‘The B Word’

The start of the year (and anytime really) is a great really to review ones finances. To review is to formally assess your finances with the intention of instituting change if necessary.

After reviewing your finances, make a plan or better still a budget.

A budget is simply an estimate of income and cost over a period of time. Budgets can be prepared for an individual, a family, a business, a government and Country. So you may ask why should I budget? It makes your financial goals and visions plain. You may be saving for a New car, School fees, Medical cover, Food etc the list is endless. A Budget is a vital tool to help you get there. Below are some useful tips for budgeting.

1] Set out your financial goals for the year. For example I want to save (10-30%) of my income every month or I want to clear my overdraft in the next 3 months.

2] Make it Plain – so what do I mean by this? Get a pen and some paper, or open a word document or an Excel spread sheet and list all your monthly potential of income (salary, rent, cash back, bank interest, tax refund, tax credits,  bonus (reasonable estimate). Spoiler Alert! My UK peeps, please note that your interest free overdraft is not a type of income lol, I know the feeling but I can assure you, if you budget and stick to your plan, in short time you can be financially free and savvy. Check out Mint for more on this.

Then list all your monthly expenses, Rent, mortgage, transportation, food, utility and telecoms bill, food shopping, clothes shopping, school fees, social cost i.e. eating out, Christmas, Savings and investments( technically these are not expenses ,however we can treat them as expenses for the purpose of a personal or individual budget). My next article will be budgeting for business so stay tuned. It may be a good time to get your bank statement out (say the last 3 months) and a highlighter pen so you don’t miss out any important expenses.

3] Now Tally up -There are several budget templates online like this comprehensive but easy to use one from Vertex42.  I am expecting three main results from this exercise.

I) Your Income exceeds your expenses (including savings and investments).

Fantastic, well done but except you are a business set out to make profits for shareholders  I will say, invest more- let that money generate further income for you. If you are looking for passive way to invest, there is a new trend of ‘Robo Advisors’ that make investing effortless. They offer an automated investing service that help people manage and grow their wealth through smarter technology for a fraction of the cost of traditional financial services.  Although this trend is very popular in the US, there are some companies offering similar services across Europe.

Betterment– US

Wealthfront –US

Nutmeg  – UK
Wealth Horizon – UK
MoneyFarm – Italy/UK
Vaamo – Germany
OwlHub – Germany
Moneyvane.com – Switzerland

SmartRand – South Africa

Robo Advisors are yet to be formally established in West African Countries, however there are many traditional investing/ brokerage companies including ARM, Zenith Securities, Investment one to name a few.

II) Your Income just about covers your expenses.

Great and well done, keep reading for tips to squeeze out more money so you can achieve those financial goals you set out earlier.

III) Your expenses are greater than your income.

Not to worry, remember it’s a new year, so muster up the strength and courage to overcome this shortfall.

4] So below are some tips, I have put together

In my last role as a Finance Business Partner, one the major aspect I loved about my role was working with business managers in delivering their budget, which is meeting the goals and expectations that had been set for the year.  This involves scrutinising every aspect of your budget and asking one question ‘what can we do different here’. So let’s give it a go with our personal budgets.

Income

• Am I due for a promotion (internally or externally)? Can you negotiate an increase in my salary due to my outstanding performance?
• Can I get a better paying job? (Please secure a new job, before you quit your current job- I can’t shout!)
• Can I increase my working hours?
• Can I get a second job (for a short while to cover my expenses (loans, overdraft, and credit card)?
• Can I turn that hobby into a part time business?
• Can I turn that part time business into a full time business (tried and tested)?
• Can I rent out the spare room?

Expenses – Believe it or not, this is where you can make the biggest change to your budget. So let’s go through the same exercise

