Every woman has to ensure that she secures her future by taking control of her finances.
Shafeeqah Isaacs, head of financial education at DirectAxis, said while taking charge of your money and making your own financial decisions sounds liberating, taking that all-important first step could be difficult.
“The first of these is to dismiss the stereotypical view of men as breadwinners and women as spenders; there’s plenty of evidence, borne out by research, to show women are more cautious with money than men. A natural tendency to be careful with money is potentially an advantage, as long as excessive caution doesn’t become a reason for not taking action,” said Shafeeqah.
A financial rule-of-thumb is that the sooner you do something about your financial affairs the better. Here’s what you need to know to get started.
Do a reality check:
You’ll first require a clear picture of your income and expenses. Alternatively, get an exercise book and open it across two pages, or draw a line down the middle of a piece of paper. On the left write down all your income. Include everything such as your wages or salary, tips, commission, bonuses, maintenance or money from side-hustles.
On the right list all your expenses. It’s easier if you begin with recurring expenses such as bond payments, rates, rent, school fees – those costs that remain about the same each month. Below these, list your variable expenses. These include transport or petrol, food and phone bills. It’s helpful to print out a few months’ worth of bank statements to work out how much these cost on average each month.
Again, remember that underestimating your expenses isn’t doing you any favours. You want the figures to be as accurate as possible.
Take control:
If your expenses match or exceed your income, you need to fix the problem. There are only two ways to do this: either you need to earn more, which is easier said than done, or you need to cut back on your spending.
“Most of us don’t often take a careful, honest look at where we’re spending our hard-earned money, but it’s worth doing. You may be surprised at how much you’re spending on things that aren’t essential and what you could save if you cut back a bit,” said Shafeeqah.
Stay in charge:
Being in control requires more than a once-off exercise. You have to remain actively committed to managing your financial affairs. Once you’ve won a few small victories such as setting a budget, cutting unnecessary expenses and perhaps settling and closing high-interest retail accounts, you can start making bigger, longer-term plans.
A few other things to think about:
Educate yourself.
Don’t let investing scare you. You don’t need to make big investments to make your money grow. Investing smaller amounts consistently over time can often deliver better results than an aggressive approach.
Don’t spend to make yourself feel good. You’ll ultimately get more satisfaction from being financially secure.
If you make a mistake learn from it. Don’t allow it to prevent you pursuing your financial goals.
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