Although women manage both the household and the professional corridors, they’re still surprisingly considered the weaker sex. They might be weaker than men in physical strength, but in today’s time, they can compete and outperform men in any field, as many are already doing. This journey of liberation has been hard, but a big reason for why it’s come about is, women becoming financially independent.
Contrary to what used to happen in the earlier days, where women mostly focused on running the household errands, today they’re successfully balancing both their personal and professional lives. As a result, they’ve become financially independent — which is key for women’s liberation around the world.
While you’re already financially independent, there are simple steps you can take to manage your finances better, and boost your financial strength. Here are eight important steps.
1. List your monthly expenses.
Make a list of your monthly essentials and other necessary expenses. It should cover all your basic needs including groceries, transport, personal needs, and so on. Once you have this list, you’ll know where you have no choice but to spend. Rest of the expenses can either be modified or avoided once and for all.
2. Set a monthly budget.
After subtracting the necessary monthly expenses, set a monthly budget for yourself. Try your best to stick to it and spend only when it’s necessary. Learn to prioritize and buy only what’s required. It doesn’t mean that you need to act like a miser — it’s your money after all; it just means that you need to cut down on expenses and increase savings.
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3. Determine your financial goals.
Your financial goals should be clear in your mind every month. Say, if a friend’s birthday party’s coming up, you know you have to spend there. So keep that in mind while making your monthly budget. Similarly, a vacation or a necessary expensive purchase should be planned beforehand. It’ll help you plan your expenses better.
4. Focus on cost-cutting measures.
Resort to cost-cutting measures whenever possible. If you can get something done at a lower cost or can find an inexpensive substitute for something, go for it. The money that you’re saving right now can come in handy for other things later. If you have the resources, intelligence is in using them efficiently.
5. Say no to debt.
Once you start a new month, clear all your previously accrued debt. Even if you’d just casually borrowed some money from your friends, pay it back. Once debt starts to build up, it never stops. You get used to borrowing money for unnecessary things, and it becomes a habit, and then you have more liability than you can pay off.
6. Save!
Save money every chance you get. Even if you manage to save only a few rupees every day, it could add up to a big sum a few months down the line. Open a savings account (separate from your salary account). Use this to store your savings, or make a PF account. Keeping extra money out of sight can help save it better for future.
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7. Keep an emergency fund.
You could land in an emergency anytime. It could be a medical emergency, delay in receiving your salary or an unplanned trip. Keeping an emergency fund, therefore, is essential to deal with such situations. You could put all the extra cash into this fund.
8. Watch your spending habits.
You need to carefully watch your spending habits to ensure you have a healthy amount in your savings account. Once you stop spending mindlessly on unnecessary things, you’ll start saving more. No matter what the price tag reads and how slashed the prices are, if you don’t need something, don’t buy it.