• Rent, now except you are coming to the end of your tenancy agreement or in the process of downsizing or relocating, there might not be much room here for saving. With your mortgage you may be able to switch providers with a favourable rate. A 1% savings on your mortgage rate can make all the difference. Check out moneysupermaket if you are in the UK for comparisons.
• Utility bills. You may be able to save some money here as well by switching suppliers. You will also save some money by cutting waste by switching to energy saving bulbs and turning of appliances after use.
• Travel to work? Is public transport cheaper and faster? Ditch your car, Can you car share (pay for half petrol cost), Can you switch transport mode i.e. swap tube for bus or walk (if you live less than two stops away), Can you work from home?
• Eating Out. If you eat out a lot then this will be an easy one for you to save money on. Can you cut your eating and drinking out by 50%, If you spend say £20 a week on take outs, you can save at least £10 a week on eating in, that’s an average of £40 a month and £520 per annum. You will also save money and effort by taking your  left over’s for lunch or meal prepping (prepping your lunch over the weekend for the week ahead.
• Shopping (clothes, books, cds, makeup, perfume, shoes, kids clothes, pound store knick knacks, pet toys, Gadgets, mobile phones, electronics, designers wears, etc ) You get the message, remember you are trying to create wealth so that you can have things comfortably next year. Please don’t get me wrong the above are essentials for modern living but don’t have to be replaced every year or purchased in excess.
• Holidays – I know a few people that travel out of the country at least 3 times a year. This is great if you fall in A or B, but if you are trying to create wealth, you will need to cut this down and explore other ways of relaxation or getting away.

Now that you have found ways of saving money and creating wealth you can readjust your initial budget for the obvious savings. Once done stick to your budget, the only thing you are allowed to do is out perform your budget. Please note a budget in concept is static for the period intended so make sure it is S.M.A.R.T. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely.

Bonus tip, one of my work colleagues and now good friend taught me this a few years ago when I was struggling with the overdraft. This is what she does and I did it as well and it worked. I used to be one of those people who never carry cash; I always had my debit/atm card on me and pay for 99% of my purchases that way. I used to wonder why she always had cash in her purse, we go out for lunch she pays cash all the time. She told me ‘Oyinda’ once I get paid I take out all the money I need for the month in cash and ditch my debit/atm card till the next month’. So what she taught me to do was once I had my budget for the month, get envelopes and label them individually for each expense , I had an envelope for lunch, petrol, shopping, gifts, bills etc I think I had over 10 envelopes  each month.  I only put money I have planned to spend that day or week not more than a week in my purse. What you find is that you are in control of your spending and you manage your cash more effectively. The result was I didn’t over spend each month and I always had some spare cash to spend at the end of each month.

There are loads of apps available to assist your personal budget. Nurture what you have to grow what you want.

So give it a go! If you have any more tips or contributions please comment below.

As always, your comments and feedback are appreciated. If you like what you read, please sign up for email notifications.

Many thanks xx

 

Goal Setting

Goal setting is a powerful process for thinking about your ideal future, and for motivating yourself to turn your vision of this future into reality. The process of setting goals helps you choose where you want to go in life.

In the greatest book ever, God instructs Habbakuk to “Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it. There is something powerful about writing out your goals on paper or electronically.

There’s some impressive science to back up goal setting. And yet it’s something we’re never taught or encouraged to do. But the statistics don’t lie, and make a strong argument for getting good at this skill; and making a habit of it. A Harvard Business Study found that the 3% of graduates from their MBA who had their goals written down, ended up earning ten times as much as the other 97% put together, just ten years after graduation.

When setting your goals, ensure they are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely.

Lastly Accountability! Share your goals with someone (or more) who can keep you accountable, cheer you on, advice you and motivate you.
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So what are your goals? What strategies have you place to help attain them? Kindly share below ⬇️

Employed & Self employed at the same time? Read this!

A person is self-employed if they run their business for themselves and take responsibility for its success or failure.

You’re probably self-employed if you:

• run your business for yourself and take responsibility for its success or failure
• have several customers at the same time
• can decide how, where and when you do your work
• can hire other people at your own expense to help you or to do the work for you
• provide the main items of equipment to do your work
• are responsible for finishing any unsatisfactory work in your own time
• charge an agreed fixed price for your work
• sell goods or services to make a profit (including through websites or apps)

So can one be self employed and employed at the same time ?

The answer is absolutely! and it is perfectly legal. Someone can be both employed and self-employed at the same time, for example if they work for an employer during the day and run their own business in the evenings.

The main point to consider are Tax Implications & NI contributions resulting from the additional income earned outside of your paid employment.

Register as self-employed

You’ll need to register for Self Assessment if any of the following apply:

• you earned more than £1,000 from self-employment between 6 April 2017 and 5 April 2018
• you need to prove you’re self-employed, for example to claim Tax-Free Childcare
• you want to make voluntary Class 2 National Insurance payments to help you qualify for benefits

Business records if you’re self-employed

You must keep records of your business income and expenses for your tax return if you’re self-employed as a:

• sole trader
• partner in a business partnership

You’ll also need to keep records of your personal income.

