Happy Easter!
Today evening marks the beginning of a long weekend and there are all sorts of enticing activities lined up to celebrate the Easter holiday. Celebration is good, but you need to be conscious such that you don’t spend all your money in one weekend, leaving you with no money to pay the living expenses that come after Easter and forcing you to take a loan thereafter to survive. Use this checklist to ensure that the four-day Easter weekend doesn’t get you into a financial fix:
How much money do you have left to cater for your living expenses in the remaining 17 days of April and up until you get your next pay-check? Do a mini budget of the cash in hand versus the pending April expenses such as:
·
Food and groceries electricity tokens
·
water, gas/charcoal/kerosene/cooking fuel
·
mobile phone airtime
·
internet bundles
·
TV subscription
·
fare/fuel, car maintenance
·
Lunch at work
·
child expenses/daycare
·
laundry/cleaning lady
·
allowance to parents/siblings/relatives/friends
·
birthday/wedding/baby shower/bridal shower/occasion
gifts
·
Donations to the needy
·
Church offering and donations
·
Toiletries/cosmetics
·
Haircare and beauty for you and the kids
·
Clothes/shoes/accessories
·
Doctor’s appointment/medical bill
·
Movies/events/fun activities/entertainment
·
Due debts
·
Standing orders
·
Chama contribution
2. Do you really have money to go on holiday?
If after taking your pending
April expenses versus the cash in hand you have a surplus, then you can decide
to treat yourself and your family for the holiday within a budget that takes
into account the amount of money you have to play with.
3. What's the plan?
Think about what you want to do
this long weekend. Do you want to travel to the village? Do you want to take
your family out for lunch and entertainment? Do you want to go on a getaway to
Naivasha or Mombasa? Do you want to go for nyama choma, drinks and dancing with
your friends? Do you want to host guests at your home? Decide what you want to
do, then go to the next step.
4. Make an Easter budget that fits the cash you can spare for fun.
Make an Easter budget based on
what you want to do, then check if the money available to spend on Easter is
sufficient to cater for your costs for your selected activity. For example, if
you want to go to the village, your Easter budget might include car fuel or
fare to and fro, shopping for your parents, some money to spend with family and
friends at the local village pub, some money to buy beer for the village idlers
who think you are very rich, some money for emergencies, etc. If your plan is
to go drinking and dancing from Thursday evening to Sunday evening, you’ll need
to budget for fare/fuel/taxi, drinks for yourself and other people if you plan
on throwing rounds or buying random drinks for men and women you find in the
club, water, snacks, etc. Once you break down your costs and do a total ask
yourself if you can really afford your chosen Easter activity. If for example
your plan is to go to the village and you only have Sh5, 000 to spend on Easter
(from step 1) and your Easter budget comes to Sh30, 000, you either have to cut down or cut out some expenses or decide to choose a different activity that costs Sh5,
000 at most, instead of Sh30, 000 you really don't have.
5. Don't get it twisted!
Do not use money meant for
essential bills to celebrate Easter. If there is no Easter money, then there is
no Easter money. You will not die for not having money to splurge on Easter.
6. Keep yourself and your spending in check.
Write down every expense that you
plan to incur this long weekend and allocate an amount of money next to each
expense. Carry the list with you and use it to monitor your spending to ensure
that you don't go over budget. Review that list every morning and in the
evening to track your spending. Before you head out, have a clear itinerary of
what you will do and how much it will cost and ensure that you carry money just
for that. If you happen to go over budget, you will have to strike out some
things to accommodate the ones that are more important. If you've set Sh20, 000
for Easter weekend expenses, do not go over that. Do not give yourself a blank
cheque to spend money without restraint. You do not want to look back on
Tuesday morning with regret over your poor spending choices for a momentary
holiday.
7. Keep costs manageable if you are hosting guests at home.
If you are hosting guests to a
party at your house, do a hosting budget based on how much you can afford to
spend on the holiday. You can also have a potluck, where instead of shouldering
the entire hosting financial burden by yourself, you can ask the guests to come
with a meal and drinks then form a buffet of all the meals and drinks the
guests carry with them.
8. Do you need new stuff for Easter?
If you are going on a getaway
this long weekend avoid the temptation to buy new things just for the holiday.
Do you really need a new swimming costume for this Easter weekend when you
already have one in your wardrobe? Before you buy something new specifically
for Easter, ask yourself, do I need it or am I just buying it for a four-day
affair? Will I ever use it again? Can I even afford it right now?
9. Lead yourself not into temptation.
When you set aside money for the
remaining 17 days of April e.g. fare money, food money, etc, put it in a
different account and don't carry your ATM card as you head out to celebrate
Easter to avoid the temptation to withdraw it and use it on long weekend
expenses. You can carry some money for emergencies, but remember that it should
only be used for emergencies, which are unexpected situations which must be
dealt with immediately because they cannot be ignored. For my emergencies, I
usually have a debit card with money in it. The card is not linked to a bank
account. Think Nakumatt Global or Nation Hela. The good thing about this card
is that you can transfer the money from the card to Mpesa if you need it for an
emergency. The card is strictly labeled emergencies only (my label) so if I
ever take it out, I ask myself, is what I am about to pay for with this card an
emergency? If the answer is no, I put the card away. You can even give it to your sober and firm relative to keep for you
with strict instructions that it can only be released to take care of
emergencies.
10. You can have fun on a budget.
Remember to be conscious of
your choices and your spending. Stick to your long weekend budget. You don’t
need to take a loan to celebrate Easter and you don’t need loads of money to
have fun. You can go to the market, make yourself or family a special meal, and
then watch a feel-good movie together or take a photo at a studio or go to the
local park and run and play around.
Happy Easter!
This post is brought to you by #SaveWithMshwari for the #52WeekChallenge
Join the 52-week Savings Challenge Kenya and network with people who are saving to reach their financial goals
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This post is brought to you by #SaveWithMshwari for the #52WeekChallenge
Join the 52-week Savings Challenge Kenya and network with people who are saving to reach their financial goals
Like and follow Super Savers Kenya on Facebook for more money management tips
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