Building a financially healthy lifestyle has to do with eliminating debt, budgeting, insurance and investing for retirement.

Dealing with all these aspects is not an easy task, however, reading books both online and offline on personal finance and learning from a personal finance expert will come in handy and open  opportunities for securing our finances.

Below are Practical ways to Building a Healthy Financial Lifestyle:

1. Read Books / Publications on Personal Finance

How determined are we to reach our goals this year? If you have been toying with the idea of finally getting out of debt, making more money, saving or learning to invest then the key to reaching those goals is educating yourself and implementing best practices. I implore you to make the remaining part of this year 2020 the time to get serious about achieving financial and investment goals. There are many  books out there that can transform how you manage your personal finances. Read Books like The Richest Man in Babylon by George S Clason, Smart Money Woman & Smart Money Tribe by Arese Ugwu, The Total Money Make Over by Dave Ramsey and Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.

2. Start Budgeting

If you are struggling to handle your finances, then you likely need to create a budget. A budget is your best tool to change your financial future. To start, write down your income and all your expenses, and then subtract the expenses from the income to determine your flexible spending.

At the start of each month, set up a budget to allocate how flexible funds get spent. Track the spending over the course of the month, and at the end of the month, determine whether you stayed with your budget.

If you spent more than you made, fix your budget by cutting unnecessary expenses or earning more and then implement the revised budget the next month to start living within your means.

3. Pay Off Your Debt

Paying back a loan takes dedication, planning and financial sacrifice, but it is worth it because living a debt-free life opens up the opportunity to start building your wealth. Whether you have a big debt or small debt, it is important to keep up with the repayments to ensure that the amount owed does not get out of control. Getting your debt sorted is even more important during the current crisis. The coronavirus pandemic has to an extent, damaged the economy and caused financial challenges for nearly every Nigerian.

To manage your debt better during this period – know how much you owe:  calculating your total debt can be a bit overwhelming, but this is something you have to face directly, if you are serious about managing your repayments. You may also need to choose a payment strategy that works for you and if possible, automate your account in such a way that there will be an instant debit once it is time to repay your loan.

4. Start Investing

If you are really taking building wealth seriously, then you are going to need to put your money to work for you. This is where investing comes in. However, before you put any of your hard-earned money into investments, it is important to have well-defined objectives.

Think about what the investment is for, when you will need your money and what your risk tolerance is. Investing is a long-term activity, so you have to commit to it if you really want to see your money grow. If you are worried that you will need your money in the short term, that is what your savings account is for; to put aside your emergency savings and money for your short-term goals.

You also want to make sure you have a basic understanding (at the minimum) of any investment you put your money into. Never forget that your plans to invest should be included as a part of your monthly budget where you allocate a certain percentage of your income toward your investment goals.

5. Get Insured

By Practicing the act of taking up an insurance policy as at when necessary is an important step to take in building a healthy financial lifestyle. This is expected to help you cover for an unforeseen circumstance, provided it eventually occurs.
An insurance policyholder must understand fully the terms and conditions that apply to any insurance cover he/she is about to sign. This is to enable the policyholder to have a successful claim with the insurance firm.

6. Avoid Overspending and Learn from Your Mistakes

Develop a solid plan for your finances, be disciplined and avoid overspending. You will find out how great you will feel when you really make a determined effort to stick to your budget.

As you work on your finances, you may still make mistakes with your money, and that’s okay. Sometimes you might be unable to resist the urge to buy something that isn’t in your immediate budget. And sometimes you will feel like shredding your entire financial plan to bits because it just doesn’t seem like fun.

However, as long as you keep your reasons WHY you want to be financially free in focus and make an effort to rebound quickly from your mistakes, you will be just fine.

Learn to assess the mistakes you made, understand why you made them and make new plans to avoid making them again. Hence, you’ll need to take those lessons and apply them for your future success.

Investing in the stock market has been a very dynamic process and offers lots of options for stock traders.  Companies such as; Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, Netflix, Samsung, Twitter are some of the well-known American companies that we all have grown up using their products and services offered at one point in our life.

Below are five (5) popular apps and websites that allow you to create an online account and start investing in global stock markets from Nigeria.

1. Bamboo

Bamboo is an online stock trading and investment platform that gives Nigerians unrestricted access to over 3,000 stocks that are listed on the Nigerian stock exchange and U.S. stock exchanges. You can invest locally or globally and can preferably trade in both local and global companies by simply funding your ₦ & $ balance immediately and start buying and selling shares with a minimum amount of $20.

Bamboo was founded in 2019 by Yanmo Omorogbe and Richmond Bassey. It is partnered with DriveWealth, a U.S. based digital trading technology; Lambeth Capital, a Nigerian stockbroking firm and Flutterwave, a payment platform.

2. TroveApp

Trove is the first micro-investing platform in Nigeria that gives access to Nigerians to invest in publicly traded US, Nigerian, Chinese Stocks, Government Bonds, Cryptocurrencies, etc. You can become one of their global investors by trading with as little as ₦1000. With Trove, you can store your uninvested cash in your mobile wallet or withdraw it to your linked bank account anytime.

To get started, you can download their mobile app or through the web. Trove was established on July 10, 2018, by Austin Akagu, Desayo Ajisegiri, and Oluwatomi Solanke. It currently has close to 10 employees.

3. Chaka NG

Another digital investment platform is Chaka. It enables you to have access to your own thousands of blue-chip companies from Nigeria, USA and 40+ major countries around the globe.  Then for local and global transactions, it charges an industry-low fee of N100 or 0.5% and  $2 or 1% per trade respectively.

