There was a leak under my kitchen sink that often caused a nuisance. Not ready to have it fixed, I placed a mop bucket under it to prevent the water from wetting the floor when I was away. One day, I came back from work only to realise the water had spilled over and made a pool in my room. While I left it unchecked, the volume of the water had increased with every drop and done exactly what I was trying to avoid in the first place.
As I unleashed my fury on the mop while cleaning, I stopped for a moment to ponder over the incident; then I asked myself, what if every drop had been money? Assessing the damage the water had made in my room, if this was money, I would be millions of Ghana cedis rich right now. With this analogy at the back of my mind I decided to try this theory and see the outcome.
I bought a coin collector and everyday as I came back from work, I dropped every coin I had left in my purse into the collector. I did that for six months and when I realised the collector could not hold the coins anymore, I bought another one and started feeding it for another six months. At the end of the year, I decided to take the coins to the bank in exchange for physical notes. I knew I would definitely make some money but what I did not envisage was a thousand Ghana cedis and fifty pesewas. You can imagine my excitement as I walked out of the bank. It was not like I had won the lottery or anything, but realising how I had made so much money with very little effort made me very proud of myself.
In the ensuing weeks, all I wanted to talk about was how I had made thousand Ghana cedis collecting coins for a year. I would not let my family or colleagues hear the end of it. I went on a coin collecting spree; every day after work, I would go round asking colleagues if they had any coins to spare. As my new found love for coin collecting got more exciting, my resolve to getting colleagues and my family join in the campaign grew. However, getting the grown-ups involved in the campaign train proved challenging. This was because they claimed the coins would make their pockets weak and thus they used it immediately or gave it to children.
This did not sit quite well with me because if you calculate the cost of saving fifty pesewas a day over a year, you could earn one hundred and eighty two point five Ghana cedis and one hundred and eighty three Ghana cedis in a leap year. Practice this over a nine year period and you will be thousand six hundred and forty two point 5 Ghana cedis rich and more if you count the leap years. This money is not for your spending pleasure but on days when everything seem dry, it could really come in handy.
There is a saying that little drops of water make a mighty ocean. But many times that statement is often not taken in at its full value. Most people want to make a substantial amount of money before they consider saving. It does not take much to do it, there are so many ways you can save money that can help you in the long run. Drop a coin everyday of your life for the next year and let’s see how much you earn eventually. Go on, the clock starts now!
