HOW TO SPEND YOUR FIRST LUMP SUM SALARY (NEWLY TRAINED TEACHERS)
“Had I known is the language of the fool”.
You are now accountable to yourself with regards to how you earn and spend
money. Below are some selected guidelines that will help you to spend your
first lump sum salary wisely.
1. DRAW A BUDGET: The cliché goes like ” If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. Life can be well lived only when it is planned well. What do you intend to use your salary for? Take a few moments and write them down. It is called ‘budget’.
Budget writing has two most important components, i.e. INCOME and EXPENDITURE. INCOME is best described as the inflows: where and how will you get your money? Don’t settle for your salary as the one and only source of your income. On the other hand, EXPENDITURE is also best described as an amount of money that is spent on something. The things you spend your money on can further be grouped into NEEDS and WANTS. Your needs are the things you can’t live without while the things you can live without are your wants. For instance, there is the need to buy food first before buying airtime for your phone (granted you are expected to choose between the two). You can’t survive without food (i.e. need) but you can survive without airtime (i.e want). Literally, wants are insatiable, which means that there’s no way you can satisfy all your wants.
You must list all the things you wish for, but do well to group them under your needs and wants. Now, let’s look at some items that may appear on your budget.
a) Tithe and offering: I am a Christian, and I believe in tithing. Tithing is the act of giving one tenth of your earnings to God. That is the only way you can force God to work on your behalf but failure to do so means you do not simply value God. Even if you don’t believe tithing per the dictates of your doctrine, you have to make spiritual investments through giving to your religion or to the needy.
b) Make an investment: One professor said, “The highest you can attain by living on your salary is ‘okay'”. It means, you will have food, shelter and clothing but you might not be able to invest properly in your children’s future or achieve some other things in life. It is needful of you to make an investment into the future. Personally, I do not like investing at the bank. It accrues little interest compared to investing in a business. In business, the riskier the investment, the higher the income. You can choose to invest in ventures like animal rearing, farming, setting up a shop and many others. Anyway, many people fear to go into such a venture. Success is all about taking risks. It is not advisable to sell toffees, pens or pencils in the school you are teaching. It is even against the codes of conduct of G.E.S. This kind of investment attracts very little income and it is time and money wasting.
You can invest at the banks through, fixed deposit, treasury bill, shares/equities, bonds, asset investments etc. Also, there are other insurance companies you can also invest with. Some of them are:
– GLICO Insurance
1. DRAW A BUDGET: The cliché goes like ” If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. Life can be well lived only when it is planned well. What do you intend to use your salary for? Take a few moments and write them down. It is called ‘budget’.
Budget writing has two most important components, i.e. INCOME and EXPENDITURE. INCOME is best described as the inflows: where and how will you get your money? Don’t settle for your salary as the one and only source of your income. On the other hand, EXPENDITURE is also best described as an amount of money that is spent on something. The things you spend your money on can further be grouped into NEEDS and WANTS. Your needs are the things you can’t live without while the things you can live without are your wants. For instance, there is the need to buy food first before buying airtime for your phone (granted you are expected to choose between the two). You can’t survive without food (i.e. need) but you can survive without airtime (i.e want). Literally, wants are insatiable, which means that there’s no way you can satisfy all your wants.
You must list all the things you wish for, but do well to group them under your needs and wants. Now, let’s look at some items that may appear on your budget.
a) Tithe and offering: I am a Christian, and I believe in tithing. Tithing is the act of giving one tenth of your earnings to God. That is the only way you can force God to work on your behalf but failure to do so means you do not simply value God. Even if you don’t believe tithing per the dictates of your doctrine, you have to make spiritual investments through giving to your religion or to the needy.
b) Make an investment: One professor said, “The highest you can attain by living on your salary is ‘okay'”. It means, you will have food, shelter and clothing but you might not be able to invest properly in your children’s future or achieve some other things in life. It is needful of you to make an investment into the future. Personally, I do not like investing at the bank. It accrues little interest compared to investing in a business. In business, the riskier the investment, the higher the income. You can choose to invest in ventures like animal rearing, farming, setting up a shop and many others. Anyway, many people fear to go into such a venture. Success is all about taking risks. It is not advisable to sell toffees, pens or pencils in the school you are teaching. It is even against the codes of conduct of G.E.S. This kind of investment attracts very little income and it is time and money wasting.
You can invest at the banks through, fixed deposit, treasury bill, shares/equities, bonds, asset investments etc. Also, there are other insurance companies you can also invest with. Some of them are:
– GLICO Insurance
– Ghana Life Insurance
– SIC
– Teacher’s Fund and
– Star Assurance and others.
