Laughs, smiles and money

Today I sat down and worked out my financial plan as part of my coaching exercises I need to complete before my next meeting with za guru. It's interesting only in that I don't really value being a millionairre or anything of the sort as much as what they money would enable me to do. Anybody that says that it isn't important is surely smoking something - money gives you freedom. Well, at least on 1 plane it does.

I am fortunate that I actually don't have many financial constraints - my house has been paid for and my expenses are actually quite minimal in Uganda - food is cheap and travel is too. It's only if and when I want to start travelling that things become rather tricky - take my trip to Rwanda some time back to see the gorillas (Go go go if you haven't already - it was amazing!)

So I'm splitting my plan in two levels - one that is focused more on a steady stream of annuity income to support my day to day expenses, and another bucket for rainy day type expenses or lump sum needs - like for travel, a new gadget etc. While some of the freelance stuff I've been doing does keep things ticking along, I definitely need something a lot more stable and regular. Well either that or I need to win the lottery soon - very soon!

I came across some interesting options reading my favourite Wonkie cartoon blog that got me thinking. I'm not sure what the gambling market is in east Africa but it seems to be booming in South Africa - considering a political cartoon blog now has a page pretty much exclusively dedicated to Online casinos in South Africa, I guess it must be a lucrative market! I think I may well use one of the affiliate programs advertised on Make money from websites and blogging - just to see what kind of return I can obtain. Somehow I'm not overly optimistic though - I'll still continue to buy my weekly lottery ticket, just in case LOL

In any case, I do hope the recessionary environment lightens soon - it's making it harder to get freelance writing work and if it continues for much longer I really will need to try something outside Uganda.