Charcoal Ink

I think one of the biggest fallacies and therefore the biggest jokes of living back in African society is this idea of collectivism. Tanzania suffered hard for Nyerere’s egomaniac views on how we should all be one big happy families of citizens.

#Fail

This definitely impacted on how I have been living my life here because I feel like there are massive double standards in how family units (including mine) operate when it comes to money. I think for me, the biggest thing which has singlehandedly been the most disappointing is how my mum has treated my contributions to the family home.

There has been this kind of systematic ”you have to contribute even though you do but i will make you feel like you don’t”-ism when I have been contributing substantially to the family home for more than 1 year. There was a period of time when it was just me and my mum living at home – she hired a new driver for the house, and I was paying his salary as well as laying down money for the household food budget.

I feel like my mum does not appreciate me and what I do for the house, which I personally think has included in making it more streamlined.

This has been extremely stressful for me to be honest and one of the main reasons why I want to move out but I can’t save as much as I want if I have to pay for the household things that me and other family members use all the time.

Honestly, the stress that living at home has brought me has reached a fever-pitch. I only wish my late father was here so I could talk to him about it.

I don’t feel like my mum cares about how I feel and how I am because everything is always centred on other people in the family. Money just exacerbates the problem because it acts as a symbol as why I feel so much discord and resentment about living at home.

I think as we get deeper into our working lives, money tends to crop up more in external relationships such as friendships. I never really thought about the effect money has on relationships but as I am getting older, I am realising it does have an effect.

How occupation colours my view on money

I am now a debt marketing specialist which means I help companies, small businesses who work in the debt markets such as the loan & mortgage industry come up with copywriting & marketing strategies to attract more customers/consumers/clients. Because I read about debt, mortgages, money management and general credit market news everyday, I am becoming used to the idea that money is critical in how people live their lives.

How I think friendships can be affected by money

I do believe that the friendships which are meant to last in this life will last regardless of how much you earn. However, I definitely think there is a change in the tide with some of my friendships which are definitely becoming more affected by money in terms of comments.

I think you can tell a lot about a friendship judging by the types of comments friends give each other about shopping. Ask yourself this, do you have one friend who is commenting on how much your beauty/fashion purchases are, always in passing? Chances are, you probably have a friend who is affected by how you spend your money.

My personal view on it is I do not care whether my friend is buying a $1m Lamborghini, they are adults so I assume they have taken care of themselves and their dependents (if applicable) before buying the car. It’s not my place as a friend to say oh that’s so expensive but you are paying so much! If they have worked hard for it, they deserve whatever they want as long as it is not hurting anyone.

I think the moral of what I think here is – don’t count other people’s money especially your friends. Enjoy what each other has to offer in friendship and don’t let your friend’s purchases affect how you two interact.

Note: I am a little biased because I do love the idea of buying a Mercedes SLS AMG when I am all sorted out financially!

What do you think?

Do any of you have a favourite wild animals? One of my favourite is the wolf. I find them fascinating especially how they work in a pack. There is always an alpha female wolf who works in a team with the alpha male wolf. In other words, the alpha female wolf is handling business! This is exactly what I need to be doing.

Positive aspects of my personal finance situation as of January 2012

• Taking part in the million challenge
• Having a pension pot currently worth £319
• Having current savings totalling £1,000
• Paid off credit card completely so absolutely no credit card debt owed

Despite these good upsides of my personal finance situation for now, I am still bad at being systematic by paying my overdraft back. It still stands at £1,999 and it is interest free until July 2012.

I just don’t know how to attack it.

I know I can do it, I just don’t know how I can and there is nothing more than me wanting to achieve it. My savings account is unique in that I do not have online banking for it which I think has been good because I just put money away and do telephone banking so I have noticed it grow.

One idea I had for attacking my overdraft was asking one of my clients if I could amp up the number of articles I write for them. At the moment they give work when they can but I really think if I think of it in terms of article writing, I could do it. I worked out that I would need to write 690 articles for them in order to pay it back. They are a client who pay on time for all the times I have worked for them, so the fact the rate is not high is not an issue because it is a means to an end and I am grateful for that.

How would you attack paying back an overdraft? Let me know!

1. Box braids

{Image source: Sporty Afros}

Box braids are cheap to get done, they don’t take a lot of time and provided you wear a scarf, they can last for at least a month. Moneysaving factor guaranteed and you can use synthetic hair to save even more money. Continue reading →