There are thousands of financial books that teach principles about money. This one is different, as it tells the story about four different people, and how their lives turn out because of the decisions they have made about their money. Money and how to use it wisely will be a core part of anyone’s existence, yet sadly the system we live in results in us only learning about it, when we start earning money and making mistakes with the use of it. This book addresses this gap by giving the reader the opportunity to experience first-hand the mental anguish faced when a person has financial challenges. It also shares success stories and the great decisions that were made that contributed to that success. Through the stories a person will learn the reality of what so many people face today due to the financial choices that they have made.
The stories allow those just starting out in the world of work the opportunity to improve their own financial literacy, by going through real-life scenarios in a safe environment, thus avoiding the process of having to make their own mistakes. They will learn that finances have an impact on their own emotional well-being and like the ‘Butterfly Effect’ how any decision, no matter how small, can change the life they have in the future.
Steven Jacobs has over thirty years of experience in the financial sector, having worked for some of the largest global banks, including HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank and Barclays. In his personal capacity, he has delivered lectures on improving personal financial health, many of which have been captured in ‘The Butterfly Effect of Money.’ He is the published author of ‘The New Manager: How to Become a Leader in 52 simple steps,’ which was voted as one of the top six business books in 2016 by Ian Mann (MD at Gateways Business Consultants) in South Africa.
Praise for the book:
“A most enjoyable book that teaches financial lessons through the lenses of common day challenges and people – it makes sense and is relevant to everybody – no matter what your financial circumstance!”
Jean-Jacques Oelofse, President, Emerging Markets, Wood-Mizer
“Most people are fearful of the daunting subject of personal financial management. These stories unbundle the complexity which if followed will create long-term financial and emotional freedom.”
Stuart Loxton, Chief Executive, Superyacht Training Academy
“The Butterfly Effect is a must-read book for young adults and everyone struggling with personal financial management. I literally couldn’t put it down until I completed it.”
Kantu Achira, Head, Bancassurance and Wealth Management propositions, Standard Chartered Bank, Ghana & Côte d’Ivoire
Having a loan is a fun thing while it lasts. It can pay for a holiday, a mobile phone, or for some it gives breathing space so that they can pay for daily living expenses.
Yet nothing lasts forever and once you have used all your loan; you must pay it back. This creates panic in those that never had enough money to start with. The end position is worse than the starting position. Think about it, if a person is unable to make ends meet and considers taking a loan, how is the loan going to help them? As it may give 6 months of breathing space, but afterward, it starts to choke the life out of them as they must repay it. If they thought they struggled before they took the loan, they have no idea how much they will struggle after they take it. At this point a decision the person in debt must decide, whether they look for another loan or change their lifestyle. If they respond, “Get another loan”, all that will happen is that they will delay the inevitable, as unless they change the cycle it will at some point in the future result in being declined due to affordability. If they answer ‘I want to change my lifestyle’ then here are 10 things they can do immediately to improve their situation.
1) Humble yourself: That’s right, humble yourself, it’s ok to accept that you are struggling financially and there are many just like you. Without humility, the next steps will be of no effect as your pride will stop you from acting on them.
2) Get advice from a professional: If in the UK think about calling any of these numbers: National Debtline offers phone and webchat services in England and Wales. Telephone: 0808 808 4000 Monday to Friday, 9am to 8pm Saturday, 9:30am to 1pm. Citizens Advice offers phone and webchat services. They also have advice centres in England, Wales and Scotland. Telephone (England): 0800 144 8848 Telephone (Wales): 0800 702 2020 Telephone (Scotland): 0800 028 1456 Webchat service Monday to Friday, 8am to 7pm. PayPlan offers phone and webchat services. Telephone: 0800 280 2816 Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm Saturday, 9am to 3pm. Community Money Advice offers phone, email and face to face services in England, Wales and Scotland. Find a Community Money Advice centre in your area. StepChange Debt Charity offers phone and online services. Telephone: 0800 138 1111 Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm Saturday, 8am to 4pm. MoneyPlus Advice offers phone and email services. They also have an online debt advice service. Telephone: 0161 837 4754 Monday to Thursday, 8am to 8pm Friday, 8am to 4pm. Money Wellness offers phone services. Telephone: 0161 518 8282 Monday to Friday, 9am to 8pm. Debt Advice Foundation offers phone and webchat services. Telephone: 0800 043 40 50 Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.
3) Own your position: It is important to own the position you are in, as until you do nothing will change. The reason I say this is because no one else will own your position. Once you own it you can do something about it.
4) Know what your expenses and income are: Do you know where you spend all your money each month? Most don’t. It is important to know where you spend, so start writing down everything you spend money on every month.
5) Start a budget: If you have not done step 4 then ignore step 5 as it will not make any sense to you. Once you know where you spend money and how much you spend, you can start to discipline yourself to spend less each month. Set a limit on groceries and the like.
6) Cut back on non-essential items: This is a difficult one but it is a must-do. If you have paid television you may need to cancel the subscription, if possible as every pound counts. This is especially important when you go shopping, how much of what you are purchasing do you really need?
