Growing up, my siblings and I all had “Asusu”. My mother
bought us those cute artistic pieces of ceramic piggybanks in which we squeezed
in small amounts of cash into. After a couple of months we would smash it open,
gather up the monies saved and then invest it in something. Usually it would be
to buy something we had so coveted but mother thought it a luxury and wouldn’t
buy it for us. At other times it came in
handy in buying provisions when we had to resume school.
In the house, we had a general Asusu. It was a Do-it-Yourself milk tin with a hole at the top, placed
on top of the tall fridge in the kitchen. It was the duty of everyone to drop a
few coins or naira notes into it when we can. Every now and then we would use
the accrued monies to buy match boxes, eggs, milk or bread for breakfast.
I got so used to this piggybank savings that I continued it until
5 years ago when I stopped it and began focusing more on real bank savings and
investments. However, I have an aunt who still saves up small lose change in
her asusu till date.
I have learned that such monies come in handy when you’re in
a fix and need quick cash to settle a need. Sometimes you can realize money
from it to buy fuel, and at other times; you could find you have saved up so much
you can actually make a smart purchase.
Today however, I am wont to state that such piggybanks are
becoming more and more obsolete, however, the concept of savings that it
thought us hasn’t diminished. All we had to do was switch from petty cash
savings to making actual deposits in modern money institutions.
But it is important that adults still influence children
around them to imbibe this saving culture from a tender age. I know some people
may think that making emphasis on savings is an attitude of a frugal and miserly
person, saying “after all money is for the living”. But I shudder to think what
my life would have been if I didn’t have parents who saved.
I remember laughing so hard at a story a school mate told me
of a lady we knew. Says whenever that lady came into some money, she would go
all crazy and begin to splurge. And in the blink of an eye, the entire fund
will be depleted and she would have to beg the friends that she took out on the
spree for transport money that will get her back home. And the circle continues
over and over.
Back then I thought it hilarious that any one person could be
that trivial about money. But alas now I feel bad that no one sought out time
to put her straight. Maybe her parents weren’t able to instill the importance
of saving into her, which makes it the duty of any grownup around her to do so.
The problem with the inability to save is that you splurge on
things that leave your account depleted. From experience, I for one love beautiful
shoes, however I try only to shop when it meets a need. For instance, I give
out a pair of black pumps, I know I need to replace it, so when I get to the
store and don’t find one I like? I leave, until I see something good. But many
people do not have this strong resolve, just because they are in the store,
they must get something. And that does not a prudent person make.
A good way however to splurge is to reward one’s self for
some feat achieved. However, one must not get reckless when spending. A big
mistake people make is shopping just because you’re in a bad mood (I too am
guilty of this). While that may provide some respite, it is not always smart,
because you might find yourself getting something you do not need and sometimes
not even like. So when that sad bout has passed, you may never find use for
that item.
So is the need to spend just because there is a Sales going
on, so you buy things even when you do not need them. It need not be so. You have
to prioritize and give precedence to savings, and investing in things that
appreciate. You can then leave a little something for those spur-of-the moment
buys.
Cheers to an amazing weekend…
Photo credit: Google
