Financial Consciousness: Part 1

I am anxiously reflecting on my relationship with money. My dysfunctional relationship starts from my early childhood. The money tins that I was given by my well-meaning parents to save the little money that could come my way is my early memory of money anxiety that has never left me. What was intended to be voluntary savings was soon followed by beatings for using the money. This was a start of mastering the art of stealing from self. I cannot even remember how that system crumbled. An opportunity for developing an intrinsic value of saving was lost.

The 1 st real money talk came from my Grandmother Sabina, who sharply advised me never to marry a poor man. To her men were a homogeneous group that was fickle and brought you many troubles. Now the scope of one’s money relationship was extended another major life dimension, “who you marry/ the family you marry into”. Coupled with the fairy tale story wherein good girls were whisked by rich princes, the idea of a men being responsible for your financial destiny was planted. So, what happens to girls whose prince charming is still on his way? They must get on with the business of living.

Get educated, work hard, the more degrees you collect the higher is your probability of being financially successful was the 2 nd lesson. But the schooling system did not teach me about money. Over time I learnt that this was far from the truth. If you are unable to look after R5 000 you will be unable to look after R500 000. It is important that you build your capacity to handle money as early as possible.

Noluthando, you dream!!!! My mother will retort when sharing your audacious dreams with her. We inherit our parent’s beliefs. My parents started from a very low base, self-taught, obtained high levels of education but financially illiterate. Security borne out of fear was their mantra. They held senior jobs in government and survivalist activities that drained their resources instead of providing them with multiple streams of income.

I simply didn’t concur with the dominant narratives of my upbringing, the hearsay-based decisions and conversations with some friends and family members. I had to reflect on my values/beliefs and attitudes around money. Change of my belief system meant inculcating a new belief system and behavioural patterns. I started planning on a 10-year cycle, what I wanted for my career, my finances, my children, and family. But I needed to answer the following questions.

• Who am I? – spiritual being
• Where do I come from? – what I learnt about money
• Why am I here? – purpose
• What can I do? – ability
• Where am I going? – legacy