Having an account is the first step to financial success.  Managing your money i.e. budgeting, is just as crucial to your development.  No matter how much money you earn, you can make it work to ensure it is meeting your needs, responsibilities and wants. 

I haven’t always been disciplined with money, but over the years, I’ve learned to better manage my monies and you can too.   Few years back my best friend and I started celebrating birthdays by setting a milestone to achieve each new year we were gifted with life.  This was after over a year of cutting back on unnecessary expenditures which we wasted with going out every weekend.  Without a car, taxis to parties, club and home were the biggest expense.  Thankfully, we both prefer water and soft drinks so pockets weren’t dented with additional costs on alcohol (no judgement here, simply sharing what works for us😃😂).  By the end of the experiment, we’d saved a good chunk of money and invested in a business (with loan support), weekend outings were cut to once in a while 😃 and we haven’t looked back.  

He introduced me to the all important spreadsheet and it has changed our lives.  You too can start one today for greater success in attaining your financial/wealth/savings goals. Your spreadsheet should include the following: 

1. How much you earn
2. How much you spend on needs such as E.g. rent, transport, home expenses (water, electricity, gas, etc
3. How much you are saving 
4. How much you spend on miscellaneous expenses (i.e. unplanned spend like outing with friends, financial contributions etc.  you need track these – there could be opportunities to save more towards investments)
5. How much you are spending on loan payments such as student/business loans.
6. Anything else you want to track. 

Now, you don’t have to follow our path, but certainly determine what works best for the life you want to lead. Tracking your expenditures against your income/pocket money/bursary allowances will undoubtedly help you become more financially empowered.   With this you are able to live within your means, separating NEEDS from Wants by setting priorities, which will help you save for investments in wealth creating assets/ventures such as land, housing, businesses etc. 

A bank account coupled with good money management brings financial discipline.  This of absolute necessity to personal development and you can rest assured, when time comes to borrow a loan or have a little fun in a dream destination, your discipline today shall reap you great results for success.