Wondering How to Manage Your Money?

By Kawira Gakuu

“Money, like emotions, is something you must control to keep your life on the right track’’. These words by Natasha Munson show that if you are not able to control money, then you are in trouble. In essence, money management is the ability and skill to know how much money you have, how you are going to save, spend and make more from the same amount.

The youth world over should know how to manage their money otherwise their future will be bleak. Money management goes hand in hand with personal management. If you are given whatever amount of money, would you be in a position to account for it up to the last cent?

First of all you need to know how to make money that you are going to manage. Using the allowances you get from your parents, you can start small time income generating projects. For example, if you live in the rural areas, you may start a rabbit or chicken rearing project which you can sell in future and reinvest in the same project or another one. If you are in town, you can run errands for people and get paid. The point is, if you are keen enough, you will come across an opportunity to invest your money and generate great profits.

More often than not, life’s problems come in when you have made some money. This should not be the case. Some people spend money before they get it, others spend it as soon as they get it, while a small group of people plan meticulously on every penny they have. Knowing how to plan your money in advance is important.  Planning means you will make a budget of what you need and be in a position to prioritize. You should bear in mind that once your basic needs are met, the rest can wait till a time you can afford them.

Another money management skill that every youth should be aware of is saving. There are people who are good in saving money in a bank while others are not. If you find that saving money is a struggle because you withdraw it soon after depositing, there are other ways to save. For example, you can come together with your friends and start a circle or a Chama,  (Kiswahili word for organized group where you can contribute money weekly, fortnightly or monthly), you can  buy shares and stocks or you can purchase property whose value appreciates with time. This is good because as much as the money is yours, you cannot access it as easily as you would if you had deposited it in the bank.

When saving through the bank,  you may want to take a lesson from your parents where they would separate money for different purposes. You can open several accounts and deposit money for different uses in each. You do not want to mix money meant for basic needs with that meant for leisure activities. By doing this you will be in a peaceful place and you can be sure that your money management skills will have improved for a better tomorrow.

Living within your means is very important. This means that you will not spend what you do not have and when you get money, you will leave some amount to save. Some people end up in problems because of buying things they do not need at the moment. The friends you chose will factor in when it comes to how much you spend. Therefore it is very important to choose your friends wisely. People with similar beliefs when it comes to money will be good for you as you will peer manage each other. On the other hand if your friends’ idea of money management is spending every penny they have, you have no business keeping them.

Planning your recreational activities is very important when it comes to money management. By getting involved in sporting activities, you will be busy most of the time meaning that you will not spend your money in unnecessary activities. In fact you will be surprised that this activity could bring you money in future. You could also take hobbies such as coin collection, stamp collection as well as art collection. If you do this, you can rest assured that at a later date, you will get a sizeable amount of money. Make sure that you avoid idleness as much as possible because this is when most youth spend the little money they have in their pockets. Make your leisure activities as inexpensive as possible.

Financial advisors are everywhere and you can benefit greatly from them. This does not mean that you have to part with money for this service. There are people close to us who are brilliant when it comes to money management and these are the kind to approach. “If you want to go somewhere, it is best to find someone who has already been there’’, says Robert Kiyosaki the writer of Rich dad Poor dad books.

Embracing the above lessons on money management skills will place you ahead of your peers and a successful person in whatever field you venture into in the future. Always remember that money is not a means to an end but a tool to help you improve your life and that of others.

Essential life skills for the youth

By Kawira Gakuu

Have you met learned people who have not made it in life? I have and to say the
truth, for a long time I did not quite understand why a person with masters or PhD
could live a miserable life yet we are socialized to think that you go to school, get
a good job, get married or choose not to and create other meaningful relationships
and live happily ever after. Often this is not the case. I understand it all boils
down to whether one has life skills or not. As much as what we learn in school is
important, it is not enough to take us through life successfully. Ride with me as we
explore the life skills that all the youth should seek to learn other than classroom
work.

According to Wikipedia, the true encyclopedia, life skills is problem solving
behaviors used appropriately and responsibly in the management of personal
affairs. As a youth there is need to understand that you will not live with your
parents forever so knowing how to manage ‘life appropriately and responsibly’
well is crucial. There will come a time when you will be responsible for everything
in your life be it your family life or careerwise.If you have the following life skills
then you can be sure that you will make it in life.

Some life skills are so basic that you should have them regardless of whether you
live in rural or urban area. One of them is cooking. I have heard jokes and real life
stories of people who know to cook one thing only; boiled egg! Make sure that
you go beyond boiling an egg to creating good meals. Some say that cooking is an
art so there are those gifted in it while others are not. This holds water but bear in
mind that just like you can learn any other art, this is no exception. Create time to
learn and practice cooking and in no time you will be a pro.

Another important area is cleaning. You should live in a clean environment and I
am sure you know this. But surfaces do not clean themselves so learn how to do
it early whether your parents have employed someone to do it or not. You will be
glad you did when you join college or start living alone and need a clean place.

Organizational and time management skills go hand in hand and are very

important because with them you will be able to plan every single thing in your life
efficiently. You need to be organized and the earlier you start the better. You could
start by doing a to-do list and stick to it every day so that it becomes a habit. Once
you are able to follow the small list that you set up, you can start working out more
complex lists which you ensure that you adhere to. You will realize that you will
be in a position to manage your time well and you will reap from this.

When it comes to money management, many people fail because in their youth,
they never learnt anything about this essential skill and if they did learn, it was too
late so passed bad habits keep coming back to haunt them. So as a youth you should
take the opportunity while you are still young to ensure that you learn all there
is about money management. For example, make sure that you open an account
where you save the money you get either from your parents or from your deals.
Live within your means and save by bargaining where you can.

One of the most important life skills that you should learn early in life is people
skills. Man is no island they say and I bet they are right. Therefore if you are
going to spend the whole of your life dealing with people, you had better learn
people skills. This will help you in building meaningful relationships, your
communication skills will be good because you will be in a position to handle
people of different personalities, and your career will grow because you will know
how to work successfully with people. However if your people skills are poor, you
can be sure as hell that you will live an isolated life that has no meaning. People
have been said to imply in their deathbeds that its relationships that one creates
in life that matter and not the material wealth that he or she possess. If as a youth
you impact someone’s life, you are building a legacy that will not be erased in that
persons mind easily. So from today make sure that you improve your people skills
so as to improve your relationships.

Always be on the lookout for information like; how to change a bulb, how to
maintain a car and other skills that will be useful to you when a time to live alone
comes. This is easier nowadays because you can go online and check whatever it
is you have questions about. Be aware that in life, you cannot run away from doing
things yourself unless you want to spend all your fortunes to pay the professionals
to do it for you.

When all is said and done you will be a jovial person having succeeded in areas of
life that matter. This will happen if you take care of tomorrow’s business today by
learning the life skills mentioned above and others that you come across.