Compliments of the New Year, Leruo family. I hope you have rested and ready to tackle the year ahead. As a member of this community, achieving your financial goals should be a priority in 2024. I am happy to kickstart the year with this article, which aims to empower you to get excited about your finances, instead of them scaring or traumatising you. Sadly, however, many Basotho are disheartened and disempowered about managing their finances which should change.
In this article, I will discuss four strategies to help you manage and navigate your finances.
Determine how you performed in 2023.
In this first month of 2024, a great starting point is to do a thorough review of how you used and spent your money in the previous year. It requires spending time reviewing your financial goals, plans and downloading as well as reviewing your bank statements including loans, savings, and investments. Ask yourself questions such as:
What did I do with my money?
Am I happy with how I spent it?
Did I achieve everything I set out to achieve?
If you are unhappy with how you performed in the previous year, forgive yourself, acknowledge it and then do something about it. Taking accountability for the situation is an important step towards financial well-being.
Align your resolutions to your finances.
As you set your New Year’s resolutions and goals for 2024, ensure that your finances form part of those resolutions. A mistake people make when setting resolutions is excluding the financial component which outlines how you plan to finance that goal or resolution. The misalignment with goal-setting exercises is not asking where the money comes from, making the resolution unattainable or unrealistic. Aligning your resolutions and tying your goals to your finances will help you plan, allocate and manage your money better.
Curve out a realistic plan to manage your money.
Without a clear road map or financial plan, it is nearly impossible to achieve your financial goals. Oftentimes, people set financial goals and create financial plans that contradict how they live, which makes it harder to achieve their goals. It is important to develop a financial plan that considers your lifestyle. With the help of a professional, curve out a financial plan that allows you to prioritise saving and investing, help you spend wisely, and do the things you enjoy doing while living below or within your financial means.
Get excited about your finances.
Generally, people are very uncomfortable about money conversations or financial management. Openly talking about finances or money has been made to seem as boring and a taboo. Unfortunately, if money remains a taboo, it will be harder to improve your financial well-being and achieve financial success. To change this, the narrative for 2024 should be ‘how can money conversation be fun and engaging? ‘how can I improve my financial knowledge and my relationship with money?’
One way to get excited about your finances is to invest in yourself and commit to lifelong learning by reading books and articles on money, listening to podcasts, attending workshops and following Leruo via print, radio and digital platforms for tips on personal finance and money management. The more you know and apply to your finances, the happier this process will be. Wishing you a Happy New Year and a prosperous 2024. Likhomo!
