Budget - An Essential Money Management Tool

I might be wrong but I believe, most of the people first hear the word, "Budget" when a country's budget gets announced. In our 3rd world countries, it's always a budget of deficit, which means our govt spends much more than their earnings. So, if go by that standard, overspending is not wrong... but very few people get to understand, what happens next...

Next is the challenge to fund the deficit and ways to do the same is either raise the taxes, which might bring down the popularity of the Govt or borrow more, which means increase of deficit in future... Although the 2nd option is more risky, still many Govt go for same as politicians run the country with a very short term focus...

Let's shift the focus to individuals, most of the individuals think of the Budget as the balance sheet of their earnings and their household expenses. If they are able to limit their expenses within their earnings, they believe that they are living well within their budget. 

In reality, this is not the good way to think and plan your budget. Our life is full of aspirations and as we grow and move around in our society, we tend to get inspired by multiple of things and want to acquire them at some stage of our lives. We all want to give the best to our families. We have to find ways to accommodate these aspirations in our budget, step by step. Smaller steps are much easier than big jumps. Get accustomed to small steps and then you can plan and execute the bigger jumps with much more ease.

During early years, everyone aspire to buy something like Jaguar but in reality, at the start of the career, life starts with shared accommodation, cutting corners on every cup of coffee, asking friends for sharing rides or traveling by public transport and multiple of such restrictions, good enough to shatter dreams for many... This is the real time, to start understanding, what is the budget and how the same can be used to build a purposeful life.

The Budget is always made in advance at the start of the year. Typically, many write it down at the end, like a balance sheet... no fun. First component is to understand, the minimum expenses an individual needs to survive for a month. This should be Covid minimum (now we have a new phrase). Then make a target of saving 6 times of your Covid minimum as the first priority. Based on an individual's income, set a period in which this Emergency Fund can be saved in a Bank. Someone may save it in 3 months, some may take 3 years. It all depends on your income and expenses. Just keep one important thing in mind, an individual cannot control the income but can easily control the expenses and so the savings...

So, put the saving amount away on day 1 and then start planning, how to spend the rest of the money. Many do the things in other way, spend first and then no money left for savings.

Nothing in this life is constant, everything is changing at a fast pace. Even your income will increase and the expenses. Similarly, the budget needs to be revised regularly. No need to do it once a year. You can do it multiple times a year or once in 2-3 years. Each aspiration can be treated as a Project and the timeline can depend on the ticket item. Not necessary to first go for items, which are smaller and easier to buy. Plan as per your needs and think, how it can improve and upgrade your lifestyle. Try to avoid loans as much as you can... Mortgages should be kept at bare minimum. Always, think, will you be able to pay the mortgage, if you are out of job for 6 months or a year... This way life runs at a pace, somewhat balanced between practical need and aspirations. You are free to pace it anyway you like... till you are in control.

Once you execute the plan to save the Emergency Fund, replicate this plan to save for your aspirational needs, your bigger spends. May be for your first Bike, first Car, first House, anything, step by step. Re-align your budget, as you move up the ladder. Every successful completion will give you more confidence, to think big, plan big and execute more effectively. This can also be called a forced saving plan, where the focus is more on Savings... Also, in every budget, your Covid minimum needs to change, to re-align as per today's reality, don't forget that basic security. In fact, if income allows, increase the Covid minimum to 1 year of expenses.

So, Budget is a balance sheet but it is essentially a set of multiple targets and anyone who perfects the virtue of setting targets and then executing them successfully can be a successful leader in any organization. Try, Learn and Enjoy your Life!!!

Indian Curry

Thanks to the interest in the last post regarding the benefits of indulging in activities to reduce stress. Although, it was about the reduction of stress, people do picked up my skills about Cooking and a few of my International friends asked me about the "Indian Curry". Many of them have tasted "Butter Chicken" and think of that as the Indian Curry...

