Tebogo is a reader of this blog and recently sent me an amazing email sharing how he managed to transform his finances over the past few months. It was so awesome to hear from someone who’s just realised that things are wrong and that he needs to take charge of his money. As he said, I need to fix my finances.
I decided to call him and get to hear his story. What I thought would be a 15 minute chat ended up being almost an hour! He is such an enthusiastic guy and really passionate about fixing his finances!
He shares so much personal experience and it’s really motivating to listen to. The chat is also jam-packed full of practical tips and life-changing habits that anyone can implement. The chat with Tebogo is split up over a few posts which will help you to take it all in. I’d suggest that you first listen and then read the post.
I’ve added the links at the bottom of the post to the blogs and books that are mentioned. They’re all really great resources and definitely worth checking out!
Realizing what’s wrong with my finances
Take a listen – I need to fix my finances
Tebogo’s story is probably similar to many peoples. Working hard, providing for our families, dealing with life and doing our best; but through it all we never seem to improve our financial situation. No matter how hard we work or what salary we earn, the money just disappears and we never seem to understand how.
We may speak to friends or hear radio interviews discussing investments and financial plans but somehow our own finances just seem “average” and we aren’t on the same level. In fact we might not even be thinking about investments because we don’t have enough money for that!
Does this sound familiar at all? And have you ever thought that financial freedom and wealth is simply meant for others? It’s easy to read blogs or books and think “yea, it’s so easy to say that if you’re already rich / have rich parents / are clever / …” or whatever excuse you like to use.
The reason why Tebogos story is so inspiring is that he is just an ordinary chap but he has taken control of his money in an extraordinary manner! So instead of just thinking and reading about managing his money better, he has taken action! And the best part is, it’s not that hard to do yourself! It does take some focus and determination, but it’s really not that hard!
So Tebogos story may not relate exactly to your circumstances but that points to take from this series of posts is the following:
- If think “I need to fix my finances” and you want to improve your financial situation, you need to take action!
- A few lifestyle changes and habits can have a huge impact on your finances.
- This is for everyone.
“My pockets have holes”
Have you ever felt that your pockets have holes? Not literally of course but rather in the sense that when you have money in your wallet, it just disappears! The solution is really simple, just track where you’re spending it! You can start with a simple notepad or app on your phone, but unless you track it, you’ll never solve that problem!
You’re hear a lot more about this in the next section of the interview.
Manage your money
Tebogo realised that he is able to manage a large team of people at work and is able to meet targets simply by keeping track of progress. He can easily look at daily reports and see whether he and the team are on track or not, and when things are off he can deal with them immediately.
It makes sense to do this with our personal finances too, but often we don’t. Perhaps you don’t know what to look for and in that case you can start with the Financial Health Calculator. But you also need to actively learn about managing your money and you will find out what works best for you.
However, the key is to actively manage your money. Create reports or score cards for yourself, set goals, and make sure that you’re on track!
Make time for your money
Don’t you find it interesting how we make time for things that are important to us, but we never have time for money and financial admin? Think about the time you spend at work, at gym, on family outings, hobbies, facebook, watching TV, sport, etc. Whether or not you consciously decided that it’s important, the fact that you spend time on it means that it has some value to you.
But what about making sure that your finances are in order and managing your money? Is that not important too? Not making time for your money will inevitably result in financial stress of sorts so it’s worth asking yourself why you don’t want to put aside time to managing this aspect of your life.
Need to fix your finances? Well….
This was only the first part and the realisation that I need to fix my finances. Get the next part of the story: Tebogo’s Story (Part 2) – I make time for my money
This next clip is jam-packed fill of practical tips on budgeting, tracking expenses, saving and making time for your money!
Resources
Here are the two blogs mentioned in the chat. Both definitely worth following:
Stealthy Wealth and Maya on Money