Visit the banks and the insurance companies to find out more about their packages. Don’t be deceived by their tantalizing way of convincing customers.
c) Pay your debts: In business, it isn’t right to pay your debts promptly. But it is not advisable to be in debt while the borrowed money is not giving you any income. It is better to be at zero than to be at negative. Some borrowed to foot their education. Others were also on Student’s Loan (SLTF). I will advise you to offset such debt so that you will be free.
d) Household items: You may have a long list of items to buy, such as TV, fridge, laptop and others. If you do not have a fridge, it is better to place it first on your list because it can save you a great deal of money. It prevents food wastage and it saves a lot of time in food preparation. To those in deprived areas, you may not need to buy any of the electrical gadgets, but you need to probably invest the money somewhere worthwhile so that you will reap the fruit thereof.
e) Save: The ant, “…without any chief, officer or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest” (Proverbs 6:7-8). You have to be proactive – think about your tomorrow. There’s the need to save for unforeseen circumstances. A wise person is ever ready for any situation whatsoever. Save part of your money.
2. YOU ARE NOT A “FATHER CHRISTMAS”: Do not share the money as if it was a stolen money. You may be lured to give the money out to others indiscriminately. Yes! they will praise you today, they are the same people who will insult you tomorrow if you do not have any. It is better to enter into heaven with one hand than to enter into hell with both hands.
3. SOME THINGS CAN WAIT FOR TOMORROW: As I have said earlier, there may be other things you will wish to put on the budget, don’t forget that some things are wants and others are needs. You do not need a 52″ inch flat screen TV to be identified as a teacher. Live within your means. Just be wise and be frugal. Group them into needs and wants and try as much as possible to cancel some of the items out.
4. BE DISCIPLINED: Money is the most disrespectful item I have ever seen. The least chance you give it, the most it disrespects you. You have to be very discipline when it comes to money spending. If you are not discipline enough, GHC90 billion a month will not be enough for your livelihood. You can draw for yourself a very good budget but without discipline you can’t use it as a perfect guide. Let your budget be your financial compass and spend within it.
Well, I believe that if you adhere to these pieces of advice, you can become one of the successful young professionals and you will be proud how your own way of life will influence other people positively. I have done my part. I cannot force you to drink the water after taking you to the riverside. The ball is now in your court to decide. I implore you to stay disciplined financially.
Visit the banks and the insurance companies to find out more about their packages. Don’t be deceived by their tantalizing way of convincing customers.
c) Pay your debts: In business, it isn’t right to pay your debts promptly. But it is not advisable to be in debt while the borrowed money is not giving you any income. It is better to be at zero than to be at negative. Some borrowed to foot their education. Others were also on Student’s Loan (SLTF). I will advise you to offset such debt so that you will be free.
d) Household items: You may have a long list of items to buy, such as TV, fridge, laptop and others. If you do not have a fridge, it is better to place it first on your list because it can save you a great deal of money. It prevents food wastage and it saves a lot of time in food preparation. To those in deprived areas, you may not need to buy any of the electrical gadgets, but you need to probably invest the money somewhere worthwhile so that you will reap the fruit thereof.
e) Save: The ant, “…without any chief, officer or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest” (Proverbs 6:7-8). You have to be proactive – think about your tomorrow. There’s the need to save for unforeseen circumstances. A wise person is ever ready for any situation whatsoever. Save part of your money.
2. YOU ARE NOT A “FATHER CHRISTMAS”: Do not share the money as if it was a stolen money. You may be lured to give the money out to others indiscriminately. Yes! they will praise you today, they are the same people who will insult you tomorrow if you do not have any. It is better to enter into heaven with one hand than to enter into hell with both hands.
3. SOME THINGS CAN WAIT FOR TOMORROW: As I have said earlier, there may be other things you will wish to put on the budget, don’t forget that some things are wants and others are needs. You do not need a 52″ inch flat screen TV to be identified as a teacher. Live within your means. Just be wise and be frugal. Group them into needs and wants and try as much as possible to cancel some of the items out.
4. BE DISCIPLINED: Money is the most disrespectful item I have ever seen. The least chance you give it, the most it disrespects you. You have to be very discipline when it comes to money spending. If you are not discipline enough, GHC90 billion a month will not be enough for your livelihood. You can draw for yourself a very good budget but without discipline you can’t use it as a perfect guide. Let your budget be your financial compass and spend within it.
Well, I believe that if you adhere to these pieces of advice, you can become one of the successful young professionals and you will be proud how your own way of life will influence other people positively. I have done my part. I cannot force you to drink the water after taking you to the riverside. The ball is now in your court to decide. I implore you to stay disciplined financially.
You can get in touch for more. Until then,
stay disciplined. Share!!!
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This Article is one of those from the
diary of Asante Krobea Elvis, the C. E. O. of School of Passion. It
was edited by Stephanie Hayfordand Frimpong Francis.Contacts:
+233271216878
+233554368193
Facebook: School of Passion
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