That's not the reality... India is not what people see in Bollywood movies and all of us do not dance on the streets... Butter Chicken although is part of our culture but is not the sole representation of the Indian curry. This weekend, I did tried making a dish with curry but somehow ended again with a very thick curry. At least, the consistency is still there in the end result.

In India, almost every dish can be made with or without curry. There are 28 States and 8 Union Territories in India. Each speak a different language, even the writing script is different. Each having it's own culture and food habits. A Mughlai Chicken curry is different than a Chettinad Chicken curry. A Kolkata Chicken roll will be absolutely different than a Awadhi Chicken roll... the list is endless. 

I got the opportunity to travel across India in almost every state and got to learn a bit about cultures and food habits about every state. There is a good amount of ignorance, even within India about various Indian cultures and habits. Very few Indians know the difference between Tamil, Telegu, Kannada or Malayalam. These are the major languages of South India. I remember during my early career days, a single color profile was launched and there were lots of rejections... Difficult for manufacturers to understand that every state has a different skin tone and a single color profile cannot satisfy every taste. We Indians need a whole gamut of colors, with different variations to fit in... 

Ignorance is the key to early failures, so good to do a lot of research on local cultures, languages, food habits, festivals before venturing out and starting discussions with the local people, mainly in countries like India. Kashmir loves it's Lamb Rogan josh, Amritsar goes for Fish Tikka, Delhi Chaat, Jaipur Dal Bhatti Churma, Mumbai Vada Pav, Goa Fish curry... again the list is endless and even the same dish taste absolutely different in each state. In fact, we eat different mangoes in each state. There are 1000+ varieties of mangoes available in India. 

We are a colorful lot with many differences and the need of the hour is to mix like RGB color scheme to create a perfect White, the color of Peace, the color of Devotion, the color of calmness... Our political parties, use this division to gain strength but ignore the need for peace and harmony. We as individuals should prioritize the need for Harmony, the base for effective and long lasting growth and should ignore the political ideologies. As a traveler, apart from Indian states, I did visited 22 countries and saw almost similar needs and desires, among the citizens but somehow the politicians do need the divide to stay, for their own benefits... 

Try to learn each color of Life, it's limitations and how it behaves on mixing with other colors... Give equal partnership to each color and see the evolvement of the peaceful and harmonious whiteness in our societies... this should be our ultimate goal. Enjoy ur Life!!! 

Stress Management Activity

It's Monday again... after a long weekend. In the corporate world, our life moves around conference calls and managing multiple time zones. Many a times, we loss track of even our public holidays. We are constantly glued to either our laptops or our smartphones. We are so habitual of these connected devices that it's not wrong to say that we are somehow becoming slaves of these connected devices and the technology. We can't live without them... We somehow believe that it's our duty to respond to every ping directed towards us in the shortest possible time, be it our mailbox or just a WhatsApp forward... every notification seems to be important to us. 

We don't understand, in reality all these connected devices add to our stress levels, which is not good for our health. It's not only our health, it sometimes affect the health of our relationships.

I personally believe, every individual should learn to use them judiciously and also give proper time to other activities which can divert an individual's mind away from the official routine. One such activity, which I indulge in, is Cooking... Not very often, as my wife is a great cook but sometimes mainly during Dinner, if I can pull myself out from my official routine. I did the same not once but two times this weekend and the result seems to be not bad... it passed the presentation test and tasted well and above all, it's consistent... which means the first one was not a fluke...

Cooking an Indian dish, means absolute attention towards the quantity of each ingredient you require and even the size of the cut for each ingredient. A dry gravy means, the quantity of onions and tomatoes has to be two times the normal and the cut size has to be thin and long. Then, you have to decide, whether to go for frying the main vegetable first or with onions... on top of everything, there is a constant roving eye from the Main Chef of the house about all the wrong things you are performing in the kitchen and regular taunt that you are destroying the taste of the dish... Not an easy task but in the end, it is guaranteed that you have absolutely no time to think of any of the official matter or your notifications... Cooking an Indian dish is an art, you need to know the Color concepts, should have good sense of smell... the cumin seeds should not become black, the onions while frying have to be absolutely Golden Brown... the turmeric powder should go first and needs to be fried in slow heat till it produces a faint smell, addition of every spice should be in specific order and specific quantity. Finally, the entry of tomatoes has to be at the magical moment as it can either result in Best flavor and density of the gravy or the worst burnt out taste... oh God, how can someone think of anything else other than focusing on the Dish. 

