Jaawpreneur

Budgeting Relapse* It's Real!

2023-06-23T13:23:00.005+01:00

You did a total self assessment. Told yourself the truth; the truth that you weren't handling your life matters right, especially with regards to your finances. Your personal finances, the finances of your business(es), your job, your attitude to these as well and much more stinks real bad. On top of all of these, you are eye brow deep into debts and barely breathing.

You Can Never Win With Money Playing Kissy Face With Debt

2022-05-24T17:03:00.004+01:00

Have you thought of the world of possibilities open to you if you own every penny you earn from your job or/and business? I mean, think about this, you have available to you every penny that hits your account as your take home pay or business yield.

Naira And Kobo? Where Is Our Kobo-And Some Of Our Nairas?!

2020-06-05T03:55:00.005+01:00

As a growing child, even as young as six years of age, I remember that at school and in local shops, there were items sold for five kobo (5k), twenty kobo (20k), twenty-five kobo (25k), one naira (N1), three naira (N3), two naira ten kobo (N2.10k) and so on. It was a common sight to see both the old and the young in possession of coins and naira notes.

Valentine's Day Sinking Fund Anybody?!

2019-02-12T11:41:00.008+01:00

The season of love is floating strongly through the air.

We know, we know. There is the need to give out gifts, take loved ones out to dinner, you know do something really special as an expression of love and that is all understood and fair. These things should be done but did you make a plan for it ahead of time? Something like a sinking fund, maybe? Otherwise don't tell me that the inevitable expenses will be coming right out of your savings or upkeep for the month!

Stick To A Plan!

2019-02-11T10:53:00.009+01:00

So! It is 2019 and you are probably wondering where all the year end heat of the moment that you saw towards the end of 2018, went. Now so that we do not let ourselves be carried away by the new year excitement as well (hmm... there almost always seems to be one form of excitement or the other), bear in mind that before the year goes any farther, you need to pause in your tracks and do a self check before the year goes any farther. First off, have you already taken stock of your journey through 2018? I mean really reviewed your 2018?

Plan The Dive * Dive The Plan

2019-01-21T10:53:00.008+01:00

I once heard a professional scuba diver mention a common saying among scuber divers; 'Plan the dive, dive the plan'! Everything in live requires some form of planning in order for things to work out to the extent of some form of an expected outcome. So many of us often times act out activities without putting proper thought into what sequence is required to such actions, and as a result, we find ourselves working very hard to achieve nothing.

I so want this new year to be very different for me and I assume that you want the same thing for your self.

Personal Or Family Finance Control Systems

2018-11-01T17:56:00.004+01:00

A simple way to summarize the personal finance control system is as follows:

The Envelope system - placing the budgeted amount from a paycheck into actual cash envelopes
Checkbook register system - tracking expenses and finance activities in a checkbook register categorized into spending plans
Electronic spending plan system

I decided to do this break down so that when I go into my apps and spreadsheets discuss, you do not get confused wondering what the point of it all is. If per adventure you find yourself puzzled, just cast a quick glance at the summary above to get you on track.

Debt Freedom Milestone Thermometer

2018-10-29T14:30:00.003+01:00

Living life in debts is not an acceptable lifestyle no matter what banks and credit institutions say. It is also very difficult to ignore their enticing promises of what you stand to gain by purchasing their debt products especially when you have unsolved financial challenges starring you straight in the face.

This is avoidable no matter what point your are at right now. It may not look possible at the point where you might presently be at financially but it really is do-able, I promise you.

New You, New Habits * Don't Live Another Day Without A Budget!

2018-09-20T12:18:00.004+01:00

Budget, budget, budget! One word that sounds so serious, that I don't care for and probably never really need in my life ... or do I?

Yes, yes you do. Everyone needs a B-U-D-G-E-T! Old or young, rich, not so rich and ..... ehem ... the poor? Well I hesitated there because come to think of it, you actually become poor without a budget. Oh yes. It doesn't matter how huge or small your income is, your social status or rating, popularity or lack of it thereof, you can become poor on a huge income without a budget.

Brain Dumping

2018-08-16T15:44:00.005+01:00

Having a lot of things battling for space in your thoughts can be very confusing to the extent that you have a lot of ideas of what you need done but just can't pinpoint which to begin with. There are people who have a habit of springing up new ideas almost on a moment by moment basis i.e. before one idea can completely form in their head, another is already forming. Now if people with this tendency do not pull a handle somehow on their thinking process, they can end up in a jumbled up mess viz a viz frustrating confusion.

Gazelle-like Intensity

2018-08-06T15:39:00.003+01:00

If you want to do something and you think that just deciding to do something will get you results, I think that you should think again. You do not know how many times I told myself that I was going to get out of debts and in the same breath was purchasing something else on credit.People, you can wander into debts but you cannot wander out of debts!

