All posts by : Success Bridge

What is Money Management?

It is the ability to handle or direct money with a degree of skill or to treat it with understanding and care. It’s to be a steward over it and to add value to it. Therefore, the goal of money management or stewardship is to improve the value of your money.

It was P.T. Barnum an American showman, politician and businessman that once said “Money is the excellent slave and a horrible master”.

This short but powerful statement of his summarizes the major lessons anyone can learn on the subject of money. That lesson is simply this – you can either choose to be a slave of money or master of money. The choice is absolutely yours. And this is irrespective of your tribe, nationality, level of education, age, sex, religion or even your family background.

Your choice to be a money master instead of a slave begins with an investment in your financial education. A financial education that encompasses the following money concepts – Money Minding Secrets, Money Making Secrets, Money Management Secrets, Money Multiplying Secrets and Money Mastery Secrets.

However, for the purpose of this paper our focus here shall be limited to Money Management Secrets –How to develop a good savings habit.

6 Steps to Successful Money Management

1. Budget It – Have a Wise Plan for money even before it comes.
2. Invest it – Put it into profitable ventures for more monies.
3. Save It – Prepare for unexpected opportunities to exploit.
4. Use It – Take care of your needs and the needs of your family.
5. Record It – Monitor your Cash flow (Income & Expense) daily.
6. Avoid Waste – Don’t engage in riotous living to impress others and prove you are rich.

Finally

I am sure you can now see that it’s not just enough to make money. To gain mastery over money, you must also know how to manage it very well. And the good news is money management is a skill that anyone can learn. Therefore, as you learn and put these lessons to practice, remember that the goal of money management is to add value to what you already have irrespective of the size.

Internet fraud popularly referred to as 419 or Yahoo Yahoo in Nigeria is generally motivated by the need to make money illegally through the internet no matter what law is broken. The money is then used to buy things like houses, cars, big phones and the likes so they can look good among their peers. But if I may ask; how can we call stealing other peoples hard earned money to acquire things for ourselves ‘Success’? Success has a positive lasting impact on society but illegal act like internet fraud only destroys the society. I will highlight three negative impact here;

1. Lack of Vision

One of the skill of successful people is vision; the ability to see far beyond where they stand. If I may ask this question at this point; what kind of world will you like to create? Is it a peaceful one or a troubled one?

I am very sure that you do not look forward to creating a world where people kill their loved ones for ritual, hypnotize others and steal their hard earned money. Do you see a world that is built on crime; when no great country has been called great through the citizen’s illegal act like internet fraud? This is because acts like cyber crime are illegal and only thrives on stealing what others have acquired through legal hard work.

Engaging on internet fraud only destroys your ability to have a clear picture of the future. A future where it is possible for you to make the world a better place than the way you met it rather than destroy it through fraud.

2. Destroys National Identity

Criminal act like this that is punishable by law will always paint a negative picture of a country like it has done to Nigeria over the past years. But I believe this generation can change all that by thinking and acting differently. This act only makes the nation a less desirable place to live in. Just imagine going to another country and people keep suspecting you like a criminal because you are a Nigerian. We all should be building the nation and not destroying it. A country is only seen and called success based on the persons who have made success out of themselves. You must know that internet fraud can’t be counted as success but as failure.

3. Beyond Poverty

Research has shown that the more reason people involve in internet fraud is as a result of greed. This is because individuals see the little they have as not being enough. But the truth is that in pursuing their greedy appetite they end up destroying law and order in the society, prevent businesses from operating normally and increasing unemployment. This will generally lead to increased level of poverty and increased level of violence leading to loss of lives which I believe is much more than poverty.