By Strive Masiyiwa
Don’t go broke trying to look rich…
When I was at college I had a scholarship, and was one of a small group of students who had exactly the same scholarship. It was not a lot of money, and it was the first time we all had to manage our own money.
It was always interesting to observe how the students handled their money!
1. Most students spent the money as soon as they got into the account. They always seemed to be planning how to SPEND their money.
2. Two of the students were always discussing how to SAVE their money.
No guessing in which group I was! Ever since I was a child, I was always trying to SAVE. I kept little coins in boxes, and I enjoyed SAVING UP!
If you are one of these people who must absolutely SPEND, it will always be like that no matter how much you have. For some people, it is almost as though the money is burning a hole in their pocket, DEMANDING IT BE SPENT!
It all seems so simple, but it is at the heart of CAPITAL accumulation.
At some point you will come into some money, even relatively speaking. Will you SAVE it to do something bigger, or will you SPEND it to make your life more comfortable… a new car, or new clothes, or extension to your house… so many, many things waiting to SPEND money on?!
Hehehe!
Whenever my mother saw a big Spender splashing money around, she would laugh at the person and her favorite expression in my language literally translates to “they have been rejected by money!”
To her it was like watching a clown, making a fool of himself!
These days people will admire and follow someone because they flash around money through cars, houses, and other bling bling. And yet to my mother such people were actually to be laughed at, or even pitied!
I guess we can say that times have changed but true wisdom is timeless.
We should admire people who are BIG SAVERS, and know how to invest their savings shrewdly, even if it’s small money!
A lot of people cannot hold onto money!
Mike Tyson made a lot of money when he was boxing, winning three major titles by the time he was only 20 years old, but he went broke [and had to start over again a few times]… This also happens to a lot of soccer players who behave as though they will be paid to play until they are 60 years old!
The ability to hold onto money, any amount, is actually harder than making money.
You must develop a strong mentality of $AVING money. It does not start when you have money; it starts when you have little money, because it is a mentality. Be sure to teach your children the importance of saving, from an early age, like my mother did.
I remember a group of gardeners in my neighbourhood who had a Savings Club, even though their income was pitiful. I had more respect for them than people who go shopping in Dubai until they drop!
Do everything you can to be part of a Saving culture.
• Masiyiwa is a telecommunications guru and
founder of Econet.