People are in constant pursuit of financial lessons and they are all around us. From the technical know how and knowledge you get from school to those little lessons your parents tried to impart to you when you were still small. There are also those that you pick up along the way as you try things out on your own and then there are lessons you get to learn from Adele.
She is one of the most popular singers and celebrity in the world at the moment. CNN.com even came out with a piece detailing how the world knew about the singer and how her character and music can captivated listeners from all over. She is always on the news for all the right reasons and recently dropped a stunning performance at the Grammy Awards.
But how can a popular singer help everyday consumers with their financial struggles? It is not like she will just give out her fortune to start helping bail people out of their debts. If you look at it closely, there are reasons why debt is pulling you down and most of the reasons why you are in debt comes from your day to day money decisions.
Adele’s popularity is so big that her life has started to go under the microscope with fans and ordinary people beginning to take notice. This is where you can pick up valuable financial lessons which you can use to improve your money making decisions. There are a lot of things you can pick up from the talented singer and actually use in your own daily financial life.
Learning finances from Adele
Here are some of how Adele conducts herself and her business venture into music which you can use to help improve your financial decision making.
Know what you are worth
Do not be too quick to sell yourself short and lose potential earnings in the future. If you are negotiating for your salary at work, have an idea what you should be getting given your skill set and the prevailing industry standards. It could backfire on you if you agree to a low salary and essentially be working for less than what you should be getting. When Adele started, she knew her worth and decided to forego streaming services for her music because she knew people would buy her album. She was correct and because she knew her worth and believed in herself, she had a few million sales from her work.
Look at the long term
Adele’s company knows what she is worth and could be worth in the long run that they are not too keen on selling out rights to her creative outputs. Music and lyrics along have pulled in millions of dollars in a year from revenue. When you put up a business and just starting out, you might be tempted to make quick cash by selling out parts of your business to make ends meet. You need to weigh these options very carefully because your long term growth could be in peril.
Use technology to your advantage
Technology can help your personal finances just like making it easier for you to monitor your expenses or budget and being able to manage business transactions and deals on the go. But at the same time, technology evolves ar such a rapid pace that you need to weigh carefully if your love for technology will be your downfall. In the world popular music video “Hello,” Adele is seen using an old flip phone. This goes to show you that old stuff doesn’t have to be necessarily thrown out. Use technology to your advantage but balance the expenses that comes with it by taking advantage of old yet reliable gadgets.
Money doesn’t give you the license to splurge
Thesun.co.uk shares how the highly successful singer fancies thrift stores especially those near her home. Having money is also a responsibility and you owe it to your future self to be more mindful of how you spend it. You might want to look at store brands rather than branded and expensive items to save money. There is also nothing wrong with frequenting thrift shops if you find you get to save money while shopping for the items that you need.
Inflation is a killer
One of the most important numbers you need to keep track of is market inflation. You need to be able to beat that amount and realize returns on your investment above that line in order not to lose money in the future. Another type of is lifestyle inflation where Investopedia.com simply defines this as your lifestyle becoming more epensive in relation to your income. The more you earn, the more you yearn for the expensive things in life. Adele had a big fat tv for the longest time before she decided to buy a flat one simply because it was still working and there was no reason to replace it. Guard against raising your wants just because you have the money to accommodate them.
Health is a treasure
A healthy lifestyle can lead to financial success but sadly, people often disregard that and work until exhaustion and sickness kicks in. Adele had to step back in 2012 for an operation on her vocal cords and that would have been a big blow to her career. But your health is more important than money and take a look at her now, she is poised to take the Grammy’s next year for the slew of songs she put out this year. You need to find time to exercise, eat right or engage in sports. A healthy body helps you think clear and straight and you get to make better decisions along the way. Plus the upside that it helps you live longer giving you time to spend with your loved ones.
How to start managing your finances for the better
Once you get the idea on the need to save money for the future, here are a few things you might want to look into to get started.
- Put together a budget. The first thing you need to do is to compose your household budget to have a financial blueprint at least on a month to month basis. After you take your income and expenses into consideration, draw up a plan to help you manage both sides in accordance to your long term plans. Put in all expenses and figure out if your income can cover everything monthly. Then find ways to tweak the budget where the goal is to lower down the expense side to make more room on the income side.
- Look at your financial obligations. Account for all your debt accounts like your student loans, credit card debt, mortgage and even car loan. Plot them out with all pertinent details and look for ways to simplify your payments. You might want to consider debt consolidation where you can get most, if not all your debt obligations under one account. This makes payment easier because you only have to think about one set of payment, due date and even interest rate for all of them.
- Be aggressive with your plans. Once you put your plans together, get to work. Act on them because these plans are only as good as the amount of work that you put in. Those targets that you listed down will not accomplish itself. You need make sure that you follow through on your plans to be able to reach them.
There are a number of financial lessons you can learn from Adele that you can use in your own personal life and financial struggles. The important thing is you pick out the ones that would work for you and leave those that wouldn’t.