The moment my phone rang, I knew it.
Bimbo had sent me a good morning SMS that morning, and she was calling
barely an hour later. I needed no other reminder that the end of the month
was almost here.
If there is a major disadvantage to having a salaried job,
it’s that everyone around you knows when you’re getting paid.
Like clockwork, the calls start coming in around the 20th and they
don’t stop until the 2nd of the new month. There’s the person
just calling to greet you (and remind you to remember her), your
hairdresser’s son who needs money for exams,your driver whose wife
will soon deliver. The list is endless.
At first, I managed the situation by allocating specific amounts to
‘family and friends’ in my monthly budget. I disbursed the
amount on a first come, first serve basis - that didn’t work for very
long.
There were just those cases touching enough to shake my resolve till
I found myself diverting money budgeted for other things. Because life must
go on, monthly expenses are usually sorted and it’s often my savings
plan that suffers. Next month, I tell myself, I will save next month;
but nothing ever changes ‘next month’.
I finally became really smart. I backed my resolve to save with
necessary action. I set up a direct debit mandate to my Money Market
Fund Investment. I even put reminders on my phone alerting me to lookup
the offer rates of Treasury Bills and check out stock brokerage opportunities. Guess what date I put for the reminder? The same
date my salary comes in. Now, as I get the credit alert that announces my
salary, I also get the alert that reminds me to invest and the one that
assures me I just invested. It’s been very effective, I am finally
building what I like to call an ‘emergency fund’ and if I
continue this way, I should have enough to attempt getting my own
property soon.
So, I no longer wonder what date it is before I pick phone calls. Even
if you call on salary day, the answer is simple, and true. ‘Ah,
Bimbo, I don’t have money o. My cash is tied up…’
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