The first time that I traveled hundreds of kilometers alone, I learned some valuable lessons about managing my finances.
I went to the motor park to board a vehicle going from Ekiti State to Kaduna State, both in Nigeria, for an entrance examination into the university. The vehicle that I boarded had a stopover in a motor park in Abuja. While other passengers went their different ways to buy food, water and other things, I stayed back on the bus. I called on snack hawkers and I purchased some snacks to make do with.
While seated in the vehicle eating snacks, hawkers selling products of different kinds came to me to advertise their products. From power banks, jewelry, caps, phone accessories, and shirts to portable electronics, they came in their numbers to persuade me to patronize them. I started to buy things without control. Anything that I sighted and felt like I needed, I would buy it without thinking twice. By the time we left the park in Abuja to continue our journey, my backpack was full of the things I purchased unplanned.
After writing my examination and returning home, it dawned on me that I had wasted money. The most annoying part is that most of the things I bought ended up useless for me.
I narrated the experience to my brother and all he could tell me was that I had been welcomed to the city with the experience. I learned my lessons. Since that experience of almost 20 years, I learned the valuable lesson of not buying things that I don't plan for. I realized that doing that is a way of wasting money on frivolities. I don't buy things because others are buying them.
You can buy your needs urgently. Needs like food, drugs etc. However, when it comes to your wants, they shouldn't be rushed. One should always be calculative when buying things.
Another lesson that I learned over the years is to avoid running into indebtedness. Taking loans indiscriminately can ruin someone's finances irrespective of how much you are earning.
I was once a victim of this. Though the loan that I took from a friend wasn't big, I wasn't able to pay back the time that I promised. I am the kind of person that respects agreement. My failure to pay became a problem for me. It weighed me down. He didn't disturb me for the money but I couldn't just take my mind off it for a second. I had to take a loan elsewhere to pay the debt. It took me months before I was able to come out of the web of indebtedness.
Since that time, I realized that if someone wants to manage his finances very well, he should run away from debt. If at all you must take a loan, do it for the sake of viable investment. One should avoid taking loans for luxuries.
Finally, one should try and plan his expenditure against income flow. Have a detailed record of your spending so that you can hold yourself accountable for the money spent. This will enable one to have a percentage of his income for daily running costs, emergency funds and savings.