Hey Guys &
Dolls,
Welcome to my first
published lifestyle post. ‘Lifestyle’ isn’t a field I thought I would be
venturing into so soon especially because of my inconsistent attempts at beauty
posts as aforestated. However, I like to go with the flow of how well things
are received here at ‘The Black Mannequin’ and this particular subject seems
propitious considering spring is here and we’re all in a spring cleaning kinda
mood.
People, especially
on social media, have seen bits of my closet or if you follow me on snapchat
@BLACKMNQN, my entire closet and more than often, jump to conclusions about how
extravagant I am with money and how frequent I go shopping and buy out the
place.
I am going to break
it down for y’all so it can forever and consistently be broke, I am not Carrie
Bradshaw and I don’t go shopping as often as you think. I mean, I will make the
occasional splurge if I’m celebrating or need a little pick me up, and even
then there’s a method to my madness. I don’t buy anything I don’t see myself wearing
for 5 years. My closet is busting right now because a lot of the clothes, which
come in and out of seasons, I have been collecting since I was 18 and I haven’t
put on weight since then.
Now that we have
sorta established where my money doesn’t go, let me enlighten y’all and where
it does go. My money laughs all the way to the bank and although I am no expert
on the matter, I will be sharing some tips on how you can successfully make
your money laugh all the way to the bank too.
1. WRITE DOWN YOUR GOALS
For example, I knew
that I wanted to own keys. I want to be a homeowner. I want something that I
can give to my future babies so I went to work and did my research on how much
it was going to cost me on average and how I was going to get there. My first order
of action was deciding not to move out and rent so yes, I am proud to tell
y’all that I still live at home and oh yeah, I stay rocking a shiny blue oyster
card.
I write my goals
down because it is easier to break them down and decide on actionable steps.
Seeing them on paper keeps me FOCUSED and consistent as I am able to track my
progress, make adjustments if needed and resist the temptation to quit/spend
unnecessarily.
2. OPEN A MONTHLY SAVINGS
ACCOUNT
I went with a
monthly savings account at a bank I have never banked with for two reasons.
·
I had
limited access to my funds (the account had no online banking access and no
card access), meaning I couldn’t transfer it for withdrawals so I had to visit
a branch to take money out
·
I hate
the long queues and waits at banks, which made me never, wanna go in to make
withdrawals
Don’t get me wrong,
I have made less than five withdrawals since opening the account but I made
sure that the funds were replaced straight after.
3. MAKE A SPREADSHEET OF
YOUR INCOME AND EXPENDITURE
I am rarely ever
seen without pen and paper and that is because I am always thinking of my
finances and reminders to balance the books. I have worked out a system that
keeps me in check when it comes to my spending.
My system is easy. I
made sure that all my bills (rent, phone bill, travel and essentials) come out
as a standing order on the same day that I get paid so I know exactly what I
can play with that month should I decide to do so.
***If you’d like
tips on how to build an income/expenditure spreadsheet, let me know and I’ll
write that post for you.
4. PRIORITISE YOUR SAVINGS
Once I had decided
on my goals, I decided on a reasonable amount of what I was going to save out
of my wages. It is advised to save about a third of your wages but I decided I was
going to save 48-52%, depending on my plans for the year and this also comes
out as a standing order on pay day so you don’t play yourself. It seems like a
large percentage but I have an account for my future house, one just for
vacations and another for miscellaneous things like driving lessons. It helps
prioritise your savings and stops you from dipping into the funds for your
goals.
Furthermore, if
you’re the type that always seems to spend a lot or maybe you want to buy
something you haven’t budgeted for, consider taking up extra hours (as long as
it doesn’t affect your work-life balance) to circumvent overspending and once
again, dipping into the funds for your goals.
What do you think of
my tips? Leave me a comment below. I am Destini Monet and you have been reading
‘The Black Mannequin’
