The Red Days! - Mistake #1

Happy new month friends and #tgif.


Just like I promised in the post - The Red Days!, I'd be sharing some of my mistakes that have made me go for days and even months without money, days that I call Red days. This post marks the beginning of the series and here I'd be sharing the first mistake - 'Spending the money before you get the alert!'

I never knew this was becoming a part of me until recently when my Red days grew into months, and while I thought one of those sulky days on how to get out of my mess I discovered that I was in the habit of spending money I don't yet have especially on things I don't really need. I was buying things on debt! The financial term for this is OVERDRAFT which according to investopedia.com is an extension of credit  from a lending institution when an account reaches zero. An overdraft allows the individual to continue withdrawing money even if the account has no funds in it. Well, I didn't need to go to the bank for that, I would borrow money from friends around to get things or do things which I shouldn't have bothered about especially cos I could do without them. But when your friends wanna hangout, you don't wanna be left behind right? If you ain't got the money slated for that, please stay right behind!


I have two alerts I expect every month which don't come in at the same time, when one comes I start to get the needful that I planned to get with the particular income but I don't set aside what I have left, instead i keep spending aiming that when the other alert comes I'd cover up by replacing it with the money I have not yet received. But guess what? I never get to cover it up cos sometimes the other alert never comes and then I get stranded. Most times we envisage an income and because we have a little cash at hand we spend recklessly hoping on the alert or we don't have the money and then we go on to borrow hoping on the alert, this can be so devastating if the alert never comes and what's more scary is that it gets to pile up.


So what could be done about this mistake?

• Writing down your goal could be the first step...."I want to spend just #10,000 this month", "I want to spend #3,000 on toiletries this month", "I want to save #5,000 this month". It could go on and on but just endeavour to start your week with goals so you can see them and track them easily - write them down!

• Make a weekly budget cos this is easier to keep track of compared to a monthly budget and it's for a smaller amount of time. It's safer to keep #2,500 mapped out for a week in my wallet than I am to keep #10,000 meant for a month in my wallet (if it sees the end of the week... It's a miracle).
• Using cash only could also go a long way to cut down overspending or spending a cash at hand cos you're expecting an alert, it will make you conditioned to spend within the cash you have. It would put you in perspective of how much money you have to spend or how much you spent on something silly.
• Another life saver and game changer is shopping with a list. You could make a list weekly and stick to it. If you only need to get a body cream that week, there's no reason for you to pass through the cookies stand and salivate. Avoid shopping for fun, if you must, find free fun 😉

I have asked the right questions, question like why did I overspend? Was there an issue with my planning? Or was it just impulsion? How can I stop it from happening again?
Don't forget that I planned for both alerts...lol  but I didn't just stick to the plan. It's really really hard sticking to a budget especially when one is just starting out like I am but it doesn't always have to be hard. It's a gradual and intentional process to unlearn the habit and you don't need to be hard on yourself when you fault, just move on and learn from your mistakes.


✌