Making a contribution while saving

This is a period characterised by weddings. It is not surprising that you may be receiving many invitations that need your contribution every week.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

This is a period characterised by weddings. It is not surprising that you may be receiving many invitations that need your contribution every week.But you also know that apart from that, you have other expenditures like bills and school fees as well as reducing an accumulated debt burden. So, does this mean that you shouldn’t contribute to your friends’ weddings? Quite interesting. You should factor in such expenditures, crazy as it sounds. Well, you can do all these and keep saving. How? You may ask.Here are some ways to do it.First, list down your expenditures on both the short and medium term. Then tally these expenses against your income.Once you have done this, look at your priority areas in your budget.Postpone spending on things that are not urgent. For example, you can forego buying clothing in three months and commit those funds to cater for your wedding contributions.Also, remember that you are not bound to contribute money in weddings. You can do so through other forms— for instance, donating your car, taking photos or physically participating in some aspects that require money.Alternatively, look for some things on the budget that you can buy on credit or at a cheaper price and donate them as an alternative to cash. For example, contributing Rwf10,000 may be more than buying a crate of soft drinks that cost an average of Rwf6,000. Most surprising, some wedding couples would normally prefer or value physical donations to cash contributions. You must have this rule in mind. Do not spend more than half of your expenditure in wedding contributions/ or any other contributions than your normal bills. Once you have these ideas in mind and many more, you would be able to keep saving for your projects.