Giving yourself opportunity: the budget item that helps you grow

 

 

 

 

So this week is week 6 of the budgeting series I have been writing about. That means only one more budget item to cover after this! If you have been following this, then you’ll know that the budget I’m talking about is the “Money-Pie-Method” so named by one of my readers! This is the method of giving your money specific jobs to do, rather than letting it roam free and do what it likes.

Its all about having control and a bit of discipline without feeling restricted.

We’ve so far covered:

Giving

Fun

Essentials

Emergencies

Investing

This week I want to talk about setting aside 5-10% of your well-earned income for education. This is not for your children or your partner, this is for YOU! I can hear what some of you are thinking – well why do I have to save for education when I’m not at school anymore?

The Education Fund

The truth is, we have to continue to learn all the time. Gone are the days when you could leave school, get a job, work up the ladder and that’s it until retirement. Now, with a fast-moving and ever-changing job market, employees don’t really have real job security, and any one of us could end up irrelevant and redundant. Even as a doctor, more and more roles are being taken on by specialist nurses, physicians assistants and online algorithms. How long will it be before artificial intelligence takes over completely?!

The telegraph has a list of the most secure jobs in Britain here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/the-five-most-secure-careers-in-britain/ (NB. Please ignore the fact that it says “Lifestyle Men” at the top – ALL of those professions listed apply to women too! In fact, some of them like engineering NEED more women in them to balance them out!)

(Okay, so maybe I’m safe for now, but do you see my point?)

Private companies can make snap decisions based on profits, and *poof* – that’s your job gone.

Why should I have this fund?

My point is that in addition to the “F*** Off Fund” as discussed in the emergencies blog post (in case of redundancy etc), you really need to have a stash of money set aside for education.

Why?

You may decide to retrain and change career. You may want to do some evening classes, or learn a new skill like a different language or touch typing. In which case, having the money ready for you to do these things would be useful wouldn’t it? Even if you don’t think you’re in for an imminent career change, you may want a stash to pay for books, audible, courses, seminars and work exams. For example, I have over £2,000 worth of exams coming up over the next few years, so I’m saving for this every month. I get help towards courses for the exams, but not for the exams themselves, so the money has to come from somewhere!

The bottom line is, the more useful skills you acquire, the more you can take advantage of opportunities around you. We cannot rely on windfalls to help us out of a situation. Its up to us to do it for ourselves.

Remember – A Man is NOT a plan!!

Entrepreneurial dreams

But its not all doom and gloom. Some people out there have got some amazing business ideas that they would love to pursue, and if they had some funding behind them, they could go for it! I’ve spoken to a few women now who have dreams and aspirations for running their own business or scaling up an existing one. Advantages of having your own company include not relying on ANYONE else, structuring your own working hours, having complete control, and creating your own economy to bring in the money!

Do you have a dream of something you’d love to do?

Maybe you’d want to open your own nursing home/nursery school?

Or maybe you want to learn how to invest in property and set up your own property management company? (you need money for the books and courses which can amount to thousands of pounds in the long run)

Perhaps you’re an inventor and you want to release a product or service? How do you think Facebook, JustEat, Uber and Dyson started?

Failing that, you could always “do a Full Monty”:

Its your choice! ;D

Quick Questions (to comment on below!):

  1. What dreams do you have that having an education fund would help you reach?
  2. How much will you commit to every month?

Click here for Week 7 – saving for events

 

 

 

 

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