I'm expecting my salary any time soon, and as practical as I am I have done a break down of what and what are already placing demands on the yet to be received salary for this month.
At the end of the calculation I see that there is almost nothing gen gen remaining. Mind you I have not deducted the underlisted bills:
- Hair do for March
- Nail do for March
- Washer man bill for February
- Recharge card to use in March
- Data Bundle Renewal for March (Note that I didn't renew for February)
- Movie nights
The above listed things are very important to me, they seem inconsequential but they are important to keeping me sane(r)
Now why am I saying all these, I had a discussion with a friend recently, a financial guru and after the discussion I felt like I wasn't saving enough for the future or for the good things I could be obtaining in life. I do save mind you, but he made a case that at least 40% of my salary should be saved and I was like: GERROUT OF HERE. I even tried explaining that saving up to 30% was easy for me one time when I had a boyfriend but not so easy these days but he wasn't buying all that.
So I got thinking, is it so easy for people to save 40% of their salary...I mean people without another source of income, or support from family or partner/spouse/etc.
Don't they pay tithe, don't they buy fuel, don't they give offerings, don't they make their hair, don't they buy food stuff and provisions, don't they use gas, don't they give to family members when the need arises, don't they run generator, don't they buy gifts etc... and it doesn't even matter how much they are earning because the more money you earn the more bills you incur since your level of living improves, don't they have fees to pay doesn't matter if its a school fee for self or a course in church or a professional course
So is it just me, or is 40% actually doable? without being stingy and miserly.
Is your salary enough to live a stable balanced life and still have good money saved up in a bank??