How would the game end if your financial life were a football game? What would be your most frequent passes? What are the strengths and weaknesses of your plays? There are more similarities between the rules and positions of football and the world of money than you might imagine.
Do you remember that month when you not only ended up in the black but also managed to invest a little? It was a month of rout. And when you couldn’t resist and made that unplanned impulse purchase? It was my own goal. But you can always turn the tide.
Check out the football financial dictionary, understand your passes and positions, and see tips for winning extra time when the match seems lost.
Money Dictionary for Football Lovers
In the real budget game, you make a bad pass, score a goal, get a yellow card and are the star of the match. And it’s okay not always to get the shots right. From dribble to dribble, the idea is to win the championship, even if it’s on penalties.
Off-side
In football, Off-side is when a player is attacking, but there is no opponent in front of him, only the goalkeeper. In the money game, it’s when your monthly expenses are ahead of your earnings. Off-side is one of the most dangerous positions in this financial match.
The first rule of financial planning is to spend less than you earn. Of course, it only applies to people with income or even the basics to live on. If this is not the case, the first step is to start taking a picture of your accounts to start organising yourself – and get out of the area that prevents you from scoring goals.
Draw
It’s that month when your expenses match your income, and there’s nothing left over. To turn things around and end the month with some rest, take a financial day to clean up your budget and eliminate what doesn’t make sense. This way, you don’t end up at zero and start creating a positive balance.
Own Goal
You score your own goal when you buy something without needing it, without researching, without planning and with money you don’t have. Of course, your life is not just about what you need, your needs. However, to avoid being tight every month, your consumption desires and dreams can become goals with a date to be achieved.
When you turn your desires into goals, it becomes easier to achieve them. Behavioural economics studies show that your chances of achieving your dreams increase when that desire has a name, deadline, cost and plan to happen. By doing this, you take this dream out of the field of ideas and into the concrete area.
Making small changes in context can help prevent one’s own goals from happening.
Yellow card
The yellow card happens in the money game when a debt is about to explode, you are about to pay interest for delaying the payment of a bill or when an invoice arrives with a higher value than expected, for example.
One of the advantages of organising your budget is seeing in advance whether it will be possible to close the month in the black or not. If the yellow card is already on the radar, the idea is to create other moves that prevent you from leaving the match early.
Red card
Imagine if a red card in football symbolises when your budget is unbalanced and debts have overwhelmed you, putting you squarely in the red. Quite an unexpected twist, right?
Many Kenyans can relate to this twist. According to the Wakenya survey, more than half (52%) of the Kenyan population are borrowers, and this figure has seen a steep rise from 40% in 2019. Interestingly, borrowing methods have evolved tremendously. Mobile phone borrowing rose from 33% in 2016 to 59% in 2022. Slowly but surely, traditional banks are being overshadowed by digital lenders, both independent and bank-affiliated, reshaping the credit landscape.
This trend of economic worry is manifested in family members actively working and earning incomes (up 10% from 2018) and on reliance on debt, leading to borrowing as a way of life,” says the report.
Like in football, when a player receives a red card, you must temporarily exit the game when drowning in debt. It’s time to reassess your financial strategy. What can you do differently? Take a fresh look at your budget in light of your actual earnings versus expenses. Evaluate where you can trim costs and find ways to increase your income. Those adjustments can help you regain your financial footing, enabling you to return to the game.
Foul
You even aimed for the goal and tried to keep your expenses within what you earn, but something happened along the way: the refrigerator broke, the car tire went flat, and someone needed your financial help.
Committing a mistake in the financial game is common (and even expected). What game has zero fouls committed? Do you remember any? These faults are emergencies that will appear at some point. Without preparation, they can drain your budget. That’s what the emergency reserve is for – money to be used in these situations.
Suppose you made a mistake without that money saved. In that case, the way to go is to return to your budget and create a short-term strategy within your financial reality: what can you cut in the month? Do you have extra money to come in to pay for this emergency? Is it possible to pay the cost of this emergency in instalments within your budget?
If repeated too many times, a foul warning could take you out of the game.
Side-Line
You made financial planning, imagining getting from point A to point B. So far, so good. But it’s important to remember that this path to the goal is not a straight line leaving the middle of the field. Many times, you will have to take the ball from the wing.
In practice: If you want to invest Ksh1000 in a month, but you can only invest Ksh100, don’t worry. In the world of money, consistency goes a long way!
It is better to save Ksh100 every month for a year than to make a single contribution of Ksh1000 in the same period.
Substitutions
In football, the coach removes and replaces players depending on their performance in that game. When it comes to money, you are the coach, and replacements are also made according to your monthly budget performance.
For example, if your card bill is already too high, it’s time to reduce purchases. If the value for the leisure category has already exceeded, thinking about cheaper ways to have fun is a way out. To make these substitutions, it is necessary to have a financial plan drawn up and follow what is happening in this game.
In other words, there’s no point in just having a spreadsheet or an app with all your expenses. These tools really help when used daily when making a decision. For example, you save money to buy your car, and a travel promotion comes up. By monitoring the progress of your goal, it becomes easier to decide whether it’s worth purchasing the trip now or whether it’s worth staying focused on the plan.
Game Crack
What a great phase! Winning by a landslide and being the game’s ace is when you can invest month after month consistently. You already have your emergency reserve set up and are almost close to achieving a goal.
The next step is diversifying your investment portfolio to avoid cooling down this game. Several types of investments can make your money pay off in the long term. Before choosing one, you need to know your investor profile.
Wrapping up, football and financial management may seem like they’re on opposite sides of the field, but by using recognisable football terms as analogies, you can better understand and navigate the complexities of the financial world. Remembering concepts like an ‘off-side’ in budgeting, a ‘draw’ in financial compromise, or a ‘red card’ in high-risk financial behaviours can assist your efforts at maintaining sound financial health. It’s all about keeping an eye on the ball and making strategic moves to ensure you come out a winner, both on the field and off.
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