Debt Hit List * Quarantine Your Debts!

2018-07-27T01:34:00.004+01:00

The journey to debt freedom requires a lot of deliberate work especially for those with a lot of debts piled up on their plates. It can be quite overwhelming just trying to figure out where to begin I tell you. Dave Ramsey said once that getting into debts is similar to taking an elevator to a destination but getting out of debts is like taking the stair case. A long way to go!

No matter the size of your debts, the first thing is to determine to stop adding on more debts. This might sound like a no-brainer but I tell you that it is kinda impossible sounding for some people. Yes! There are people who do not really think that they can survive on just their income no matter how little or great.

Money Smart Kids

2018-07-10T22:41:00.005+01:00

Debts are enemies to a person's peace of mind and should be treated as what they are, "enemies". There is no use ignoring paying off debts hoping that they would just go away. It is also not a good idea to go into ventures that make you a debtor too.

True, there are situations that crop up unexpectedly that could push a person to make a decision that would plunge him/her into debts but, most often than not, going into debts is as a result of poor planning, impatience and discontentment. This might not be a welcome insinuation to most but look at it this way.

Another Face Of Slavery

2018-07-07T22:44:00.002+01:00

D.I.Y. Skin Glow Face Mask

2018-07-02T16:46:00.002+01:00

Cash Envelope System

2018-06-18T12:41:00.006+01:00

Life would have been so much easier for many of us if only we had paid closer attention to what we heard and saw around us that are useful for our personal application. One of such is the simple ways that monies were efficiently managed in homes in times past to the

extent that there were a lot of families who lived debt free effortlessly.

Such families saw owing money as a taboo. This might sound strange to many these days but, that was a very good approach to managing money. Honestly, we have made our lives so complicated and unnecessarily so with the vast range of products offered by financial institutions and other businesses. It has become so that being in debt is now fashionable.

Is Osusu Really The Solution?

2018-06-16T21:57:00.005+01:00

For a great number of people (here I will safely focus on Nigeria where saving through group contribution is a common experience, to a large percentage of classes of income), group contribution is seen as a great way to save money or raise large amounts of money to enable one make large purchases or payments than your regular monthly income would permit you to.

The idea behind this group contribution is basically to agree with a group of persons mostly work colleagues or/and friends to come together and pick turns for each member of the group to receive an agreed amount donated equally by all other members of the group. The group could be as few as five persons or as large as ten to twenty persons. This means that if for instance you have agree that there will be a total of say ten persons making up that group and each person is to donate say ten thousand naira per pay period within the duration or lifespan of that group contribution cycle, you all come together to agree on when the start month would be (a lot of people start from January for easy management) and then choose who receives the group donations in each of ten months; that is January to October. A total of a hundred thousand naira is due this way to each person as their turn to receive the donation comes up. This amount includes of course the recipient's own donation as well . At the end of the duration, if the group is interested in continuing, they may decide to reshuffle turns or maintain the same arrangement.

The donation amount varies. The amount is usually highly dependent on the income level of those involved. Most times, the group is formed among work colleagues as it is easier to know when salaries are paid and also to easily keep tab on every member of the group.

It might sound like a lot of fun and a very good way to save and raise money and I honestly can not dispute that because when you receive your share of the donations, you are empowered to make purchases to the tune that would normally take you a long time to achieve on your own.

Now this does not go without risks as there could be an unexpected death or one form of mishap to one or more members of the group. There might be other types of risks involved and the problem of determining how those who were yet to receive their own donations would be compensated, leading to a lot of disagreements and so on.

I have been particularly involved in this group contributions on various levels and felt that it had helped me settle a lot of bills, but the moment I decided to take my finances by the horn (figuratively), it dawned on me that I really did not need to raise or save money that way. I was practically tied down after receiving my donation and could not do anything about it until the period of the contribution elapsed. There really was no freedom per se. Real freedom actually comes with having your income at the end of each pay period 100% and being able to decide what to do with it. Osusu to my opinion after delving into it for years, is actually another face of slavery too because as long as you have people to settle each pay period, you can not spend as you would like to.

The only instance when this conclusion may vary is for when you are disciplined enough to keep most of the lump sum you collect when it comes to your turn to receive the donation, however a great percentage of persons do not do this.

The driving factor behind this means of raising money is mostly to easily get a lump sum amount of money. Funny enough, all that is really needed is to properly budget your income and ensure you have a substantial amount going to savings. If you require a particular huge expense to be made, you just needed to add it to your wish-list and then begin to work financially towards it. One way you could work towards achieving that target is through what is referred to as sinking funds.

Following a sinking funds routine requires that you first decide on one or more things you would like to purchase or pay for. It could range from clothing, a car, rent, school fees, a house, name it. After you have decide on these, you calculate how much it would cost to pay for them and for how long you might need to put some money aside for this venture, and then start keeping said money aside with every income you receive.

