There is no shortcut apart from finance common sense

Reference is made to Mr. Fidele Rwigamba’s article that appeared in the New Times of 20 June, 2013 under the heading “Rethinking our spending habits.” Through this article Mr Rwigamba raised a number of valid arguments that almost affect each of us in one way or the other. After reading this article a lot of rhetoric questions streamed through my mind. Why is that the word saving is a rare vocabulary in our conversations? As friends, colleagues at work or even at the family level how often do we engage in such constructive realities of saving versus spending in our private talks? At what level/age do we acquire or learn about such imperatives which are crucial to our existence. Are these important values sufficiently taught in schools or are they taught at all? Or are these important values, often neglected in our conversations that each of us acquire individually through the “school of hard knocks? As raised in Mr. Rwigamba’s article I think sometimes we confuse spending with saving! There is a common joke of two men who went to hospital for circumcision. They entered the doctor’s room at different intervals to see the doctor for the procedure. Unfortunately, one of the men after entering the doctor’s room he confused the word circumcision with castration. So, he told the Doctor that for health reasons he had come for the castration and it was a choice about his life! Left with no option the Doctor performed the operation and indeed the man was castrated! Later on after their respective operations, these two men met again and they were sharing their theatre experience and the process of operation. So, one man pointed out how good it is to circumcise in term of diseases prevention etc. It’s at this point that it dawned on his friend that he had requested for a different procedure- he had requested for castration not circumcision! Alas, the damage had been done by just interchanging circumcision with castration, he just kept on lamenting; oh circumcision was the word, circumcision was the word…! But it was too late no amount of tears could bring back his manhood and he lived his life thereafter in frustration. Similarly, it could be possible that in most cases some of us confuse spending with saving only to realize it when it’s too late and we can hardly do anything to reverse the damage. Spending and buying are two words that have been carefully crafted into our mind-set so much that our internal conditioning only responds well to stimulus of consumption and resists anything do with saving and investment! A few friends I have tried to share with about these concepts of spending, saving and investment have diverging views. A few believe finances are delicate and a sensitive issue that each individual have their own plans and priorities. To support this argument, they say that the issue of finances it’s so personal that even is hardly discussed amongst some married couples! Another school of thought is the conviction that there is general lack of information on financial literacy and it’s a rare concept that is hardly talked about and this makes it possible for some people to make financial blunders only to realise it when it’s too late! To this group it’s a concern that should be shared among friends and colleagues to get the best practices on financial management. I do agree with the latter, my view is that we need a national call to action to learn more about financial management and literacy.Praise George in his book Mastering Money he advises thus “if you don’t invest in your financial literacy, you will never attain to financial heights you dream about…instead of investing in their financial intelligence some people believe that supernatural powers will overwhelm them and change their financial future. The truth is that there are no short cuts…except the path of financial commonsense and discipline.” Through the same book the author advises thus “some people find it difficult to save because of the lifestyle they choose to live. Because they live above their means, they are always in debts instead of having a surplus. My advice to you is to live below your income. Yes, you read right. Live BELOW your income. If you can discipline yourself to do this, you will have some surplus to plow into the investment opportunities that may present themselves to you.” The writer is an educationist, author and publisher.