Successful people have always had clear, focused goals that guide them to greatness. Noted author and self-worth teacher Eric Butterworth* says, “Poverty is a way of living and thinking, and not just a lack of money or things.” When you couple his philosophy with the Eastern mysticism of “what…

(This is the 4th article in the Money 101 Managing Your Money Series. We advise that you start from the the first article in the Series. Please click here to go to the Money 101 Managing Your Money introduction) Having figured out where you would like to be and want to go, you now need to take a look at where you are. Some schools of thought advocate that you should start with assessing your current situation before setting goals. The problem with that is, for most people, their goals setting tends to get limited to merely correcting the problems with the current situation, rather than trying to get to where they would really like to be.

By MWANGI MUIRURI (To receive The Money Academy's Daily Money Talk updates directly in your e-mail inbox, please subscribe) Martin Njoroge vividly remembers the financial scare that almost left him a beggar in 2006. He was an employee of a Nairobi based firm, his terms of service being contractual. Raring to join the ranks of small-scale investors, he approached a local bank and secured a loan of Sh120,000 which he intended to invest in a plot in Nairobi’s Ruai area.  His security for the

(This is the 3rd article in the Money 101 Managing Your Money Series. We advise that you start from the the first article in the Series. Please click here to go to the Money 101 Managing Your Money introduction) One of the hardest things about “managing your finances” is actually getting started down the path. During high school and college, and even after college for most people, finances are mysterious and maddening. There is never enough money!

(This is the 2nd article in the Money 101 Managing Your Money Series. We advise that you start from the the first article in the Series. Please click here to go to the Money 101 Managing Your Money introduction) a. What, exactly, is personal finance mangement? Personal finance management is the handling and control of your money. It is the taking into consideration your income, seeking to maximize that income and balancing its spread over lifestyle expenditure, saving, accumulation and investment.

Welcome to the Money Academy's 'Money 101: Managing YOUR Money' article series. This is a succession of articles that will take you through different topics that revolve around you, your money, how to make more, and how make what you earn help you achieve your goals . The series is divided into lessons, each covering a different aspect of personal finance planning, and these lessons are:

Most people associate a budget with a restricted lifestyle, no fun, and generally figures which most people have an aversion for. Sadly though, for your personal finances to make sense, you’ve got to have a plan of how you will spend your money once it’s earned.

(To receive The Money Academy's Daily Money Talk updates directly in your e-mail inbox, please subscribe) The presumption is that when people begin to write about their experiences, they have crested the old age hill and are basically reminiscing about the good old days when they had no time to write anything besides cheques and reports. While in certain instances that may be true, in others, such as mine, it remains a presumption. I started a company last year in September with the hopes and dreams that I would be a millionaire some time soon. However, as said, the best laid plans of mice and men go awry, and being a man trying to get out of the rat race, the fates that be decided I was good for both man and mouse. However, in planning my business and seeking investors- an endeavour I am yet to successfully conclude- I have learnt a few things that I believe anyone and everyone starting a business should know.

As its name states, an emergency fund is an amount of money that you sets aside for unforeseen circumstances that might result in you losing your means of income, or a situation that requires you to spend more money than you normally do at once.