Money, saving and banking

When Kebede received his first salary, he felt rich for the first time in his life. On payday he would invite his friends for buna, buy new clothes at the market, and spend almost everything within a single week. By the end of the month he often had no money left, and more than once he had to borrow from his sister Hanna just to pay for transport. One evening she sat him down and explained how she managed her own money. Every month, she said, she wrote a simple budget: first the money she had to spend on rent, food and the family, and only then the money she was free to spend on herself. Whatever was left, she immediately deposited into a savings account at the bank, where it slowly earned a little interest. 'I wish someone had taught me this when I was younger,' she told him, 'because the years I wasted are gone.' Kebede decided to try her method. The first month was difficult, and he wished he could buy everything he saw, but he kept to his plan. Six months later he had saved enough to buy a small refrigerator for his shop, something he could never have afforded before. He now believes that the secret is not earning more, but spending less than you earn and saving the difference, however small it may be.