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A woman can be a housewife, or a working professional either married or single. She may be playing all the roles perfectly, but one. When it comes to money, women share a very complex relationship with it.
Strangely, a woman does like money and enjoys spending it the way anyone else does but when it comes to managing the money; she wants the man in her life to take charge of it. Though we certainly have quite a few exceptions wherein women are well versed with the art of money management but for majority, it's still a road less taken. Especially in India, women wary when it comes to money management. This is the reason, women are more prone to money related risks as compared to the men.
Whether you stay at home or work, it is very important for you as a woman to know the necessary things about money management. So here check out the various aspects of money management you must know:
1. Saving to adapt to the changes: Changes are inevitable. But when we talk about it in respect to man and woman, then the latter is supposed to undergo more changes. Say for an instance, a working woman might have to take break due to child birth. If you get married in a new city or state, the relocation makes you jobless for a particular time period. In some cases, death of a spouse or a divorce can also lead to financial crisis. No matter what, you will have to adapt to these changes. And it can be done without any difficulty, as far as the finances are concerned, if you have a savings pool. This will help you overcome the temporary loss in the income.
2. Keeping a safety net: Your husband or father might be having various life and health insurance policies. But there is absolutely no harm if you too have one. A small emergency fund can help you anytime. If you are working, then make it a point to save a certain amount for the adversities of life. The homemakers too can keep a safety net by saving aside a small portion from the net amount of money she is given by her spouse to run the monthly household expense.
3. Staying updated with financial matters: Money management should never be limited to taking care of your daily needs. You must even make it a point to save enough for your future plans and goals. The financial matters may sound a bit of complexity to you, but you will have to learn the art so that you stay updated about the changes happening in the money world. Don't subject yourself to conning when it comes to money. Irrespective of the fact whether you work or are a homemaker, you should discuss financial matters with family so that you aren't lagging behind.
4. Budgeting skills: When you have a budget beforehand, you are likely to spend money wisely. This gives you a clear idea about the flow of money. You can always make monthly budgets as this will help you in dealing with the money matters for that particular month. If you are working, a budget will help you in understanding how much amount a month do you spend and what is the scope of saving more. For the homemakers, this will be a great help to manage things in the amount they get every month along with saving a certain sum. Budgeting will help you track your spending and it will even lessen your chance of falling short of money or being under debt.
5. Planning for future: Future is unseen but we all prepare for it. All of us have long term goals like kids' education, marriage, a family holiday or for that matter a retirement plan. In general, when we talk of a conventional Indian family, male members take control of all future plannings. Women seldom have an opinion because they lack the required knowledge about the subject. However, things can change for good if you aim at understanding money management. As a homemaker or working woman, you will surely have your say in the matter that can bring considerable changes.
6. Understanding the investments: Investments are the best ways to save money. There are a number of options available in the market that let you make the right investment. You can invest in gold, property, buy a health cover, an accident policy or anything that lets you save a great deal of money to be used at some point of time in future. For the married women, their husbands would surely take the charge of investments; but that doesn't mean you shouldn't stay aware of it. Understand the investments so that you can use them in case of any emergency in future. The single ones or the divorced women should make it a point to know everything about investments. You can take help from a financial adviser or anyone in known who's an expert in the subject.
7. Monitoring your spending: When we talk about saving while you spend, it's certainly not about cutting down your needs. You must rather cut back on what you want. Always monitor the money you spend so that you never end up spending more of the money than you had actually desired to. It's one great way of managing money in the best manner.
In the present scenario, where women tend to be more career oriented, staying in sync with money management is very important. You can read finance blogs or look for information regarding money management for women. Ask if you aren't aware of it, ignorance can only lead to problems difficult to mend. Stay smart, save money!