Cash basis accounting

Most small businesses with an income of £150,000 or less can use cash basis reporting.

With this method, you only record income or expenses when you receive money or pay a bill. This means you won’t need to pay Income Tax on money you haven’t yet received in your accounting period.

ExampleYou invoiced someone on 15 March 2018 but didn’t receive the money until 30 April 2018. Record this income for the 2018  to 2019 tax year.

What records to keep

You’ll need to keep records of:

• all sales and income
• all business expenses
• VAT recordsif you’re registered for VAT
• PAYE recordsif you employ people
• records about your personal income

Keep proof

Types of proof include:

• all receipts for goods and stock
• bank statements, chequebook stubs
• sales invoices, till rolls and bank slips

How long to keep your records

You must keep your records for at least 5 years after the 31 January submission deadline of the relevant tax year. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) may check your records to make sure you’re paying the right amount of tax.

Example

If you sent your 2016 to 2017 tax return online by 31 January 2018, you must keep your records until at least the end of January 2023.

As someone who’s self-employed, you need to know about anything that might affect your earnings. To help you out, we’ve put together a list of all the tax changes for 2018-19 you need get to grips with.

The 2018-19 tax year started on 6 April 2018 – and, as with any new tax year, there are a host of tax changes to wrap your head around.

From the positive to the negative, read on for a breakdown of all the new rules.

1. Personal allowance and higher rate increases

For 2018-19, the personal allowance has increased from £11,500 to £11,850. Your personal allowance dictates how much you can earn before you start paying income tax.

The higher rate threshold is also increasing, from £45,000 to £46,350. This is the threshold at which you start paying the higher rate of tax on your profits.

The additional rate threshold remains unchanged at £150,000.

Income tax in Scotland works differently, with five rates of tax to pay, between 19 per cent and 46 per cent. The starter rate of 19 per cent is applicable to income between £11,850 and £13,850.

As you’re self-employed, you pay tax on your profits, which is what you’ve earned after your expenses are deducted. Find out what you can claim as self-employed tax deductible expenses.

2. A big cut in the dividend allowance

A headline 2018-19 tax change for the self-employed is the cut in the dividend allowance. This is part of the government’s attempt to bring the tax treatment of the employed, self-employed, and directors/shareholders in line with each other.

If you pay yourself a dividend through your company, the allowance is dropping from £5,000 to £2,000. This means you’ll get to earn £2,000 as dividends before paying tax.

The rate of dividend tax you pay depends on which tax band the first £2,000 falls into.

3. Class 2 and Class 4 thresholds increase

If you’re self-employed and make more than £6,205 a year, you need to pay Class 2 National Insurance contributions. This is up from £6,025 last tax year.

The flat rate of Class 2 contributions has also increased to £2.95 per week from £2.85 per week.

These changes mean that people who earn less will pay a bit less National Insurance, while people who earn more will pay a bit more.

The threshold for Class 4 contributions has also gone up from £8,164 to £8,424. If you make more than that a year, you’ll pay 9 per cent of profits between £8,424 and £46,350 per year, plus 2 per cent of what you earn above that.

4. An increase in the Capital Gains Tax allowance

In 2018-19, you can make £11,700 tax-free when you sell assets that qualify for Capital Gains Tax, up from £11,300 last year.

Lower rate taxpayers pay 10 per cent of Capital Gains Tax on profits above the allowance. Higher and additional rate taxpayers pay 20 per cent.

These rates hold true for everybody other than buy-to-let investors or those with a second home – the rate for selling a second property is 18 per cent for basic-rate taxpayers, and 28 per cent for additional-rate taxpayers.

5. Your ISA allowance

Your ISA allowance remains £20,000 for the 2018-19 tax year. This is the amount you can save into an ISA tax-free. You can choose to invest that allowance either entirely in cash ISAs, stock and shares ISAs, or a mixture of both.

And don’t forget about the Personal Savings Allowance, which lets basic-rate taxpayers earn up to £1,000 in savings income-tax free – even outside of wrappers like ISAs.

6. You can join the Making Tax Digital pilot

In March 2018, HMRC rolled out an invitation for sole traders to join its Making Tax Digital pilot, ahead of its full introduction for all taxes in 2020.

The pilot gives the self-employed the chance to keep records digitally, by submitting regular Income Tax updates, rather than completing an annual Self Assessment tax return.

Making Tax Digital has had a chequered history – the Federation of Small Businesses last year estimated that the scheme could cost small businesses £2,770 annually. By launching a pilot, HMRC likely hopes that confidence in the scheme will increase among the self-employed.

