Good day to y'all Hiveans ✨ it's the close of this great week and hope you have been upto date with happenings around INLEO.
On this weekend episode of money talks with Stevewealth, I'll be discussing a very important aspect of personal finance which is how I manage my finances in a depressed economy.
Most countries of the world has been going through a period of economic depression for a period now. while the cost of living continues to increase rapidly , income has only managed to remain the same or maybe just minor increases if at all any.
The situation is even worse for those of us who come from countries that are dependent on a particular resource for the major part of it's economic sustenance, and if there's any cut in supply or hike in price, cost of living tends to appreciate rapidly and standard of living is hugely affected as individual expenses increases within a very short time.
Living in this part of the world where our economy mostly depends on oil and fuel products, trying to survive and maintain a standard of living that is upto normal has really been a serious task.
The removal fuel subsidy has affected many other aspects of the economy and even daily living expenses ranging from food and groceries, transportation, cost of basic utilities like water, electricity and waste disposal. The educational sector is not left out as many institutions has increased the tuition fees to almost double of what it used to be. These are aspects of our lives that we can't live without on a daily basis.
How I manage my Finance in a depressed economy
1.Making my budget from the beginning of the month.
I always emphasize budgeting because I consider it the cornerstone of financial management. I try to always list out my monthly expenses including rent, groceries, utilities, transportation, things I know are very important to me and other things I know I can't do without. then I try to cut down on other things like entertainment, eating out and non non-essential wants. this helps me keep track of how I spend my money and what I spend it on to avoid being cut up in the web of lack or debt.
2.Reducing my debt burden.
Talking about debt, I have come to see that there's nothing that weighs down than being in debt. especially a debt you acquired because you're trying to live and survive. the truth is that there are good debts and there are bad debts. money borrowed to engage in a profitable venture that will end up bringing other money is regarded as a good debt, but money borrowed and spent on living expenses, and doesn't yield anything in return is regarded as a bad debt.
in such a depressed economic situation it is good to try as much as possible to live within our means and stay debt free but if we must acquire any debt at all then, we rather acquire a good debt and make very calculated investments to avoid devastating loses.
3.Diversifying my income sources.
Most of us are employed in one way or the other, either we are working for someone, an organization or we are self employed.
I have often had people say that no one becomes rich by being employed, well in as much as I may not have anything to say concerning that, I believe no matter the kind of employment we are working at, one shouldn't just stop at working at only one thing.
Except you're earning enough to keep your self above the economic torque, it is wise and advisable to diversify. our world is becoming so complex that one can barely manage to survive only working at one thing. in this stage of our social evolution, it is necessary to always up-skill, learn and relearn, also follow the trend because most times we see that money flows in same direction with the trend. apart from my normal job that I combine with schooling, I have since tried to engage in other things to help me keep my head above the waters of economic downturn this period. online Jobs are so much available right now, platforms where you can freelance several areas and get paid for your skill are available.
All thanks to Hive and it's sub-platforms like INLEO, time and effort are well rewarded. Sometime last month, I did an abstraction job where I just sit from my room and input data on a company's site. there are many other platforms that pay you for your skills, so try to get busy with something and diversify your income sources with the skill you already have, or acquire a skill you think will pay you as well.
4.Reducing discretionary spending.
In this time of economic depression, one of the things that has really helped me is reevaluating my discretionary spending. I try to look out for areas I can cut down on without sacrificing quality of life. these includes less eating out, looking for more affordable entertainment options and postponing unimportant or should I say non essential purchases. the results have been so helpful, more money to spend on things that are really important to me and less debt on my purchases.
One important thing I have discovered is that it doesn't take much stress to live a bit less than the amount we normally survive on if we look very well on what really deserve our attention in terms of spending. it is necessary to scale our wants based on a hierarchy of importance in this time of economic depression.
5.Review and adjust regularly.
Flexibility and being proactive will help us to always adjust our financial goals to match our income. managing our finances is a life long process that requires commitment on our part, being able to adjust to changes in order to achieve our financial goals.
in as much as I think we should make informed financial decisions that help minimize spending, quality of life should not be compromised to significant standards, for this regular review and adjustment will help us.
Thanks for your time, its money talks with Stevewealth. Your comments are highly appreciated.