The most difficult thing for most of us Kenyans is how to save money. It’s becomes difficult because we have array of things to spend for and little time to budget. More often than not, we spend before thinking of saving. This year, if you aspire to grow your wealth, you have to develop saving habit. Here are practical ways to save in Kenya
Develop a saving plan
Before you do anything, make sure you develop a saving plan. This is only possible if you sit down, analyze your income, identify areas to invest in so to boost your income and budget for your spending.
With proper saving plan, you will significantly reduce wastage and develop saving discipline.
Eliminate self-destructive habits
Self-destructive habits include spending on women, taking too much alcohol and spending on unnecessary items. You can’t save without eliminating self-destructive habits, otherwise you will be cheating yourself.
You will also need to save your electricity bill,cut down on unnecessary travels,reduce the number of friends you go out with, reduce giving money to anybody in need and make sure you don’t overspend on car and rental expenses.
Create a budget
A budget is necessary for a sound saving habit. When doing so, identify primary expenses, secondary items and luxuries. Primary expenses include: housing, transport, food, education and health. Primary expenses normally take 5% to 60 percent depending on your level of income.
This is a practical example: Assuming your monthly net salary is Ksh 100, 000, here is how to budget for it.
Food=Ksh10,000
Rent=Ksh15,000
Transport=Ksh10,000
Health (unless you have health insurance cover)=5,000
Education=Ksh10,000
Miscellanies =Ksh 5,000
Total expenditure=80,000
You will remain with Ksh45,000 to save, which is 45% of the net income.
Identify profitable areas to save your money in.
There are many ways of saving your money in Kenya.The most common among salaried and entrepreneurs include insurance, banking and SACCOs.
Saving in Insurance Company
I have been saving my money in the insurance sector and what I have liked about it is that the interest on the savings is huge.Currently,Unit Trusts are thriving; they yield interest of up to 22%.The nice thing about Unit Trusts is that they don’t have any risk—your money will be intact no matter what.
The best insurance companies to purchase unit trusts in Kenya include Old Mutual and CIC
Save in SACCOS
If you are employed, the first thing to do is identify a stable SACCO and start saving. In Kenya, the best SACCOs to save your money in include Ushuru, Safaricom SACCO, Stima SACCO,Ndege SACCO and UN SACCO.
With a SACCO you are able to apply for loan, save money, buy shares and get dividends.
Save in Fixed Deposit account
Fixed Deposit Account will save you the headache of determining how much you should save each month.
The first step is to identify the best bank for fixed deposit savings.According to my own experience, here are the banks where you can draw the highest interest on savings:
- CBA
- Stanbic Bank
- Standard Chartered Bank
There is a popular saying that goes like this:if you want to get rich,save before you spend;otherwise,spend before you save.
