We know that a bank is a place where we keep money, receive money and also give another
person money but the truth is that the culture of saving money did not start now. It has always
been part of culture from the 15th century.
As a child, I was aware of piggy banks or wooden boxes which had a small space to insert the
one without an easy option to retrieve the money. This was done to discourage withdrawing the
money and spending it until the box was filled.
I love saving, it makes me happy but I know not everyone shares the same interest. However,
those who do not save but are wise would decide to invest which ends up serving as a style of
saving with greater interest if the venture they invested in yields profit.
As a young person (if you are), it is advisable to have a conscious saving attitude. It is a strong
character to develop as it is a great sign of focus and determination. When you save you are
teaching yourself to recognize the importance of money and the way to use it to meet basic
needs first and managing wants as your capacity allows.
I have heard the term and have even used it sometimes, this term “I can’t kill myself”, specially
used by Nigerians to denote that they choose not to suffer unnecessarily. The reason being that
saving is not too useful when one is not sure if there would be life to enjoy the savings
It is sad that the situation of current African countries are not helpful and do not encourage
hope, however we do not completely give up and ignore this great aspect of our lives.
While you can, Save money.
Another way, I believe that would be nice to save is to save in precious metals like gold, silver,
platinum. The truth is that to even buy some of them, some of us may have to save. They are
good investments and their worth especially gold and platinum do not diminish anyhow.
An advisable way to start is to remove a minimum amount from your bulk money first before
spending rather than saving the remnants of your bulk money. Even though small, as your
savings increase over time, so does it’s worth.
From a personal point, I just learnt recently that having a savings account in the bank with the
current economy is not very profitable especially if the currency is in a local African currency.
The large amount saved drops as the dollar rate increases and if you want to save, I would
advise that you save in a foreign currency that has a strong value.
We all have reasons why we save and that encourages us to continue even when we are
discouraged, so no matter how small try to keep something aside. If you are a parent, saving
early and investing for your children is one beautiful gift you can give them. You are empowering them for the future when you do that, and this habit is easily cultivated as a single
person.
A simple jara (tip): Give yourself a kind treat when you achieve your saving goal. You did a good
job but do not blow it all away.
Christmas is coming and if you are living independently, it would have been wise if you saved
for the coming celebration. If you are still living with your parents, lucky for you (enjoy yourself).
If you are a parent, you will understand how intense the next few months will be.
Incase you did not save, plan ahead for next year. From my side, I still have a lot to learn about
saving well because it is one thing to save and another to save well and another to use the
savings wisely.
If you have more tips, kindly share in the comment section.