There are various ways you could consider to put away the money being saved. It could be in an envelope labelled with the purpose of that sinking fund and kept aside, for those operating the cash envelope system. Keeping aside also could be in the bank. Personally I automate my sinking funds in the bank from the amount I have kept as lump sum for saving. What I do here is instruct my bank to periodically on a given date each month, deduct a specific amount of money from my savings account into another account intended for a particular savings goal such as when I need to plan to attend my church's annual international conference, when saving for Christmas or my next wardrobe makeover, which by the way I now do quite low key. Frugal is the word baby!

Yes I no longer buy my clothing whenever like I used to do. I learnt from some acquaintance the importance of periodic wardrobe replacement. So now I do this in a particular time each year putting into consideration when prices for such items have dipped a bit. One good thing about automating your sinking funds is that you cannot withdraw from that account until the end date is reached and so you are sure that you will never have a shortfall as a result. I need to sound here that you need to determine what is okay to automate. Emergency funds for instance should never be automated with a freeze on the account because even though you should never spend your emergency money unless there is a real emergency, an emergency can come up at the least unexpected time. So you want to make your emergency fund sort of readily available.

I realize that it could be a Herculean feat to de-programme the minds of many people to understand that Osusu does not really solve your problem. It could even plunge the undisciplined person into more money problems because if you are not disciplined with money, when you receive your bulk contribution payment, you would have a tough time effectively managing your money. So one could become a serious debtor just by partnering in an Osusu venture.

With this said I strongly advice training yourself to be money disciplined and to manage your money yourself.

I am aware of certain persons who hand over the amount of money that they want saved to someone they think they can trust to keep safe for them until they need it. Sadly, although this has worked for some, what is to say that the person holding your money may not need cash so much that they decide to borrow yours and may not be able to put it back by the time you need to use your money or heck make away with your hard earnings for that matter?

So you see, Osusu or what ever way you might be keeping money away, managing your own money is still unrivaled in my opinion. It gives you freedom that you cannot have in most of the other ways. This coming from someone who has ventured into these other money saving methods.

We would like to have your comment on your opinion about the Osusu or group contribution for saving money strategy.

DIY Transluscent Loose Face Powder

2018-06-04T10:08:00.002+01:00

Comfortable In My Person - Plus Size Or Size Four

2018-05-31T23:28:00.004+01:00

Time has come when we all need to separate unreasonableness from genuine concern and accept that one person's body size, shape weight, or whatever can not be expected to be the same as the next person. For body size in particular, unless it is life-threatening, leave people be! If a person is plump

or fat, for instance, people need to understand that it should not be criticized or when someone is skinny.

Starting To Plan Functionally

2018-05-24T14:54:00.003+01:00

Have you ever been in that place where you need to keep your life organized, I mean all of it; work, school, chores etc because

you know that is one sure way of getting ahead if things need to turn out better for you, yet you wonder how to even begin? You are not alone. A lot of people have this same problem, unless of course those who are natural planners.

My 2018 Total Makeover

2018-05-11T17:00:00.005+01:00

I have been away like forever from blogging and only too glad to be back eventually! I missed you all guys, I really did.

Now this particular blog should have been out much earlier judging by the title and intent. I had it in draft form for a while and only just put it all together. Well... better late than never, right?

Spice Space

2018-04-25T16:24:00.007+01:00

Who would have thought that a time would come when slay queens would be shopping for most of their beauty products not just from the grocery store but from among cooking spices, herbs and teas!

Hair care and skin care recipes are invading our kitchen and pantries faster than you can think up a word, so to speak. When the kitchen is out of chili, mum, aunt, sister or heck girlfriend is likely first suspect.

Debts * Another Face of Slavery

2018-01-29T16:11:00.004+01:00

I take a quick peek into my purse, aahh! Not enough in there, but I have to have that bag on display. Girl, those shoes too! Oh crap!

I walk into the nearby mall and ... Look at that! This is too much! How on earth can I not afford that? That gown! And it's on sale too! Arrrgh!

This Face Pack Really Works!

2017-12-11T14:44:00.003+01:00

I have been looking around for something that works in making my face take on a natural, beautiful and healthy glow and at some point I was not sure I could without spending the naira (I can be thrifty too, hey!). We all know that most D.I.Y.s go for next to nothing in cost, so I began to browse sites and boards containing D.I.Y. recommendations until I came across a particular recipe that stood out to me and that boasted of amazing results in days. Best of all is that this formulation catered to oily skin too.

Oh, My Edges!

2017-11-26T15:44:00.006+01:00

Have you ever had to embark on a war with your edges? It is one of the toughest wars to win. For the ladies it should have been an easy war but with the vast variety of mind bogging weave designs and smashing braid hairdos, victory becomes quite the feat.