Avoid January financial blues with these simple tips
The month of December is so wild, you leave your house in the morning to by bread only to be pulled out of a ditch along Mtito Andei highway two weeks later, drunk as a skunk. December is full of festivities and celebrations, they beckon at you from everywhere. Don’t clear all your savings and start calling your friends fake come January. Avoid January financial blues with these simple tips:
Think of December as just another month
Because it is just another month with bills that will still need to be paid, house rent, investments that need to be serviced and what-nots. The only difference is that you might have more time in your hands but so not be deceived to spend it destroying everything you have built this past year.
Plan your spending
You know what they say – failing to plan is planning to fail. Draft a spending plan and write a budget BEFORE the money comes. Then you will have some sort of guidance and will not be impulsive in your spending.
Pay your bills before hand
This might sound harsh, but your December salary is supposed to take you till the end of January. You spend it all, you start the year on poor note, literally. So if you are one of those people who are capable of blowing all your salary in just five days of holiday, pay your bills now.
Pay your rent, fill your gas cooker if need be, buy electricity tokens, pay school fees or at least part of it, buy uniforms, do back-to-school shopping, do shopping for the house, set aside some money for miscellaneous needs – spend what remains.
This sounds almost impossible but when you spend money meant for these things, where will it come from come January?
Live within your means
Do not compare yourselves to families that can actually afford splurging during Christmas holidays. Look for creative ways of making the best from what you have. At the end of the day it is just a day, or maybe to that can end up putting you in the mire for the rest of the year.
Avoid loans
Imagine spending the next 12 months paying a loan that you took solely to finance Christmas celebrations… does not sound brilliant whichever way you look at it. You can take loans to pay school fees and whatever emergencies that arise, but make sure they are spent on what they were intended for. Do not let the Christmas spirit dupe you into using loan money for festivities.
It is very easy to make erroneous decisions in the heat of the moment, when everybody is having a good time – but the consequences of careless spending will be borne by you alone. Avoid January financial blues.
