Financial advice from the wise
EVEN with more women taking charge of their education, careers and even their homes, many of us still have not made much room to learn the ins and outs of money and how to make sure we maximise on every dollar that passes through our hands.
Taking charge of your money is serious, especially if you want to guarantee financial security in the long run. And since experience is the best teacher, we have asked a few women who have had life as their teacher to share tips with younger women how to manage their money based on the mistakes they made, lessons learned and tips they picked up along the way.
Janice, 42, realtor:
I at 29 was in a good job for about three years and was finally getting things in place. Then I got pregnant and within a short period I was a single mother struggling because I hadn’t saved when I could. I could have had two million easily, but I travelled and shopped and bought everything I thought looked nice. I failed to not only save, but I failed to plan for the unexpected, I failed to invest, to put my short and long-term plans in place, and by six months into motherhood my finances were in shambles. My mother, who was very supportive of me, had to keep me afloat while I got things together. When my child was about two I was able to leave her with family instead of going the daycare route, thank God for that. I then got a second job that paid very well and was able to, among other things, start an emergency fund. I got medical insurance, started saving 40 per cent of one income, and planned a budget and stuck to it. I have now also started putting a little something down to help my daughter when it’s time for her to attend university.
Marge, 51, chef:
I wish I took my time and built my own house on my father’s land instead of buying one with a loan from the bank. The mortgage feels like I’m paying rent to live in my own house, and I don’t have enough space for the money I invested.
Samantha, 53, florist/business owner:
I will say the biggest mistake I made was not taking advantage of NHT as a young teacher. I waited and waited while paying ridiculously high rent when I could have already been paying my mortgage. Another financial mistake I made was getting a car when it would have been much cheaper to use public transportation since I wasn’t living too far from work and I barely went anywhere when I didn’t have work. For young ladies I would tell them to save all that they can, not to get caught up in the hype and bling of wearing outfits just once, buying a dozen shoes, eating out to take pictures and getting lost in the hype of expensive parties. One other thing I want to advise against is silly things like taking loans for big parties and so on that will only sink you into a greater financial hole.
Catherine, 49, teacher:
I wish I had saved more money before having children. I thought I was too broke back then, but now I see that that was probably the richest point in my life.
Marsha, 47:
Firstly, always remember that there will come a time when you are unable to earn and so when that time comes you don’t want to be a bother to people. You will want to have fun and enjoy nice things but not at the expense of wonderful retirement years. So firstly, even if you are just 20, you still need to start saving because there is no time. To do that you need to set up your finances and that all starts with a budget because you will have a better understanding of what your finances are like then you can make allocations to different things. I started prioritising savings when I realised that my lifestyle was sending me down a paycheque to paycheque road. I had to put away my credit card for a while when I realised that I was spending more than what I earned between pay periods, I couldn’t give away money just because I was working, and all of that was difficult to take in but necessary for me to understand. When I finally figured things out I spent more meaningfully. I stuck to my budget, I went to financial literacy seminars for guidance, did my retirement plan, and started investing and so on. Oh, one more thing, I chose to downscale on rent by renting a two-bedroom with a friend; it worked for me as a single woman.
Haley, 45, stylist:
Listen, stay with your parents for as long as you can — as long as you have your privacy, take advantage of having a free roof over your head. Too many of us are so desperate to be “independent” that we just want to go out to say that we live on our own when we could save a little more. I also regret not accepting my parents’ help because I was too proud with school and so I was left with student loans and high interest because I didn’t get a job right out of school.
