A BALANCED LIFE
PERSONAL FINANCE IS PERSONAL UNPACKING THE NON-MONETARY SIDE OF MONEY You may be wondering, “How can money have
the next 5 or 10 years. Visualising where you
money is more personal than we think. The soon-
is breaking that vision into bite-sized, practical
a non-monetary side to it”? The reality is that er we come to terms with that, the sooner we
will begin to understand the importance of forming healthy relationships with money. Understanding the
main use of your
money is a good place A
to
quick
search
start.
will
en-
lighten you on the fact that money
is mainly used as a medium of exchange,
i.e.
any
object that is accepted as payment
or repayment. For this reason, I like
to think of money
as a resource - a means to an end. The end being
what you value. Here is where it gets personal, because the end is different for us all and so is the journey.
As you delve into constructing your personal money journey, consider the following: Step 1: Define what matters to you We all have our individual dreams and aspirations and our own idea of where we see ourselves in
would like to be is great, but what is even better goals that you can start working towards. What
matters to you this year? Is it finishing your postgraduate studies or buying your first car? After
giving it some thought, consider what it will take
for you to achieve
this - in light of your current financial sta-
tus. For most of us,
the reality is that we
do not have an unlimited amount of resources. This is why it is so important to
know what you truly
value and hold yourself accountable to this at all times.
Step 2: Tackle social pressure head on
I have seen it stated that we always seem to be-
lieve we are doing well until we pull our phones out and start scrolling through social media. Suddenly our good is not good enough, as the standard of measurement is set against somebody
else’s journey. Once you have fully immersed yourself in step 1 and defined what matters to
you, avoid allowing the pressures from society to force you into making decisions that do not
lead you to your end goal. More often than not, the pressure is not always from the strangers we
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