There are different reasons for people to save their money; some of them want to go back to school, to buy property, to clear loans or debts and so on. Savings are a life saver, you can do a lot with money saved from earnings from your salary or from a running business. However, many people do not save even though they realize the importance of doing so. For others, and probably a majority, their earnings are barely enough to sustain their daily needs so they have a hard time saving. I believe this is an excuse though because you do not have to save a lot of money every month, you can start with as little as Shs. 600. Let us look at the top three ways of how to survive without savings especially if you’re a low income earner.
Start budgeting
If you feel that the money you receive every month is not enough for you, then budget. Budgets are super efficient. You are able to prioritize your earnings, spending on only what is absolutely necessary. Budgeting helps to reduce excessive spending or impulse buying. Let’s say you are walking through town with a colleague on your way home from work and she decides to buy a pair of shoes, the temptation to spend on a pair of shoe as well would be overwhelming and might even overpower you, which is mostly the case! So you end up wasting Shs. 500 or Shs. 1000 which you hadn’t budgeted for. Make sure you have a budget which will help guide you on the right financial path. This requires siscipline too; stick to what is required of you.
Pay off your debts
Debts can set you back big time such that every time you get paid, you spend all of it paying debts. People find themselves in debts because of overspending or unwise investments. Pay off your debts and live within your means. Break the bad habit of taking loans for things that you would have otherwise been patient to get at a later period in life. There are people who take loans just so they can go on an expensive vacation or buy a car they can barely maintain, all this to please people who probably don’t care about them! Don’t be in one of them. Live within your means.
Have an Emergency Fund
Emergency funds take care of unexpected expenses. Set one aside so that you don’t end up borrowing to do things like going to hospital or having to travel when something comes up. People rack up loans and debts when situations sneak up on them that require them to use money, so they borrow from more than one person and in a lot of cases, are unable to pay back in time or at all. Having an emergency fund ensures that you can avoid being stranded when something of importance comes up.