“Life is a game; and money is how we keep the score”

There is a very popular ad by MasterCard, wherein a young man's parents visit him,

The cost of business class tickets is Rs 110,000,

He rents a luxury car, cost is Rs. 8,000,

He takes them to an amusement park, cost Rs 5,600.

And the old couple is on a ride laughing their heart out,the ad says “ watching your parents become children again, 'Priceless'. ”

If someone told you, “Money can't buy happiness”. He probably wasn't entirely speaking the truth. The ad clearly highlighted that the young man had spent Rs.123,600 as cost to have that priceless expression on his parent's face. The underlying universal truth today is simply this - there are only a very few things that money can't buy and for everything else, there is money!

One can easily imagine doing many small things that gives happiness but doesn't cost us like spending quality time with family, watching favorite TV shows, waking up late on Sundays, chilling out with favourite buddies, going for a mountain trek, sitting on a beach on a beautiful evening and so on... True these things do not cost us but can we imagine us doing all these activities in absence of any money? The truth is that we all would fail to see and appreciate life's small moments and wonders if we don't have any wealth. We can live a normal, peaceful life absent of any worries only if we feel that we have financial security and well-being. In absence of same, we will see ourselves toiling day and night to earn money to fulfill our basic needs and our life's primary goals.

We all want financial freedom in our lives to do the things we like most but yet, most of us often spend a life time running a rat race to reach there. And when we reach that state, if at all we do, we would have become old to do any of that.

So what's the answer?

There is no magic wand, but all we can say is that we need to commit ourselves with all our will to aggressively save and be strict in observing wealth creation and management principles which we have so often iterated.

We need to start with basic money management skill of controlling expenses – a very important need today. We need to realise that spending money will grant satisfaction, it may however not last forever but spending money wisely will grant satisfaction that may last a lifetime. What you do with your money, matters more than how much you have. If you spend on things that give you satisfaction, it is really worth it. But if you spend on things that give you immediate pleasure but lose its lustre after some time, will not give you happiness. The idea is not to compromise on your needs or desires or to not follow your passion. It is about managing your expenses intelligently, so that you have a surplus which you can invest for your future.

It is wise to buy experiences and not articles.

You like cycling, plus its good for your health. Now there are three cycles to choose from, A,B and C, costing Rs 5,000, Rs 25,000 and Rs 100,000 respectively. Cycle A may not be very comfortable, so you might want to choose between B and C. A smart investor would always choose B because; Cycle B would maintain it's quality and comfort, it would have all features which are required for a comfortable cycling experience. It might not however be a big brand as C, it might have 2 lesser gears than C, Cycle C would be made of carbon, so you can lift the cycle with one finger. But does this really matter? Will it at all impact his cycling? No. So, he would rather buy Cycle B, save Rs. 75,000 and invest the money for his future. And there are hundreds of instances, where we have to make a choice between similar products but with different prices, or between buying or not buying at all. It depends on how wise we are and how effectively we follow money management techniques in each purchase; it will be a significant sum at the end of the year.

This first step is most critical as it will enable you to save money which can then be invested in avenues which help grow your wealth. Remember a rupee saved is a rupee earned. For some even such small savings can give happiness when they believe in their hearts that these savings will bring many smiles in future …