You are most likely to get offended when someone says to you: “You are such a pig!”. This is possibly because of the unattractive nature and habits generally associated with pigs.
The Nature of Pigs.
Pigs care less about their environment, and will happily wallow in mud and dirt. They are excited about eating all the time, anything and almost everything that comes their way, including food from dumps!
The irony about this creature is, it also happens to also be a symbol for money savings and wealth, and is easily recognized world-wide.
It is worthy to note that, the value placed on pigs is not determined by their behavioral nature, but by what can be harnessed from them.
The Value of Pigs.
From a pig, one is able to obtain hide and skin, for manufacturing costly and valuable leather products (shoes, bags, purses etc.), their hair can also be used for making brushes, their meat for making beacon, their fat for the production of cosmetic products, and even gelatin for food and non-food products like toothpaste, pizza etc.
As attractive as some of these highlighted values may seem, many people rarely indulge willingly in commercial pig farming, because of the herculean tasks it entails in rearing them. What most likely repels people the most is the smelly nature of pigs and difficulty in coping with such bad odor all day long.
So the job of rearing pigs can be a difficult one. The same applies to financial discipline or the mastery of savings.
It is worthy to note that, the bigger a pig is, the bigger the chances of harnessing much value from it. The same principle also applies to our personal finances and money management skills. The bigger our financial capacity, the bigger the investment opportunities before us.
The Piggy Bank.
Ever wondered why the pig has for a long time been an identity for petty savings items, made into boxes shaped mostly as an attractive pink or white pig item for saving some money?
The piggy bank has for a long time been a symbol for financial savings, especially one used in the home, by young children and young adults.
It represents strongly finance, especially the savings habit that one hopes to inculcate from a tender age to adulthood. So when the image or the thought of a pig comes to mind, please think again and think about how your finances are doing.
Two Kinds of Financial Managers.
There are two kinds of people when it comes to financial management, those who operate their finances based on their immediate wants and those that operate their finances in view of the future.
Those who operate their finances based on their immediate wants, splurging on whatever comes their way, without a care in the world about tomorrow. They love to live in the moment, enjoying all of their earnings and what it has to offer in that moment. They only like to think about the future, when they reach cross roads and never think to plan ahead.
Then, there are those who operate their finances in view of the future, reserving and compounding their financial spendings, for the value that will be obtained from it in the long run. They ensure that their finances are robust and ready for the harvest of great investments.
So you should ask yourself these often: Are you spending all of the resources that come your way? Or are you ensuring that your financial pig or piggy bank is well fed and robust to produce much in the days ahead, to secure a bright future, full of prospects and limitless opportunities?
Your Relationship with Money.
Maybe you don’t exactly have a great relationship with money or your finances and feel justified to splurge on things you think you need, since your earnings are really small.
Well, let’s let you in on a secret.
No matter how much you earn, if you are unable to master the art of “Savings and Investments” from very little earnings, even when you have so much more, you’ll find yourself operating your finances based on only your immediate wants.
Some Solutions.
There are a few ways to effectively manage and grow a robust financial pig and they include some of the following:
Have a Budget:
A budget helps you know how much needs to be allocated for your spendings, gifts, savings and investments. With a budget, you are able to stick to a precise amount and percentage for all of your allocations.
Track your Spendings:
With a daily or weekly budget and tracking system, it’s easy to know where your money goes and adjust accordingly, when you discover that you are going beyond your daily or weekly allocations.
Without keeping track of where your money goes, it becomes easy for your finances to grow wings or just disappear without tangible proof of what you’ve done with your money.
Simple tools like your mobile phone and applications like Microsoft-Excel can prove to be very useful for tracking. There are also numerous fee applications that are ready to use and can be accessed from some online stores, to aid financial tracking.
Have an Intentional Savings Plan:
A percentage of your earnings for savings is non-negotiable, irrespective of how small you may be earning. This is like paying yourself a percentage for all of your hard work.
This percentage should be increased over times, just as your earnings also increase. To achieve this, it may mean having a bank arrangement that enables automatic deductions of a percentage of your earnings or bars you from being able to withdraw beyond a specific amount for a period of time.
You could also put aside your savings manually, into a separate account with no easy access such as services that include: ATMs, Credit Cards or Online Banking access.
The bottom line is, ensure you intentionally grow a robust financial pig. So you can have something to fall back on for the rainy days or have something tangible for great investments opportunities that may come your way.
Make Careful Investments:
It’s not enough to grow a robust financial pig, you must find ways to multiply what you have. Just as the value of a pig lies not in being just fat and big, but in being able to harness other things from it.
The same principle applies to your saved up finances, you must find ways to make profitable trade. So do your research and make careful and wise investment.
Beware of quick money making schemes, and investment models that you do not understand. Many today have lost their hard earned money from such numerous Ponzi schemes. So do your research and ask the relevant questions before taking a plunge.
It is worthy to note that, some of the best investment opportunities are in things that appreciate over time and things that are required for or are non-negotiable for everyday living. Such as ‘land’ for real estate investments, ‘food’ etc.
In conclusion.
It’s really no coincidence that the home made piggy bank for putting aside petty cash in homes often comes designed as a pig. We hope it serves as a reminder about the value that can be obtained from the mastery of the difficult habit of financial discipline.
We also hope whenever you sight a piggy bank or an actual pig, it also serves as a subtle reminder to grow a robust financial pig and operate your finances in view of the future. Simply by mastering the art of “Savings and Investments”.
Thank you for reading.
Article by Opeolu Adeyemi.
Corporate Communications and Public Relations Consultant
Founder, Brave Publicity Ink!
Brave Publicity Ink! 