You can join the pilot by using your Government Gateway user ID and password and logging in to the online Self Assessment service.

7. Business rates now pegged to CPI

Philip Hammond has brought forward this change by two years. Business rates are now linked to the lower Consumer Prices Index (CPI) measure of inflation, rather than the Retail Prices Index (RPI). In September last year, RPI was 3.9 per cent, but CPI was just 3 per cent.

Do you have employees?

If you do, there are some more changes you should know about. These are:

•  The National Living Wage rise: for employees 25 and over (and not in the first year of an apprenticeship), this goes up to £7.83 an hour from £7.50
• Employee pensions: you now need to make a 2 per cent contribution into your employees’ pension funds – up from 1 per cent, and increasing to 3 per cent in April 2019e required to pay? click the link below for this neat Tax & NI calculator as a guide.

https://www.employedandselfemployed.co.uk/tax-calculator

If you enjoyed reading this please  comment and don’t forget to subscribe.

 Sources ; http://www.gov.uk    simplybusiness.co.uk

 

 

Quick one – Investments, ISAs and Pensions.

Let me drop this here before the month end. For many today it was payday nd probably the first month you can breathe a sigh of relief foloowing the festive season. It is probably a good time to think about the future. Lets look into these 3 briefly;

Investments – An investment is an asset or item that is purchased with the hope that it will generate income or will appreciate in the future. In an economic sense, an investment is the purchase of goods that are not consumed today but are used in the future to create wealth. Find out more on Investments.

ISAs –stands for individual savings account, a form of UK investment that is exempt from tax on its returns. The amount of money you can invest in ISAs each year is limited, with the total permitted amount typically changing each tax year.

There are five main types of ISA – cash ISAs, Help to Buy ISAs, innovative finance ISAs, stocks & shares ISAs and Lifetime ISAs. You can read more on ISA’s and thes best one for you here.

Pensions- is a tax-free pot of cash you, your employer (and sometimes the Government) pays into, as a way of saving up for your retirement. Not yet signed up to a work place pension or a pension investment fund? Read more Pensions here.

Just a quick one, catch up with you in March 🙂

Goal Setting – Lessons Learnt

Welcome to this new year that promises to be exciting, full of adventures, new beginnings, promotions, successes, new achievements etc etc etc…

I love the energy that a new year brings, the physiological shift in man that releases this euphoria of energy , of hope and change but the reality is that for many this are just short lived ideas or plans that are instantly dashed in the realms of imaginations just before we get to pack away the Christmas decorations.

So why is this? Why do we have all these hopes and expectations and end up not achieving what we had set out to intended on at the start of the year? I would say for one,

1) Complacency -a feeling of calm satisfaction with your own abilities or situation that prevents you from trying harder. I could not have put it better, lets try a little harder, lets set some new goals and plan. Make sure your goals are specific, realistic with some effort and attainable.

2) Procrastination is the habit of delaying an important task, usually by focusing on less urgent, more enjoyable, and easier activities instead. It is different from laziness, which is the unwillingness to act.

So, I had not blogged in a little while, due to quite a number of happenings  and goings in my life the past years, whilst I was not blogging however I was;

1. Prioritising-  what was important to me, and what was necessary, then set out a road map to getting there. I learnt a lot of lessons along the way however I can gladly say last year I was able to achieve  most of my goals and superseding my expectations through God’s Grace.
2. Support Group –  This is so important, there is a saying Man is not an island. There are some goals you will set this year, that you will need a support group to help your achieve them, this could be a blog your regularly read :), a mentor at work or at school, an actual support group i.e for weight loss, addictions, Business growth etc Do you research and seek out these support system, if you have tried for years and are still struggling then I would suggest you get affiliated with one
3. Just do the darn thing! Do something different, change the spindle a little. So for me I realised I spent to much time browsing on social media, sitting in front my TV for the sake of the TV is there so it must be watched.  I have given myself a personal challenge that by 9pm everyday for a minimum of 30 minutes, I must engage in some activity that will stimulate my mind and senses. I have picked up some devotionals to read and I also promise to work more on my blog.

So those are some of the lessons I have learnt over the past years and some plans to achieving some new goals for the new year.

Please feel free to share in the comment section how you have achieved goals in past years and more importantly if you have any questions or feedback.

I will like to wish you a Healthy, Exciting, Loving, Successful, Goal Bursting 2018.