7) Change your social events: There are so many things that cost very little money to do. Invite your friends to the local park and have a picnic rather than meeting them at a pub which will cost so much more. There are also so many free attractions for families, such as Free attractions in the UK: 20 top things to do in Britain for free (skyscanner.net), look to do these things rather than spending money.
8) Renegotiate terms: Speak to everyone you owe money to and renegotiate terms. Explain your position and see what they can do to help you. The earlier you do this the better. Remember the first principle ‘humble yourself’, this is not the time to allow your pride to get in the way. This may also include taking smaller contracts, such as a cheaper monthly mobile phone bill with less data.
9) Start saving: This may seem like a very strange thing to say, but it is very important. Start saving even if it is £1 pound a month. You need to start changing the mindset that you had before. The old mindset that said, “I need debt in order to live” and rather build the mindset “I need to save in order to live”. You will be surprised at how quickly the savings will grow.
10) Close accounts: When you start paying off debt the real temptation will be to use it again. This will just prolong the cycle of abuse. It is important to close the accounts you have paid off especially if you have an amplitude to use debt to purchase non-essential items. Much like the recovering alcoholic that has to stay away from a bar, you would need to close off the temptation completely.
There are also many, many other things that can be done, for those that have read these and want to add more please put them in the comments, I would love to hear what your views are on this.
Regards
Steven Jacobs:
In 2016 I had my very first book published by Penguin Books, my book was called The New Manager – How to Become a Leader in 52 simple steps. I was super excited to see my books on bookshelves in South Africa. Globally it was only available as an ebook.
7 years later I have my second book finished and had to make a difficult decision, do I look for a publisher or become an Indie author? The advantage of being an indie author is scale. With the rise of print-on-demand, there is no limitation as to where your book can be sold. In 2016 if someone wanted my book in the UK it would need to be shipped here from South Africa. Whereas right now if someone in Canada wanted my new book they could order it online and it would be printed in Canada for them. It’s incredible.
The only disappointment is that somehow Europe, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, India, America, and Canada all have this capability yet Africa is sadly missing. But I am convinced that there must be some future plan to capture this opportunity as well. I have made the conscious decision to go the indie route this time around and am excited to see how this book does in relation to my first one. Ingram Sparks and Amazon have created a massive opportunity for authors by thinking differently when it comes to the printing of books.
My new book is called The Butterfly Effect Of Money – Why Decisions You Make About Your Money Matter. It is focussed on a subject I am really passionate about and that is equipping young ones with the skills they need to navigate through the financial web that lies ahead of them.
Thank you for visiting my website, it is truly appreciated.
I wrote “THE NEW MANAGER HOW TO BECOME A LEADER IN 52 SIMPLE STEPS”, in order to help develop new leaders in their leadership journey.
In the book, there is one chapter for every week (52 chapters), filled with practical insight across six core pillars (See diagram). The lessons shared are real experiences that had happened over a period of twenty years of leading teams.
The book is in presently in the process of being updated…..
This is just a big thank you to the SAA team. My book “The NEW MANAGER – How to become a leader in 52 simple steps” will feature in the SAA award winning in-flight magazine in the month of JUNE. So grateful for the exposure.
This interview took place on the 6th Feb 2017 and was broadcast on 702 and Cape Talk in South Africa. I really enjoyed the questions Bruce asked me and it was seriously a privilege to be interviewed by someone that is such a well known professional in their field. Truly grateful for the opportunity.
Leadership is effective when a leader spends time with those they lead. Reflect on all the great leaders that have led you. Why were they great? How much time did they spend with you?
Now reflect on all those leaders that were your leader but never spent any time with you. Are they in the “great list”? It is highly unlikely as what did they actually do for you? If you claim “I am self-managed” then it is true, you actually need no leader. However this statement borders on arrogance.
How can a person improve their effectiveness if they only have themselves to rely on? Surely their ideas will eventually become saturated? A great leader will spend time even with those that seem to be “self-managed” and encourage and inspire them to greater heights. The leader may plant a seed that could produce a hundredfold, yet if they never spend time with you how can any seed be planted?
A visible leader is far more effective than an invisible leader and logic alone proves this to be true. Today may you change your ways and stop looking at emails, decline some internal meetings and rather spend your day with a team member. This is where change begins……
God bless
Its amazing how easy it is to fall into neglect. There is a proverb that I love that says, “a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest and so poverty will come upon you like a robber and your want like an armed man (Proverbs 23 vs 33)
It is not the BIG things that cause us to fall into difficulties, it is the “little things”. If we neglect to do something small that we should be doing that thing can snowball into something massive. Most neglect happens because we were sleeping. This does not necessarily refer to actual sleeping but also that our mind was sleeping. We were just not alert enough. In the job you have how many things are you supposed to be doing on a daily basis? If you are the leader of a team what are the things you should be looking at daily? Are you sleeping in any of them? Have you started to neglect the small things?
I am considering building some sort of chart highlighting all the “chores” that should be done daily. The reason for this is that in my work environment there are many emails, phone calls and spontaneous meetings that take place that can quite easily cause me to neglect something as I get so caught up in the moment. What is your strategy today?
Have a blessed day
Steven