By Tkay Nthebe
Do you have a relationship with your money? Kapa ha e sale chelete e le parcel?
Growing up, money conversations were extremely uncomfortable and dare I say embarrassing because money was such a sensitive topic. It was easier to associate money to many things such as ‘parcel ea ‘Manyakallo’ or ‘chelete e ea cheleteng’. As a result, many households still struggle with the money mistakes made and how they relate to money because of these limiting and negative associations with money. Is it not time to forgive ourselves, change the story from ‘chelete e ea cheleteng’ to working towards improving our relationship with money? In this article, I will make reference to Sukhani’s article on the 3M Rule of Trading and apply the concept to managing our personal finances.
Achieving financial prosperity starts in the mind. Ha o itjoetsa hore chelete e e ea cheleteng, ha e n’o ho u atlehela hohang. It starts with us believing that we are capable of achieving our financial goals, for example, paying off debt, saving enough money to live comfortably and retire financially secure. It’s about having self-control – how we manage our thoughts and emotions. Granted it is not always easy being this optimistic, especially when the odds are against us. I have however seen ordinary Basotho change their mindset about how money works, change their money habits, roll up their sleeves and put in the hard work to achieve financial wellness. So there is no excuse!
With the right mindset checked off, the next step is to understand how money works and how we multiply it. Let’s determine and understand our sources of income. Are we paid on a daily, weekly or monthly basis? Equally important is understanding our spending habits, paying attention to our monthly expenses and being mindful of the money stories we tell ourselves: ‘ke sebetsa ka thata, ke ea iteboha’.
The last “M” is the method in which we manage our money. The how part of it all. Money management covers a lot of topics such as having a spending plan, living within our financial means, saving for rainy days and planning for the future. In the absence of good money management, our spending can quickly spiral out of control. Having a financial plan (this will be discussed in upcoming articles) therefore becomes very important. This is a road map that outlines what we would like our money to do for us in order to achieve our financial goals such as providing shelter for our loved ones, quality education for our children and building generational wealth.
If you’re still that person who is scared to call ‘Chelete, chelete’ and/or do not have a positive relationship with your money, I challenge you to change the money script, forgive yourself for the money mistakes and adopt the 3M Rule concept, it requires self-control. In the next article, I will discuss how to set financial goals, but till then let’s adhere to the COVID-19 regulations and keep safe.
Likhomo!