At the end, many, who were ready to take a bet and place an order for home delivery are the first ones to open the lid to see and judge your performance... Every other person in the family do visit the kitchen to pass the judgement. First impression comes from the looks, it's the color of your preparation and the looks in their eyes, everything matters... and finally the taste settles the judgement about your ability and skillsets to successfully venture towards the kitchen... journey to an Indian Kitchen.

It's a great way to leave behind all your worries and bring down your level of stress. Believe me, it helps... just one more thing, clean the kitchen mess you have created as the Lady of the house never like the mess created by men in the kitchen... Do try such activities and Enjoy the Life!!!

   

Health is Essential

During the Covid, Health came out as one of the top Essential items to be taken care, in everyone's life. It's essential to survive, it's essential to enjoy the nature, it's essential to even enjoy the other assets an individual creates during his or her working lifetime.

Covid resulted in lockdowns and created challenges of different sorts. Walking seemed to me the easiest way to take care of my health. Science tells us that all the nerves end up at the base of the feet and when you walk, naturally all the nerves gets stimulated with pressure. It helps to regulate the blood flow in your body and walking for 45 minutes is the Best exercise to control the metabolism of your body. Sometime in Mar 2020, I downloaded a new App and set a goal to walk at least 10,000 steps per day to keep myself healthy. Walking 10,000 steps was ok but walking within the 4 walls of the home was the difficult choice. Also, I hate Treadmill... and decided not to walk on same.

Today, at the start of the new financial year, my app reads 2972 Km completed in last 1 year, which means more than 8 Km per day, almost 12,000 steps per day. This is the achievement of a Covid financial year. I earned it... 99% within the home.

Walking within the home was a bit difficult at the start but not impossible. Once, I found my rhythm, it was very easy and with every passing day, I did improved on my timings. It's just 100 step a min, 10,000 steps means 100 minutes. So, an individual should give just 2 hours to himself or herself, to stay healthy. Also, it's a Welcome break from day long conference calls and sitting in front of Laptop Screens. Currently doing 10k within 90 minutes.

As an individual, good to focus on Essentials, understand the limitations, set SMART goals and create a plan to achieve the same. These are all basic Leadership skillsets and such things help you in your life to face difficult situations. It needs patience, it needs will power and even it needs your determination to succeed. The problems keeps on changing but the Basics remains the same and the end result is more likely to be a successful achievement. 

Try to think of such Essentials in your life and inculcate those habits. Don't wait for New Year to make a resolution. Every day is a new day, to start afresh, to look at things in a different perspective... just focus, set goals and start moving towards the same. The journey is more interesting and leaves you with more memorable moments, it enhance your learnings and build your character. The end result is just an achievement... It just leads to another journey... Try and Enjoy your Life!!!

Happy Holi

Today is the festival of Holi, celebrated across India. During the day, people play with colors and exchange greetings, dance and party with friends and family members. Every Indian festival has some kind of mythological stories associated with them and those rituals are followed religiously.

Apart from the religion and the mythological stories, normally most of the Indian festivals and rituals can also have some kind of Scientific reasons associated with them, although we Indians don’t know most of these Scientific reasons… Holi certainly means the onset of Summer season and it’s the Best way to Network with ur family as well as your neighbours.

In fact, most of the Indian festivals are associated with seasons. In earlier days, Indians were dependent on Agriculture and with no calendar, our ancestors might have thought that creating festivals should be the best way to remember the seasons to time their sowing of particular/seasonal foods.

