Image credit: Zoltan Papp

Most of us are busy in our day to day jobs. We live from paycheck to paycheck. And boy ! Do we struggle ? Inflation is growing by the day and our pay packages are not sufficient to live a decent life in such turbulent times. We have bills to take care of, a family to answer to and most importantly a shoulder that carries so much weight.

Some of us are gifted with a silver spoon but some of us had to work our way through. Those who walked the walk know every bit of pain that has gone through in building the foundation of our future. We have done our bit so far – we took care of the bills, the family and managed it fine.

In our good times, we bought house but now we don’t have the resources to pay the monthly installments. In good times, we had enough surpluses to carry out a luxurious life but in turbulent times like these, we have to think twice to even put a liter of petrol in our tank. Oil price at a staggering Rs.62 per liter in India – wow !

What do we do now ? How do we manage our expenses ? What to cut and what to keep ? Should I cut down my quality of life or should I explore more avenues ? – These are some of the questions that come to our minds quite often.

I have listed below a few techniques which we often preach but seldom practice. This is our opportunity to do so.

Increase your income

On the face of it, it is easy to say difficult to do. Think through it again – you might have an answer. There are flexible work at home opportunities that are available on the net – Explore them. Try out ebay, blogging (pay per post), e-consultancy, e-teaching, e-concierge services etc in the areas of your expertise. It is just a matter of time before you start seeing the revenue. Consistent persuasion will definitely see you through.

Curtail your expenses

Money saved is money earned. Simple logic however it may sound, the hard reality is that curtailing expenses is one of the toughest decisions to make. Obviously, you can not ask your child to stop eating or your wife to go to beauty parlor – can you ?

So what is the solution ? The solution needs a little analysis and of course time. Take a look at the quick tips given below

• List down the expenditure that you incur on a month on month basis. Do not miss out on any of them.
• Rank them in order of necessities, good to have and luxuries.
• Strike out the luxuries, keep the necessities and debate over the “good to have” ones
• Take a pragmatic approach for “good to have” ones and eliminate which is not on the priority list
• Rank them again in order of its feasibility and cost-benefit analysis
• Strike out whatever is not feasible and narrow down your list
• From the narrowed list, start curtailing your expense in order of the most cost benefit derived

Sell your Non-Performing Assets

If the assets that you have accumulated over the years have not been giving you good returns, chances are that it will also not give you good returns in the future. The best option at this stage is to sell these non-performing assets at the best price that you get. Your non-performing assets could be a real estate that you’ve purchased long back, mutual fund units which has reached your desired value, some of the non-essential gold jewellery etc.

Consolidate all your efforts

We’ve heard the word “Consolidation” in corporate parlance. We hear it very often during mergers and acquisitions and the like. Take a step back now and think how you can implement the same concepts to your day to day life ? Consolidation is the term used for bringing things together. When you are in distress and are going through a rough patch, consolidation will play a very key role. Below are a few examples that you would have heard of it before

• Consolidate your loans
• Consolidate your assets
• Consolidate your income and expenses
• Consolidate your relations

Net net, consolidation is the key to your fight against turbulent times.

Bring in efficiency

Efficiency is a term most sparingly used, these days. There is a false notion that the term “efficiency” can only be associated with work or business. No, it is just a myth that needs correction. Take your personal example – Touch your heart and ask yourself as to how efficient you are. More often than not, you’ll tell yourself – no matter how good I am to the outside world, I am atrociously inefficient when it comes to my personal affairs. I do not know how to manage my household expectations, I eat more than what I can chew, I overpromise and under deliver blah…blah …blah. Time to do some introspection and see what suits you best and how best can you deliver what you are supposed to.

The underline message is that efficiency can be brought to every aspect of your life. It is best left to you what, where and when you want to bring it in.

Think long term

History will tell you that if you are short-sighted, chances are that your success will also be for the short haul. Take example of trading – If you are a day trader, high chances that you will lose money big time. If you are a short term trader, you make small money. But if you are for the longer term, this is where you will make maximum money.

This logic is applicable to our daily life, as well. Stability is key, think long term. Do not get bogged down with the short term pits and falls. Those who see short don’t see far. You got to see far, if you have to fight the turbulent times.

As Joseph P Kennedy (father of John F Kennedy) once said

When the going gets tough, the tough gets going

This is so true especially in these turbulent times

Similar Posts:

• Show Daddy – How Setting Expectations And Planning Changes Your Life
• Show Daddy – How Goal Setting And Prioritisation Saves You Time
• Show Daddy-How Delegation And Six Sigma Principles Can Lighten Your Life
• Show Daddy- The Urge To Excel And Get Organised
• How To Effectively Manage Teams?

Popularity: 14%