There are some people in life that their major problem is how to manage money. Not that they do not make money, but they have spending challenges. You will be surprised that what you make will be enough and even have some left if you learn the art of financial discipline. The truth is that what you do with money is almost purely a result of your choice, but the effect will definitely be almost certain. Here, we shall take a look at various areas of finances that we should be disciplined about, so as to help us to achieve financial freedom.
The first part of financial discipline is in the area of spending. This affects a lot of people so much that they can spend even their future in their present. Sadly, some of these spendings are on avoidable or unnecessary things, while some are just to fulfil some "wants" which might not even be a need. When you take caution about how you spend and what you spend on, then you have achieved a form of financial freedom. If you are not financially disciplined in the area of spending, no matter how much you make, it will definitely not be enough for you. If what you want to buy is not necessary at the moment and if it will affect you negatively, then you do not have to spend on it.
I once read about the story of the "prodigal son" and I understood how reckless spending can crash someone's finances. He squandered his entire resources on riotous and unrestrained spendings. It is worth noting that you do not spend simply because you want to impress people who may not even be there for you when the chips are down, nor do you spend because you feel like, but because you have a need of what to spend on. You do not leave your needs and other pressing things you should spend on and be spending on your wants and on the things which add little or no value to you. In addition, if there is a cheaper alternative to what you want to buy which you can comfortably afford, then you can go for it. For example, instead of going for a designer cloth that you cannot afford, you can go for the alternative generic one that you can comfortably afford.
The next financial discipline that we will look at is saving. If you cannot save money at your current level, you may find it too difficult to save when your income increases. You have to also know that you will not be actively working forever, so what are the plans that you have made when you leave active duty? It may be what you save today from what you have that you will fall back on later and it may be what will save you. You need to know that saving is also a very important survival strategy that should not be overlooked by anyone who wants to achieve financial freedom.
In addition to saving, you have to also imbibe investment mentality. Having investment is like sowing financial seed into your future. The truth is that you cannot be rich by what you save, even though it is necessary, but by what you invest. For every money that comes into your hand, you can make it a point of duty to take out some percentage to invest. Right from your level, there are things that you can invest in. In this tech age, you can even invest in many online businesses and get passive income. Some of these investments do not require much, and there are many at your level that you can do.
The last financial discipline to look at, which will help you in all other aspects of financial management is to go for more financial knowledge. The more you gain knowledge of finance, the better it will be for you to manage your finances. More so, when you are disciplined enough to grow in learning and to go for more knowledge, you will discover that you will be better at the decisions you make in relation to finance and you will also gain more financial freedom. Remember that almost every other aspect of financial involvement will be better when you gain more knowledge. Even investment is better when you have done your own research. So endeavour to grow in knowledge.
Thanks for reading
