International Financial Awareness Day

It's been quite a while since I've even bothered to write a blog about finances myself. And that actually doesn't have much to do with the fact that I wouldn't be able to tell anything about it, it's also not that my interest in 'learning' the crypto projects has diminished. But I wanted to focus my own blog more on photography again... somewhere I once read something that you would get more followers if you really focused your blog on a theme. And if I have to choose something, I quickly end up with photography and dogs, and usually a combination of both. Anyway, today there is a blog for Financial Awareness Day on the #HiveBloPoMo program. And that makes me crawl into the role of a Financial Blogger again. Why not? Picking up Photography is also a bit slower than hoped, and completing the BloPoMo with a blog every day of the month has also failed. So why not just throw in my thoughts on some great International Financial Awareness Day tips. After all, it's not that I CANNOT say anything about it. Enough chatter, let's get to the point!

So today is International Financial Awareness Day. And while this day was created to bring attention to financial education and raise financial awareness around the world, I must confess that I had no idea this day even existed. It is that I see in the schedule for the HiveBloPoMo that it is today. But I seriously had no idea. It's not that the media is bombarding us with campaigns about this day. And that's a pity! That is a missed opportunity in my view. After all, the purpose of this day is to help people with the financial issues they have. The aim is to help people to be better able to set financial goals, to manage their debts and, above all, to save. That this day gets no publicity at all (at least not in the Netherlands), I think is a serious bad thing, and a missed opportunity. Because let's be honest, it's more important than ever in this day and age that you have your personal finances in order, and that you understand what's going on. Especially in this time when the whole world revolves around money, AND in which we also have incredibly high inflation worldwide, it is just about vital that your personal finances are in order.

Now more than ever, it is important that everyone is aware of their finances. If you've never had to deal with it, I seriously hope it stays that way for you, but from my own experience I can tell you that financial problems can have a major impact on daily life and your health. And that can even go so far that not only you as an individual are affected, but this also seeps through to the community in which you live. This day is intended to try to raise awareness of the importance of financial education through events, educational programs and campaigns around the world. And to help them take responsibility for their own financial future. And if you know that, then it is, to say the least, a bit strange that the media, and also the government in our country, completely ignores such a day.

After having said this, it is really time to start giving you 3 tips with which you can save money. I did not go to Google for these tips, but I will tell you my own experiences. As many of you know my finances have not been rosy for a very long time. Dark clouds have hung over our house for a very long time. And although things are going a bit better now, I really don't want to say that we have it easy financially. On the contrary. Life here is not exactly cheap, and our income has really not kept up with the current inflation. So we're still very closely monitoring our spending.

And that is the first and most important tip I can give:

Make sure you don't spend more than what you have.

Although debt is now considered more normal than savings, I think this is a completely wrong attitude. The only debt that I think is acceptable to have is a mortgage debt. For all other personal debts that you could have avoided, I personally say "NO, don't start".

If you don't have enough money to buy that new TV, well then, don't buy it. Just wait until you can afford it, or if you really need a new one immediately, then buy a cheaper TV that you can afford. And that goes for everything, of course, instead of the word TV, telephone, PC, car, bicycle, laptop, whatever can be read here.

Debts seem easy, but in reality they don't make your life any easier. Rather more difficult. There there is always a moment when you have to pay it back, and then there is also interest on top, which by definition means that you pay even more.

Nowadays it's so easy, "Buy now and pay later". You buy something today, you can enjoy it tomorrow, but after a month you already pay 1.5% interest. And although 1.5% interest does not seem like much, it is still a shame to have to pay that extra. And now we haven't even talked about the uncertainty. Can you pay it next month? Because what gives you reason to think that if you don't have it today, you will have it in 30 days? A lot can happen in 30 days. And if your financial situation is not such that you can make such purchases without problems, do not expect this to change in 30 days. Then save that month longer so that you can still pay in cash, but without the 1.5% interest. And also without the risk that something happened that would prevent you from paying after those 30 days.

Dare to cut your costs

Often we have taken on more costs than we actually need. If you're on a tight budget financially, the best thing you can do is cut back on your monthly expenses.

Go completely back to basics and realize what you REALLY need to survive. A house to live in, clothes to wear (where your closet really doesn't have to be overflowing), food to live in and water to drink. After the costs you need to survive, come the mandatory costs. If I look purely at my own country, here we are all obliged to have health insurance. You can't avoid that. Too bad about the money, but what has to be done, has to be done. And that's it actually. Only keep the things that you really have to, that you can't live without.

If you look purely at the part you really need you will see that almost all of us pay much more than the basic necessities to survive every month. Think of telephone subscriptions, streaming service subscription, internet subscription, gym subscription, driving, etc. And now it comes, when your finances fall short every month and you still have days left at the end of your finances, then you have to make choices. going to make.

You just have those basic costs that you MUST incur to survive. But all costs that fall outside that, then you have to cut back. As far as you need to have money left over at the end of your month. Even if it's only 1 euro! As long as you have days left, you spend too much.

And believe me, I know how it feels when you have to cut so far that you feel like you have nothing left. It just really sucks, and you feel like everything and everyone is against you. You sometimes even feel as if you are no longer of this world. Depression is lurking because everyone has more than you and everything you used to do falls away and can't anymore. No, it's no fun, but it is an absolute necessity to become financially healthy again and to regain control over your own finances. An additional advantage, which unfortunately you will not see at that moment, you will also find all those things less important, and you will also learn much more to appreciate what you still have. And the moment your finances are healthier again, you appreciate it all the more when more is possible again.

Be creative!

The whole world revolves around money, and it is often forgotten that really everyone can do something to get money. An old saying is "The money is often on the street to be picked up". And while it may not seem like it when you're in a dire financial situation, there's definitely some truth to it. With creative thinking and careful attention you can already save a lot of money, but more importantly in my opinion, with creative thinking you can also work on more income.

It's a simple fact, if your financial situation was not healthy before, and you overspend every month, then you will have to cut your costs to the point that your income is sufficient for your expenses. But if you want more, be wise enough to be creative so that you increase your income! The moment your income goes up, you can carefully spend more without immediately going into debt again.

By being creative, I don't mean illegal things. There are also many creative possibilities without falling into illegality. A few things I am familiar with:

• blogging via hive
• amazon affiliate program
• drop shipping
• your own website / webshop
• stock photography

I am convinced that there is much more to think of, but I will leave that to you.

Whatever you do, all is well as long as you become more aware of your own financial situation. As long as it works to make your situation healthy again ... and in any case:

Never give up!

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