched so tightly that it brings us no joy, but only pain and frustration. Allocate a portion of your budget to a generous lifestyle and giving to others in need. Over and over I realise that is more blessed to give than to receive. I get such joy when I have the opportunity to bless someone – be it a friend or even anonymously. I also realise that we have been given much and much will be expected from us.
Giving opens up our hearts to others. Giving opens up our eyes to see others in need and giving gives us the opportunity to think of others before ourselves.
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