The lessons of saving in a book

What do you want your money to do for you today and in the future? This is a question by Tokiso Nthebe, a 33-year-old personal finance coach, travel enthusiast, and author of the new talk of the town, Let’s Change the Script: Chelete ha se Parcel.

Let’s Change the Script: Chelete ha se Parcel is a collection of stories, experiences, lessons, and articles that Tokiso Nthebe wrote in his journey of dealing with finances and is inspired by his money mistakes and that of others.

Because of the fast moving and irresponsible lives of many young people in and out of Lesotho, Nthebe shows off his creativity as an author and storyteller and tells a story of a young boy Tsietsi.

Tsietsi comes from a business-oriented family and was exposed to money at a very young age. One would expect him to have moulded a solid relationship with money because of his upbringing but things turn out the other way when his dream of finally joining the working class comes true, finally gaining financial independence and no longer having to work in his parent’s businesses.

Also, having enrolled in a BCom degree at university, one would expect him to apply the financial techniques he learned in school and the financial seminars he attended later while working on his personal finance issues.

For someone that knew you had to earn every cent and saw his parents struggle to keep him and his siblings in school although they had countless mainstream incomes, Tsietsi is an irresponsible spender.

He lives by the saying “why keep money if it is available”, “’na ke monyane” and other sayings famous among the young professionals who live under the pressure of impressing the world, keeping up with the trends by maintaining lifestyles they cannot afford and thriving in the competitive world by accumulating debt after debt.

This story of a boy who ends up in a hovel of debt is a moral lesson to many. It teaches the importance of saving not just for a specific reason but putting money securely for future use. Many people believe that saving is unnecessary.

But when Covid-19 struck it revealed just how much unprepared most people are for unforeseen financial emergencies. It also teaches that debt is psychological; you do it once, you will find comfort in doing it unless you change your financial habits and learn how to use every cent.

If something drains your money and stresses your finances, do not resort to loans and credits but rather trade it and use that money to finance something else.

Chelete ha se Parcel strongly stresses the importance of saving, thinking, and catering for tomorrow because of its unpredictability.

But how do you save for a future that is not promised? I kept asking myself this at the end of every chapter of the 12 chapters of the book. How sure are we that we will live until 50 or even 60, with Lesotho having a death rate of 13.410, ranking it the second country after Ukraine with the highest death rate in the world? The statistics are according to a study by the UN World Population Prospects. And the rates are likely to increase among the youth with the current lifestyle of many and the high unemployment rate that is the number one cause of depression among the youth that often results in premature death.

Exploitation in the workplace with low salary payments that fail to meet the average human needs of young professionals is another contributing factor to the high death rate because many feel like failures when they cannot achieve certain things.

Now imagine trying to save while also trying to survive in this depressing economy with fluctuating prices and a salary payment that’s on standstill.

But the author discusses the importance of extending one’s sources of income to avoid such instances to afford to save for rainy days while also living the best life without resorting to debt. Use your hobbies and talents to make extra income. Be creative enough to generate more money that will sustain you.

The lack of financial education from a young age is the result of most of our failure to comply at an older age when we join the cooperate world. What those that have a hand in our upbringing fail to see is that how they relate to money in our presence lays foundation of what would later become our future relations with money.

As a financial expert, Nthebe offers tips on how to be savvy by specifying different ways on drawing spending plans, dealing with debts, investing, taking out insurance policies, etc. He teaches the reader about the different types of debts, how they work, and how one can use debts to their benefit. He extends the topic a bit and discusses the importance of financial and property security.

If we are to change the script and rewrite our financial history to produce a healthy financial status, we first have to start by changing our money conversations.

We have to stop hiding money under expressions like parcel and “snogo” which is the young professional majority’s favourite expression of money in the fast-moving streets of Maseru. You also have to change what you feed your mind. You can start reading personal development books and change how you think because thoughts become things. Your thoughts about money shape your money mind-set.

The book accommodates almost everyone as the author was very considerate by avoiding using financial jargon that would otherwise be hard to grasp for an ordinary reader looking for ways to fix their financial status. But I find it to be too plain. But I do understand he went plain and simple to accommodate not a certain audience but everyone. It forms part of the Personal Development (Financial) genre which Nthebe encourages the reader to start reading and enjoying to learn more about money and how to use it wisely.

I recommend the book for every person, from a young age because “thupa e otlolloa e sale metsi” and for the old who were never as privileged to have a Tokiso Nthebe in their years to offer financial guidance and help them lead a financially healthy life.

The book is in a sense not complete because how does Tsietsi’s story end? He is supposed to be the anchor and his financial story inspires the author to offer financial advice. There are also so many bloopers in vast areas of the book that would confuse a grammarian, but then we read on to grasp the message.

But as with debts and repossession of property that brings shame and affects one’s dignity, ineffective writing is a big shame too.

After equipping yourself with the financial tips of this great book after The Great Gatsby to lead a comfortable life and die a peaceful man, I recommend The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Grammar and Style because “words are as vital to life as food, drink and (money) but on the whole we do not show as much interest in language as we do other pastimes.”

Bokang Masasa