You were never born to merely exist and pay unending bills and debts. There is a lot of financial abundance in the world which you too should tap into and live a thriving life, just like many other people.
Here below are the thirteen financially healthy and highly rewarding habits you should adopt if you truly desire to live a financially fulfilling life:
- Live within your income
No amount of money will ever be enough to fully satisfy your day in day out financial needs. Consequently, taking endless loans in pursuit of meeting such an illusion is a gamble you can never win. In the end, you’ll only get highly indebted and possibly will never have peace of mind.
You must slow down on spending money you don’t have and run your financial race. Live the life you can afford, within your income. Stay away from borrowing money to spend on items you can purchase from your income/savings.
Before you hurriedly embark on spending your hard-earned money on any item, here are the four vital questions you must ask yourself to help cushion you against unnecessary or excessive spending.
The four vital questions you must ask yourself before you spend money on any item.
Question number one: Is it necessary? – Can your life go on smoothly without purchasing the item or service you are about to purchase?
Question number two: How urgent is it? – What’s the level of urgency for that product or service you want to acquire? How bad do you want it?
Question number three: Can I afford it? – In other words, can you afford to purchase that item or service without necessarily resorting to borrowing money elsewhere?
Question number Four: Will I be getting value for my money? – How long is the item expected to last? And is there any other seller offering a similar item at a more affordable cost? And is it original, or counterfeit?
If it’s necessary, you have urgency in utilizing it, you can afford it without borrowing money elsewhere, and you are getting value for your money, then that’s a green light to purchase that item or service. But if you can’t confidently answer all or at least three of the above questions, then that’s a red light on that spending.
Always be contended with the things you can afford. Enjoy them and strive to improve on your income, to enable you to afford more. Your way of life should be a true reflection of your true income. Living within your income will help you thwart the urge of being lured into avoidable debt.
- Establish a secondary source of income, and even more
The day you realize that no amount of money will ever be enough is the day you finally graduate into adulthood. No amount of money is ever sufficient to completely quench the unending thirst of human, financial needs. We all want more. We all desire to be in possession of all the beautiful things life can offer, yet these things are largely accessed financially.
The moment you establish your first source of income, your secondary source of income should be a priority. Even in the Bible, God established four rivers to water the blessed Garden of Eden. Why wouldn’t He allow just one river to water the Garden of Eden? Wasn’t it a blessed Garden? You will always thrive in abundance when you rely on more than once source of income. And after securing your secondary source of income, work on acquiring the third, the fourth ….sources of income.
Have diverse sources of income. Never depend on one tributary, it might dry up sooner than you think and expose you to drought!
- Budget for every coin you earn
Except for emergencies, always budget for what you spend your money on. I am sure you’ve heard more than a thousand times that you should have a budget for every coin you earn. Why don’t you commit putting this into action? Living without a budget is like trusting a toddler to successfully crawl across a busy highway. It’s that risky!
Budgeting will help you keep track of your earnings vs. expenditure, and enable you to put a right cap on your spending excesses. With budgeting, you’ll stop viewing luxury living as some wish in a dreamland since you will always find some slots for your enjoyments, making you gratify yourself as you go on with life. Having a budget in place will always offer you a perfect escape route towards living a financially healthy lifestyle.
- Save and invest part of your earnings, that windfall, and that bonus
It’s never how much you have, how much you earn, or how early/late you earn your wages which determine your financial success in life. It’s how you put into use that which you have, or that which you earn.
The truth is, you are not going to work forever. Someday, you will be forced to leave the comfort of that business, or that office through old age, retirement, termination, resignation, or even on medical grounds (God forbid!) et al. You must, therefore, always put your financial house in order before that bleak day arrives.
To live a financially secure and healthy life, you must learn to effectively save and invest part of your earnings, that windfall, or that bonus. Your savings and investments will effectively help you realize your life’s dreams.
An age old tested savings principle is to save 10% of your net earnings, for a specific period, say five or ten years. Afterward, you should carefully invest that saved amount somewhere safe where you’ll earn a good interest at the end of any given period.
When you invest money, you put it to work for you and should earn you a commensurate income at the end of the day. Significantly, you’ll need to invest it somewhere where you can access it whenever you desire to.
If you save and invest part of your earnings wisely, you shall have provided in advance, for your future financial needs and those of your family. And even in your absence, the continuity of your family shall have been guaranteed financially.
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