I will make an effort to not be like her when it comes to spending money....
COVER STORY
I’m making my way through the crowded halls of a shopping centre, my mother in tow, the annoyance on my face glaringly obvious. I have been made to put a beautiful leather journal back on the shelf, after my mother made it very clear to me that she had no intention of allowing my untouched and unused stationery collection to grow any longer. Feeling as though a great injustice has been done to me, I quietly muse to myself that when I’m older and earning my own money, I will make an effort to not be like her when it comes to spending money.
Many young girls and boys these days think they are being forced to spend frugally by their parents, but little do they understand they are being unconsciously taught to spend wisely and survive in a world trapped in a constant ‘Global Doom Loop’ of financial instability.
Most of the youth in Pakistan depend on their parents for money until they get a job. Unfortunately, personal finances is a subject that is often left out of the curriculum of our colleges and universities. Many of us never get to learn the vital skill of managing it - of saving and spending it judiciously. No clear-cut guide is handed to us, no set of blueprints provided, as we leave the comforts of home and set out into the world, coming into possession of money that we can spend as freely as we please. In an economy as unpredictable as ours, it becomes ever so much more important to educate ourselves on money management.
I talked to people from different walks of life to gather pieces of practical advice on managing finances in our Pakistani context which I think will make you come up with more such ideas and implement them in your daily life. But, before that, let’s see what advice Farheen Shaheen, Clinical Psychologist at The Brain Clinic, has on spending wisely in tough times like these.
‘Keeping track of one’s expenses and reviewing them from time to time is an important aspect of money management. We need to keep an eye on where our money is going. Small, supposedly insignificant expenses can pile up one on top of the other, leaving a gaping wide dent in our overall savings. Begin by creating a catalogue of all your monthly expenses. When you have all of them tallied up and laid in front of you, it’ll make it easier to identify unnecessary expenses, and thus reduce or even eradicate them altogether.
‘The next step would be to start categorizing. Things like utilities, child care, loan payment, housing, transportation, food and healthcare, expenditures that one needs to survive, can encompass your “needs”. Everything else, like travel, designer clothing and entertainment, things you do for fun, come under “wants”. You can start by grouping purchases into broad categories like necessity and luxury, and go on further dividing from there. This can be tedious work but worthwhile.’
Here are some tips for you to try …
Make a practical budget
We all have long-term financial goals we wish to see to fulfilment. That’s where planning comes in. Keeping those goals in mind, we need to create an ideal framework concerning where and how we intend to spend our income. Work out how much you’re going to be spending on things like food, gas, household bills, etc., and how much you’re going to reserve for recreation, and how much is going to end up in your savings and investment accounts. Set limits to how much you are willing to spend in certain areas, and where you draw the line.
(Rehbar Hussain, Businessman)
Taking loans is a big no
Never take a loan unless out of absolute necessity. It has become a common practice these days to, whenever one comes short on money, run to their friends or siblings for aid. Loans can undeniably serve as powerful tools to help a person out in situations like starting or expanding a profitable business or looking for a way out of a financial emergency, yet there’s a myriad reasons why it is always worth reconsidering, before you go and sign yourself up for one. They are liabilities that you may potentially have to carry and remain burdened with your entire life. Once you’ve resorted to them, it is easy to find yourself in a vicious cycle of debt and dependency.
(Hina Shah, Beautician)
Learn to cook
Dining out or ordering take-out can be both incredibly convenient as well as costly. Quite a significant amount of money can be saved cooking at home. According to the statistics, food at restaurants is five times more expensive than the food cooked at home. If you want to go one step ahead, try meal prepping. This will reduce food waste, and thus cost you less money.
(Sadia Hussain, Teacher)
Repeating clothes
Don’t feel pressurized to buy a lot of clothes to wear to university and work. Repeating clothes should be normalised and we should encourage other friends and colleagues as well to repeat clothes. To look presentable doesn’t mean that you should wear new, branded clothes. Check out minimal fashion to learn about clever ways to design a wardrobe that is not just low-cost, but also fashionable.
Plus, borrowing and exchanging clothes from your siblings and cousins is another smart way of diversifying the range of clothes you wear.
(Asma Fareed, Lab Technician)
Never disclose your assets
At the cost of sounding rude and selfish, I will say don’t tell anyone how much money you have in the savings. People might have some idea or they could judge your financial position by your lifestyle, but don’t say it loud and clear how much money you have. People, including your close friends and relatives, can exploit you so don’t give them a chance.
Or, in simpler words, people shouldn’t have a clear idea of how wealthy you are. Showing off your wealth is outdated now. Keep a low profile when it comes to display of your wealth.
(Taliya Khan, Architect)
The social esteem awarded to a person goes hand in hand with how well they adhere to certain lifestyle standards set. Often, these standards are not set in stone but regularly evolve. Trends have their time in the limelight and are swiftly traded in for new ones. A person’s value in the eyes of an exceedingly consumerist society is also determined on how well they adapt to these changes.
In an economy so fundamentally constructed upon capitalism, is it any wonder that we are overcome by this desire to buy things, constantly chasing after the next best thing, accumulating absurd amounts of possessions and adding to our inexhaustible list of commodities to obtain, inflicted as we are by the disease that is consumerism. This takes a toll on our mental health and while we might be under the illusion that we’re one purchase away from finding contentment in our lives, ironically at the end no matter how much we buy we are wholly unsatisfied, perpetually longing for the next best thing.
Difficult as it may be, we need to find a way to break away. This way of carrying on is neither good for one’s mental well-being, nor light on one’s wallet.