“To whom much is given much is expected”.

There are many ways on the internet now giving us all kinds of information on how to save, invest your money etc etc. In this post, I’ll be sharing with you my money spending practice, that I have developed over a period of time. The 70/30 split. This is not very rigid and there are times life will happen and you will have to adapt. Nonetheless, if you would like some direction on how to use your earnings more wisely this practice old as it may be it is very good.

One question I have been asked a lot of by my colleagues and even those “senior” to me, especially after the purchase of my first home is “how are you able to afford these things?”

Mindset

“your financial journey begins with what you do with your first dollar’ – Jim Rohn

Firstly mindset is everything. To achieve something you have to see it in your mind. Once you do this you will find your brain working actively to achieve it. You have to see it before you can hold it in your hands. So whatever it is that you want which mostly will require money, you have to believe that you can have it.

70 / 30 Split

You may be wondering what is the 70 / 30 split? Hopefully, you have seen my recent post on Top 5 Motivational Speakers you need to listen to. In this post, I comment on my favourite speaker being Less Brown. But he also learned a lot from the people before him, as he says “success leaves clues”. One of these people is Jim Rohn who brought up this split as a way of spending money wisely.

So how does this split work?

Before we go into the breakdown, you need to decide which of these categories you fall into. There are two ways you can view your earnings:

1. If you earn £1000 a month, with a total monthly bill of £300; then what you have really earned is £700. Therefore you will carry out the 70/30 split on the £700 and not the £1000. As they say ” you haven’t been paid your bills have”.

2. This part is simple. The split is done with the total amount deposited at the end of the month or however your payment is scheduled.

70 TO SPEND

So depending on how you view your earnings; you have 70% you can spend. For example, if you earn £1000 a month then 70% of that is £700. This amount is your spending for the month, however, factor in as well your bills, eating, fuel and all that stuff.

30 TO 3 10’s

10 FOR INVESTMENT

First 10% of this you are to invest and make a profit of. I’ll say this right now. Not all profit is sudden. Just because you have invested in something now doesn’t mean you will make a million bucks the next day. Remember it’s an investment and sometimes good investment take time to reap results.

10 FOR SAVING

For the second 10%, you are to put into your savings. This may not sound a lot but even if it is £10 it is better than nothing. Keep going it will eventually build up. Saving £10 for a year that’s £120, that the new pair of trainers or designers watch you wanted. sorted!

10 TO GIVE

The last 10% is for giving back. Give back to your community, family, friends, charity. There are many countless ways for us to give back. Personally, for me, this is my tithe. Now I understand that not everyone that reads my blog is a Christian. However, I have found this practice to be the most rewarding. Being able to give freely out of your heart it’s a sign of where your heart is. Being able to give back to God what he has blessed me with, takes away my anxiety and helps me to see money for what it is. Money goes as easily as it comes if you hold on tightly you never seem to have enough. We have a saying back home in Ghana ” a tight and hard hand never increases ” You may be thinking, I don’t have a lot right now to give back to someone else but even a pound is worth a lot to someone.