Chaka was founded on May 1, 2019, by Tosin Osibodu. It has partnered with two brokers Citi Investment Capital and U.S.-based DriveWealth to facilitate stock purchases.

4. eToro

eToro is one of the world’s leading social trading platforms, that gives access to individuals and companies to invest both in stocks and cryptocurrencies, as well as trading CFD with various underlying assets. It requires you to have a minimum deposit of $200; $50 for U.S. investors; $50 for Australian investors.

Here are 5 easy services that let you send money from Nigeria to the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, India, South Africa, Ghana and more.

Western Union

Western Union is a wire transfer service that allows you to quickly transfer money all over the globe. While it’s not without risks, it is a reliable way to get money to friends and family almost anywhere in the world. Western Union may be one of the oldest ways outside of a bank to quickly send money to someone.

You can send money from the website, through the Western Union app or by going to one of their brick-and-mortar locations. And if you need to send more than $5,000, you can try their OnlineFX website. Even nicer, you can use cash or your debit or credit card to send money, which can be deposited directly into the recipient’s bank account or picked up at a Western Union location.

Bitcoin or Crypto Assets

Bitcoin is a digital currency that allows people to pay for things electronically. It’s billed as a method to help people avoid the typical downsides to transferring money, such as high transaction fees.

Using Before you can conduct a transaction and send bitcoins to someone else, you’ll need to choose and set up a Bitcoin wallet that would be used to store your coins. A Bitcoin wallet works similar to the real wallet in your pocket. It can take the form of computer software, computer hardware, or a physical piece of paper. Each Bitcoin wallet is composed of unique private keys that make it secure.

Paypal

Sending money to friends and family no longer requires the use of an expensive wire transfer service like Western Union or MoneyGram. With PayPal, you can send money to anyone with an email address or a mobile phone number. The recipient doesn’t even need a PayPal account to get started, and there are no fees for you if you pay with your PayPal account balance or bank account.

The person you send the money to will receive a text message or email letting him know you sent a payment. To claim the money, he will have to create a PayPal account. The individual can withdraw the money by linking a bank account, signing up for a PayPal debit card or requesting a paper check.

MoneyGram

MoneyGram is the second-largest provider of international money transfers in the world after Western Union. With a huge global network of more than 350,000 agent locations, MoneyGram international money transfer makes it possible to transfer funds to more than 200 countries and territories around the world.

MoneyGram money transfers are fast, reliable and convenient. Their services are available all around the world. Your relatives, friends or colleagues can receive the funds at any of their agent locations all over the world or have funds deposited in their bank or mobile accounts. Instant transfers take minutes to transact.

Domiciliary Bank Account

In most cases, to send money from Nigeria you are required to have a domiciliary bank account with the bank. A domiciliary account is a type of current account that allows you to fund it with foreign currencies such as dollars, pounds or euros and enables you to do foreign transactions on that account.

You can use a domiciliary account to transfer money to another country or receive foreign currency from another country. A major disadvantage to domiciliary accounts in Nigeria is that you are restricted to one type of currency per account which means if you can only a particular currency with the bank except you open multiple accounts.

Kakeibo, a long-standing Japanese budgeting method, attempts to help people become more cognizant of their spending habits and improve the way they manage money.

Kakeibo — pronounced “kah-keh-boh” and sometimes spelled “kakebo” — is a money management style that has been around since the early 1900s. The word translates to “household financial ledger.” Hani Motoko, who is known to be Japan’s first female journalist, helped bring kakeibo to the public eye, making it popular among housewives who manage their family’s finances.

Though this budgeting method has been around for over a century, it has seen a resurgence in popularity — particularly in the Western world — in the last couple of years as more people embrace minimalism, mindfulness and KonMari organization.

Budgeters looking to straighten out their financial lives the way Marie Kondo taught us to tidy up our living spaces need to look no further than kakeibo.

Setting up your own kakeibo journal, start each month, start off by reflecting on the following four questions:

1. How much money do you have available?
2. How much would you like to save?
3. How much are you spending?
4. How can you improve?

Jot down income you’ll have coming in during the month and subtract fixed expenses that you’re obligated to pay — like your rent or mortgage, utilities and minimum debt payments. The money you’re left with is your available funds for the month.

From that amount, decide how much you want to put aside for savings. Think about what you’re saving for and why you’ve set that goal. Are you on track to reaching your desired amount or do you need to find ways to reduce your expenses or bring in more income?

After putting aside money for savings, log your spending in your journal as it occurs. Using the kakeibo method, you’ll keep track of the type of expenses using four broad budget categories:

1. Needs: This would include groceries, clothing and medicine.
2. Wants: Factor in expenses like gym memberships, dining out and spa services.
3. Culture: Buying books and attending festivals would fall under this category.
4. Unexpected or extra expenses: This could be things like car repairs or an emergency medical visits.

In a way, you can treat your kakeibo journal like a diary. Exploring your feelings about spending money can help you get to the root cause behind poor habits.

According to the kakeibo method, you must ask yourself the following questions before purchasing any non-essential items — or the things you buy on impulse, but might not necessarily need:

• Can I live without this item?
• Based on my financial situation, can I afford it?
• Will I actually use it?
• Do I have the space for it?
• How did I come across it in the first place? (Did I see it in a magazine? Did I come across it after wandering into a gift shop out of boredom?)
• What is my emotional state in general today? (Calm? Stressed? Celebratory? Feeling bad about myself?)
• How do I feel about buying it? (Happy? Excited? Indifferent? And how long will this feeling last?)

Research has proven again and again the numerous benefits of writing by hand: It can help you make positive changes by encouraging you to be more present and aware, while also acknowledging the triggers behind your bad habits.