Hellooo, welcome to EnnyFinance, your favourite finance blog.
Have you been thinking of how to stop being broke? Then read on. I’ve got some helpful tips for you. Some of these things may not be new to you but, I tell you, you’ve not been paying attention to them or maybe (possibly) you didn’t think they’re capable of making you broke.
First, I need you to understand what it means to be broke. Being broke means to lack money. That’s the simplest definition. It means to be insolvent. It means to lack physical cash to settle your bills as and when due.
So, what are some of the things you’re doing that are taking money out of your hands and keeping your wallet empty all the time? Let’s look at these….
- #1. You’re not earning enough.
The #1 reason why you’re broke is because you’re not earning enough. If you’re earning as much as is enough to meet your family and personal needs, then you’ll possibly not be broke. So how do you increase your earnings? Well, if you’re an employee of a company you may not be able to decide that because your pay rise is solely dependent on your employer or the remuneration policy of your organization, which may not be reviewed as often as you expected.
However, it is best advised that an average person should have at least four streams of income. That means you must have other means of making money apart from your usual monthly salary. There are several other things you could do to make money and your 9-5 job won’t be affected. Of course, I won’t tell you to quit your job now because no matter how little you’re earning from it you’re still taking care of yourself and your family. So, what I advise is that you try to engage in other businesses that won’t affect your normal job such as affiliate marketing and book writing.
- #2. You don’t have a budget.
Another reason why you may stay broke is because you don’t have a budget. I know you’re not used to this budget of a thing but, trust me, it works.
Few months ago I noticed that my salary finishes almost before 15th of every month and I began to wonder what’s happening to my money. You know, some religious people will be quick to say “Oh, the devil is stealing my money” but, hey, you’ve got to watch yourself before you accuse the devil else he’ll kick your ass.😂😂
So what I did was to download a budget app from playstore because I know I’ll be too busy to keep a paper budget. And, it helped awesomely. So every 1st of the month or earlier I set the amount I’m going to spend for everything I needed for the new month and as soon as I received my salary, I know how much is going to my savings account and how much is going for foodstuffs and so on. This is what has helped me monitor my spending and cut down unnecessary expenses.
- #3. You’re comparing yourself with others.
The era we are now, it’s almost becoming impossible for one not to feel intimidated especially with what we daily see on social media. But, let me be honest with you, if you want to live like those you see on social media, you’ll end in penury. Social media is actually full of fake lives. People don’t show their bad side on social media, what you see is their new car and their big duplex but they won’t tell you they took car loan from work to buy it, they won’t tell you their house rent expired 3 months ago. You only see the beauty and glamour on social media and if you try to copy that, my dear, you’ll regret your action. You must learn to be contented with what you have while you trust God for a new financial level. Don’t live to impress anybody, nobody will pay your bills if you go broke.
- #4. You borrow too much.
Even the Bible says that the Borrower is a slave to the Lender. This is because your purpose of working will be to settle your debts first and this can drain not just your money but also your morale and your inner energy.
My dad (in his lifetime) used to borrow a lot. He borrowed for almost everything including paying our school fees and sometimes to feed the family. I remember one time he came home with #1,500 (that’s about $4) at the end of the month and the whole family was like… seriously? For 30 days? I could imagine the pain in his heart and even mum’s. But, it was never his fault because his employer had deducted all the money he borrowed, the tax and the cooperative dues, so it left him with almost nothing. But, thank God we survived.
You don’t have to put yourself in this kind of situation. You don’t have to. Stop putting yourself in debt. I know there are times when you just don’t have any other option but, I still advise that you keep limit to your borrowing. If you make borrowing your habit you won’t ever become financially stable.
- #5. You pay too much bills.
If you want to stop being broke, then you need to cut down your bills. You really need to. You need to cut down your cable subscription, data subscription, and minimize your use of electricity so you can be less tariffs.
I so much believe that there are some things you spend money on that you could actually do without. Yes, I know that. So why not do away with those things so you could save up some money for yourself, and your family as well?
I’m 100% sure that this will work for you in no small way.
I need to let you know that the fact that you’re broke does not mean you don’t have financial worth. No matter how broke you are, there’s always an idea, an item, or a skill that you have in your possession that can make you some money at the moment. So, you’ve got to look deeper into your mind and search out that thing that carries the money value but you’re not paying attention to.
If you can put these tips I shared with you into practice, then you’re on your way to financial freedom, and you’ll definitely not be broke again.
EnnyFinance 