We have certainly lost many of our Scientific Knowledge because the knowledge is not very well transferred from one generation to another. Also, in earlier days, the society got divided in a manner, where people were grouped in four specific groups so that they get perfect in carrying out their duties. So, as a part of that system, very few people got reading and writing knowledge. Then, this knowledge remained in old scripts but never got translated into modern scripts and languages, when almost everyone started going to School and started reading n writing. Also, because of Respect for elders, we never questioned our parents about the reasons of following a ritual so we again lost the knowledge/scientific reasons associated with most of the Indian rituals.

Now, in Modern World, people are again getting attracted by the benefits of Indian rituals and most of the old scriptures are getting translated to modern languages/scripts and getting followed across the Globe, like Yoga, Ayurveda and many other things. Above all, our current Prime Minister, Narendra Modi is a great advocate of many such useful Indian Rituals across the Globe. He is one of the Best Ambassadors of India Growth Story.

So, it’s the best time to be in India and part of the growth story. I wish everyone a Very Happy Holi!!!  

Pack Ur Bags

Today is the last Day of my Business Travel and I just packed my Bags, ready to finish my day and start my return journey tomorrow morning. While packing my Bags, I realized that it is a routine with me to pack my Bags a night before going to sleep, for my journey next day. Even I used to pack my School Bag before going to sleep, for my next Day at School... 

Although, this is a very small routine and the same can be done easily just before setting out of home or hotel, for the journey. I understand, many people do the same, just before starting the journey but I prefer to do the same, a night before the start of the journey. I think, there are many advantages of following this small routine. The Biggest advantage is avoiding the stress at the last minute besides the chances of missing out a few crucial things to pack, for the travel.

In life, normally people try to focus on the Big things and keep many such small errands on hold, to be done at the last moment. I believe, such small things add up to ur pending list and adds a quiet bit of stress in ur Life. It’s always better to just finish of all the small things first or even in between the breaks to cut down on ur pending list. Also, if u try to take care of these small things, when u r at ease, there is very little chance that u miss out on anything crucial, which might be useful and it might make u repent at a later stage, which might become one more possible point of Stress.

It works, try to follow the same. Less Stress always means better Life, Enjoy the Life!!!

Love Life as a Journey

Landed today at the city of Melbourne, a beautiful city where Old Historical buildings stand tall and compete well with towering Modern Structures. One of the very few places, where Trams are still operational and a successful mode of Transport.

During my flight, I was seated along a Young European Couple, who seems to be planning to settle down in Australia, may be due to impact of Brexit as they were living in Scotland. The guy was a budding Chef and the lady used to work as a Teacher.

After the initial Introduction, a statement from the guy stuck me so much that I was forced to think about the mindset of the individual and share my thoughts to negate his statement.

He Said, “Why we have to work for money, why can’t everything be Free?”

I told him, if people start getting paid without work, then practically nothing will be available to be purchased. No one will even make Bread, no workers for Construction, no Manufacturing, even no aircraft to fly… it’s like going back to Stone age and just surviving on Natural Resources. May be even no one will be available to work at Mint to Print Money… Even in the days of the barter system, every individual need some kind of skill set to create a thing to be converted with other things he or she needs. Even the barter system was an alternate to non-availability of Money and nothing to do with Work.

So, in a nutshell, better not to just look at the End Product, which u want to Enjoy. The end Product is the Destination, where u want to reach. The efforts you put to reach any Destination is the Journey.  Enjoy the Journey to reach that Milestone. Practically, people spend most of their time in the state of Journey, i.e., making efforts to reach a few milestones and the time spent at the Destination is very little Vs the time spent in the Journey. So, rather than thinking about the milestones, start enjoying the Journey to achieve those milestones. Once you reach a milestone, that moment in itself will always be enjoyable, so don't worry about the Destination.

It will make an individual’s life much more easy and enjoyable. This will surely change the mindset and make an individual’s life stress free. Try n Enjoy the Life!!!