New Year, New Me

New year, New me! A statement that is bound to set some eyes rolling. I believe most people have come to the realisation that, if one wants change one has to do it now, not wait months down the line or 1 January.  However, there is something about the New Year that brings hope, strength, confidence and reassurance. The realisation that I can have a go at it, can try for that promotion, can attempt to lose weight or can get closer to God. This year has to be different and for these the statement  New Year, New Me is all so true and relevant, rescued from brink of obsolescence.

I want to thank my readers and cheerleaders for your support. I wish you the very best in this New Year.

Now what better way to kick start the new year than to have your financial goals realized,  check out my new post ‘The B Word’, subscribe and Happy New Year:)!

Blame it on the Dollar!

I was with a friend last week and knowing how money conscious I am, she thought to tell me about a recent encounter she had. She was looking to purchase an air condition unit, which was priced at N65k, two weeks later when she proceeded to purchase the same air condition unit, it was priced at N76k, up 17%, when she asked why such a drastic increase she was told it was the Dollar.

Photo Credit: www.yohaig.ng

It has been an interesting change from the UK where prices of commodities are not so volatile. In Nigeria you can be talking to a street seller or hawker and when you query the price of an item for instance, why so high, they would say it is the Dollar. Sometimes I may be cheeky and ask what do you mean by it’s the Dollar and they would just smile and say dollar na, e don go up? Nigeria is highly dependent on the import market, I would say about 70% of what you buy in Nigeria has been imported and so buyers and sellers have a hard time keeping up with the fluctuations.

Anyway, so I thought, how can we beat the dollar? How can we actually gain from the dollar? Do you know you can make money although a small fortune, depending on how much you initially put in?

Below are some graphs I have plotted to illustrate my point.

Please note the above was written over a week ago, however I just read today that the dollar is now N270:$1, although I believe this is on the black market and not the Bank or central bank rates. You can view the Central Bank of Nigeria rate here .

Graph 1: depicts the rates for the Dollar, Euro and British Pounds for the past 11 months in the year 2015.

In order to examine the fluctuations more vividly let us look at the the individual rates for each currency.

Graph 2: Dollar to the Naira from January 2015 to November 2015

The value of the dollar has been rising steadily from the start of the year, this implies a devaluation in Naira. We know the tale of the falling oil barrel prices, which is at all  year low of $34 per barrel.

What this implies is that the revenue or income generated by the country from Oil will be significantly marginalised, in addition to the country weak reliance on importation will only advance Dollar value.

Tip No 1. My first tip to beating the dollar for those who have some spending to do in the new year is convert their Naira to Dollar now. The CBN  is working to stabilise the value of the Naira by keeping official exchange to the dollar between N196 and N197 to the dollar. Once you are ready to make your purchases you can convert your Dollar back to Naira. So if the Dollar appreciates the value in your Naira appreciates. That way you are flanked against sporadic increments.

Tip No 2. Open a domiciliary account. This allows you to transact in either Dollar, Euro or Pounds. it depends on which currency meets you needs. Many banks offer this service and accounts are  pretty straightforward to open. Now lets look at the Euro graph below to further buttress this tip.

Graph 3: Euro to the Naira from January 2015 to November 2015

The value of the Naira against the Euro has been topsy turvy. In order to make some money, you need to have bought when the value is low say April 15 at N213 to €1  and sold say in October 15 at N222. If you had say €1,000 in a domiciliary account, you would have gained N9,000 ((N222-N213)*1000). That is a return 4.22% return on your initial investment. If your savings account is not offering such return (interest), this maybe the way to go.

This tip can be applied any where in the world, you can become your own trader and track changes in forex values but thread with caution and don’t get carried away.

Tip No 3. Keep calm and shop around. I understand not every has the time or tenacity to shop around like yours truly, but I can assure you there are savings to be made. Some retailers do not hasten to change prices of their goods due to sudden fluctuation in dollar, especially if they purchased at a favourable rate . Consequently you can beat the dollar by buying at a favourable price.

Graph 4: GBP to the Naira from January 2015 to November 2015

The good old British Pound, I think when I open my domiciliary account it will in pounds. I just understand it better  :).

As always your views, comments, feedback or questions will be welcomed. If you yet to sign on to receive this publication, please do.

Cheers x

Historic forex data from Oanda

Surviving Christmas

Christmas, a season to be merry, a season to be cheerful, a season of reflection, a season when a good percentage of folks top their generosity level.

