' Spending Saving Investing '

The Smart Money Woman written by Arese Ugwu is for  young African women seeking to make changes in their financial habits – spending, saving, investing.

The story which centers around Zuri, a young lady  and her group of friends living in Lagos, Nigeria covers their lifestyle in relation to relationships and money, spending habits, earnings and the financial lessons that come with it all.

Anyone seeking to understand the financial behavior or lifestyle of the majority of urban millennial African women should read this book.

Arese Ugwu

Here are 11 quotes from the intriguing book:

1. “Budget”, is a word they come to resent. The reality is a budget is something that tells you how to allocate your resources and it should reflect what you value.”

2. “So we all want to be rich, right? Let’s talk a little bit about the things that we believe are stopping us from attaining wealth. Impulsive spending? Not enough money? Too many bills? Yup, those are all issues, I agree, but they are only the symptoms of the problem. The biggest issue most of us have with money is we don’t understand how it works, so no matter how much we make, we can’t seem to get to the place called financial freedom.”

3. “When couples are coming together money matters should be a well-considered part pre marital counseling. A discussion about the expectation of each persons’s responsibility is critical. We all come from different backgrounds and carry our own money biases and habits, and we often assume a synergy with our significant.”

4. “Ultimately, improving her net worth is more important than upgrading her wardrobe. This mind set helps her reason when she’s spending. Buying a designer bag becomes a reward for reaching a long-term financial goal as opposed to being one just because there is money in her account. She derives the same amount of joy from investing in assets as she does spending on her lifestyle expenses.”

5. “Becoming an entrepreneur means you are responsible for an enterprise and beyond the idea – a successful enterprise has to have a structure, a business model and a value proportion. Instead of over-glamorizing either end of the spectrum, lets focus on encouraging people to be value-driven. Solve problems where they are and focus on finding career paths that suit their skill-set and temperament so they can thrive.”

Arese Ugwu

6. “In order to maximize your earning power and have the ability to invest, you need to pursue a career you are passionate about and create multiple streams of income. This does not necessarily mean you have to become an entrepreneur. The reality is, not everyone is cut out to be their own boss and you need to learn this early on. Being a boss is not about working for yourself and avoid the discipline of a nine-to-five.”

7. “Women have what is called ‘imposter syndrome’. We tend to rate ourselves lower than the rest of the world would rate us.”

8. ” Your investment goal should reflect your financial obligations, what you value most, and what you want the money you make to be able to do for your life in general.”

9. “A car is a depreciating asset, didn’t Omo explain that to you? Once you drive it, it begins to lose value, so it makes no sense spending all your income trying to maintain a car your current salary can’t support.”

10. “The business or job opportunities you’ll have access to will come from your ability to harness your network and learn how to convert that network into opportunities because the more people you are able to reach and influence the more likely you are to attract new business, gain access to partnership or raise funding for your business.”

11. “Having an extensive network allows you to maximize your potential. There are no level playing fields, but it can be argued that in Nigeria the field is a little more uneven. A persons ability to attract wealth is tightly linked to how well they are able to grow and leverage his or her network to take advantage of opportunities”