Savings and appropriate expenses

Ishwari Prasad, Waila, Nausori

Saving money and using it appropriately is always a wise action. The subject is important not only in this time of COVID-19, but always because one does not know what the future might be.

This subject should be talked about and emphasised by parents and also in schools. Adults should target to save as much as possible. Saving or investing around 30 per cent of the earnings by different modes e.g. weekly, fortnightly, monthly or yearly is advisable.

The total of the savings can be either be in a bank account or included by having life insurance policy/policies.

Life insurance is a very worthy investment because with it the returns in the forms of bonuses is quite amazing while the major risks are also covered for the full term of the policy.

To have a life insurance policy it is advisable that one compares the premiums and bonuses/returns with different companies before getting insured.

People do talk about unemployment. The fact also is that there are also quite a number of workers who do not value the importance of dedicated work.

During a recent visit to a service station, I noticed a number of workers who were ‘trainees’. When I asked about this with the cashier, she said that it was because of ‘absentism’!

This could be the one reason apart from others. Why do we have workers from other countries? We have a number of expatriates and there must be valid reasons for that too. As far as ‘appropriate expenses’ is concerned, a lot of buying is done on ‘terms’. If there is a dire need then only people should do that or use cash.

By using cash one could save on interest and so on.

For example, if a standard bed is good enough then there is no need for a ‘queen/ king size bed. Similarly a reasonable size television is fine rather than a large screen. Some people have side-boards in their sitting rooms. I do not know what purpose it serves.

I have also noticed some drivers sleeping or resting while vehicle engines and airconditions are on. Furthermore, the same drivers wash the vehicles while the engines and the air- conditions are functioning! Surely some of us are paying for it all.

Definitely a lot of basic financial control is needed for obvious reasons.

On the whole one should not act just casually, but consciously. Having money in the ‘pocket’ is essential so that one is self-sufficient.