After a vigorous search for work, what remains after one is handed with a letter of employment is how to settle in the job and manage the cash inflows (earnings/income). A lot of newly employed folks face the challenge of managing their income on daily and monthly basis. Some get carried away with the huge amount of salary they receive monthly. Such folks suddenly are caught in spending spree. Some of such spending is acceptable while others are beyond and extreme.
As a young person who just graduated and now has a job, the next line of thought is how to get a room of your own if you are still staying with your parents or under someone else's roof. This is a good way to think of spending part of your income on. While some spend wisely on getting their own apartments as well as other necessities, others go about spending on virtually everything they have dreamed of for a long while. Such spending ranges from buying expensive and luxurious household appliances, machines, mobile phones, cars and as you thought right, spending on friends outings frequently. Whiles they may not be nothing wrong in particular, but there is a time for everything. You set priorities and you must get that right. You need to do a careful and thorough examination of your spending habits soon after you begin a new job as a fresh graduate.
The world economy is burdened with a lot of challenges and industries are often hit by such challenges and consequently results in lay offs. As a new employee, you need to manage your income in such a way that in the case of lay offs, you could still survive for awhile. Effective income management helps you to survive beyond a month without a regular income.There are a lot of ways to effectively manage your income wisely. Money is a potential employee. You can put it to work for it to earn you another income apart from what you do. Therefore, the first-most thing to do is to put your money to work. Just as you work to earn income, so you can let your money work to earn you more money. This is called, investment. It is very important to invest due to the following,
- you gain additional income by investing
- it prevents erosion of your money's value by inflation rate
- it helps you to discipline your spending habits
- it helps you to finance projects and other expenses without effect on your monthly salary
A number of investment options are available to you to consider. There are both Short term and Long term investment options. The short term investments have low risk of loosing your money but comes with low returns. However, the Long term option has high level of risk but promises high returns on your money.
Examples of these options are given below:
Short term options- eg. Treasuries and Certificate of Deposit
Long term options- eg. Shares and Bonds
NOTE: More on these subject at a latter date. You can also contact an investment firm to learn more about the options that best suits you as a life beginner.
Another way of investing and making your money work for you is by venturing into a business. Think of a business opportunity that may be close to you in your community or elsewhere. The next thing after you have gotten an idea of the business you want to establish is to make a plan as to how to start, finance, manage and grow the business. You could employ other people to work for you and pay them at the end of the month just as you also receive your monthly pay from elsewhere. By this, you also become your own boss having others working for you and paying them. It is very important to know what type of business to set up and how you can finance the business.
The second wise thing to do after investing is to set a portion of your income for yourself. A worker deserves his/her wages. Pay yourself. Set aside a part of your income for your personal up-keep. This is to take care of food, clothing among others as you decide. You must endeavour to spend this money on things that are necessities for you. Remember to include all your bills as well.
Thirdly, support the work of God. Give some portion of your money to support ministry work. It is God who gave you the health and strength to go about your daily schedules. Let others get to know the God you know by supporting with your finances.
More also, be self-disciplined. Learn to discipline yourself in your spending. Avoid or reduce as much as possible, impulse buying. This helps you to avoid buying items you don't really need but you just felt to buy when you saw them on your way. It is relevant to eliminate such waste.
Again, avoid or reduce spending on luxuries through debts. Do not incur debts as a result of spending on luxurious things. Live within your means and spend only that you have as much as possible. There is a time for everything. There will surely be a time where you spend on luxuries as you wish and still be OK with what is left.
Lastly, save part in a bank account to cater for future contingencies. This could cater for medical bills, projects, children welbeing, family support among a host of others. This account can grow more based on your ability to reduce waste in your spending. The more you avoid waste, the more you save or invest to cater for such things. It really pays to manage what you have.
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