I started working in family businesses at a young age. My great-grandmother had a ladies' boutique, and I spent many weekends and school breaks there. As I got older, I was allowed to write in the sales book, take inventory, and use the cash register. During school breaks, when I worked six days per week, I probably made about $200 per week. When I was in high school, my cousin opened a salon just above the boutique and I worked there as a receptionist on Saturdays.
I have been cultivating a practice of saving since then. When I was only working in the boutique, most of the money went into my short-term savings — reserved for summer vacations when I would shop for school supplies, books for leisure reading, and gifts for family members — and I allowed myself a small amount for delights like lip gloss and nail polish.
In recent years, I have had to change my perspective and revisit the discipline of my younger years. I am a freelancer and currently have one anchor gig that does not cover all of my expenses. Even so, I am uncompromising in my plan for those four monthly checks. Two of those checks pay a portion of my rent. The other two, in my mind, do not exist. They are like meat on a menu in the hands of a vegetarian. I don't see them.
Equally important is consistency in my savings practice. The second check I receive every month is not mine to have today. It is for much later. I take it to a credit union where the only accounts I have are savings accounts. The one I consistently deposit to is an "asue" account — something we have here in the Bahamas — that offers a higher interest rate, similar to ain the US. Asue accounts run for three, six, or nine months.
My savings practice is not easy. Short-term saving has always been much easier for me because I have been doing it from a very young age. Long-term was more difficult until it became a habit. Paying my student loan and depositing to my savings account is now a norm. I no longer think of that money as my own. I focus on making more money to cover my expenses and doing everything I can to reduce my cost of living.
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