I AM GLAD that in the first month of 2013, I had already achieved my first goal for the year, which was to release a great new book that would better my daily income.

I believe you, too, sat down at the beginning of this year to set new financial goals and strategies to help you increase and manage your finances better in 2013.Every success-minded person knows that the only way to become and remain financially free is to increase one’s income, savings and investments and I believe your financial goals for 2013 are in that direction. It’s reducing expenditure that increases savings and it is the increased savings that increase investment and in return increased investments also increase income. And the cycle continues.You can tell the person’s character, attitude and ambitions in life by simply looking at how they handle money. An achiever tries to minimize expenditure while maximizing income. He/she is able to forego some luxuries and spend only on what is so important for himself or for other people he/she cares for. But by all means, he/she must ensure that expenditure is never more than his income.Allow me to use the example of a saucepan to illustrate income and expenditure. If you have a leaking pan that you want to fill with water, you have to ensure that the water pouring in is more than that leaking out. Likewise, if we want to fill our pockets and bank accounts, we need to ensure that the money entering is more than that leaving.Sometime back I had no means of transport and so I stood on the roadside with my wife waiting for a bus or a taxi. As we waited, a man came in an ordinary car and offered to take us to the suburb where we stay at one thousand shillings (about Rwf250) each. Four of us entered with joy and off we went.

We thought he was just an ordinary man looking for survival.

On reaching our destination this same man thanked us and gave us posters to promote his school. I was surprised that the man owned a school. The next day I followed it up and found that actually the school belongs to him. It's a powerful primary school where pupils pay UGSH800,000 (about Rwf200,000) schoolfees per term.

Despite being rich, this man still applied the principles of money. He knew that the extra UGSH4,000 he made from us was not nothing; it added to his wealth. Just like the law of gravity, the law of motion and all other laws, the laws of money also never change. When you obey them, you get regarded; when you disobey them, you face the consequences.

I will include by challenging you to figure out how you're going to ensure that in the remaining months of this 2013, your income will be more than your expenditure. This means you have to sit down and look for ways of increasing your income and also ways of cuuting down your daily expenditure. That way, you will be following the rules and your will be rewarded by God and nature.

Robert Bake Tumuhaise is the MD, World of Inspiration & founder of the Authors' Forum in Uganda.