No matter where you are in the world, except some obvious territories, you cannot  ignore Christmas , it is on your TV screens,  in the shops and malls, at schools and offices and for some of us, on our mind, as it reminds of the greatest love ever shown to humanity.

But shortly after Christmas is gone, approximately 8 days after we sometimes get a feeling of that was fun, it was great to have some family time, Christmas pressies, Carols, all those parties (office parties -don’t get me started on office parties, one word BEHAVE!) And then your next to nothing funds left to be stretched to the next pay date, which is always more than a month because most companies tend to pay salaries up to two weeks early!

OK, sounds all too familiar. Fret no more, below is my guide to surviving Christmas.

1.Shop Smart -Shop around, retailers at this time of the year are always trying to boost  sales especially those with an accounting year end date of 31 December. Offers are a dime a dozen, deals and promotions to be had.

For my readers in the UK, this would be the time to shop online and take advantage of those money off baits.

Sainsbury is offering £20 off your £100  with code NBMMFA2 and  £15 of a £60 shop with code NBMMFAF on your first online shop. That is a maximum saving of 25% on your shopping on a £60 spend.

Waitrose also have some great deals where you can get up to £80 off your first five online orders

Ocado is offering 25% of your order using this voucher code .

I can hear my Nigerian readers murmur, ‘ok how that take concern me?’…lol There are deals to be bagged as well. This is the time to gang up and conquer. Get a friend, neighbour, colleague to bulk buy with you. The savings to

be made could be as much as 50%. Markets in Mile 2, Mile 12, Oyigbo and my personal favourite Lagos Island are breaming with fresh produce and non perishables.Do make sure you wear comfortable clothing and shoes on such trips.

Readers in North America, Costco would be a great place as well to bulk buy and divide. This bulk buying is to tide you over to at least end of January.

2. Spend Smart – As a child, Christmas meant feasting with  family but also new shoes, a new dress (outfit), new hair do, new pair of socks, just for that day, just for those few hours.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the Christmas splurge but if you are looking to save this season, rather buy several outfit , Jazz up  old ones with accessories or a new shoe or hair do. I bet you could save a few bucks. Dry cleaners can work wonders to an old outfit, you are bound to save at least 30% on your spending.

Christmas pressies-o boy, don’t get me started. Make a list, stick to your budget, avoid last minute buys, avoid using your credit card! Spend Smart, enough said. Do you know you can stock up on presents  a year in advance, just the day after Christmas you can save up to 70% on purchases.

3. Save Smart– Ok we are all aware of the time span between pay dates in December and January of a new year. For an employee this can feel like a life time . Business owners tend to struggle as well during this period because quite frankly, most people are spent come January. So my final survival tip, which ties into points 1 & 2, shop smart and spend smart save a little more.

Another tip would be to pay up some bills with extra cash, top up your utility bills, electricity, gas, broadband etc

So there you have it, my 3 step guide to surviving Christmas, without having to sound like this guy.

Shop smart, Spend smart and Save smart.

 

As always your comments and feedback will be appreciated and do sign up to receive post notification.

#Thankful

After what appears to be many months of procrastination, I have done it! I have taken the steps to share with the world my knowledge, know how, tips and even take you on a journey with me, so sit back and enjoy the ride 🙂

Procrastination! I will do it today, I will do it later, I will do it when this and that happens. We all have these moments some of us more organised than others however  what we lose is time, our greatest asset. Time is one of those things once lost, can never be recovered, however the beauty about time is it’s flexibility, It will allow you to stretch yourself as willing as you can use it. Time can be maximised.

As we approach another year, I would like you to reflect on the last 330+ days, the great times, the good times, the wonderful times, the not so good times, oh the bad times, the challenging times, reflect again and see what you have become of time. I personally had what I would call my most challenging year since my existence but on reflection I am thankful for those horrid moments, for all the tears, for all the trials, because this may sound as a cliché but it’s so true as you come out of the furnace, one becomes stronger, resilient, brave and dare I say happier!

As a person of the Christian faith, the Holy book, encourages to give thanks at all times. So I am thankful.

Back to time! Do it now, make a to do list, do not wait till the 1st January, do it now and tick off as you go along!

I will be sharing with you life tips, financial tips and Business know how periodically, so sign up to receive notification of post and please leave your comments. I hope to grow and learn along the way.

Thank you for reading this with your valuable time and please do not forget to be Thankful xx