In this era of economic hardship and downturn, Senior Manager and Financial Advisory at Deloitte Ghana, Dennis Brown, is urging individuals to monitor their spending plan and expenses this year to ensure that changes in prices of goods and services do not lead one into overspending.

According to him, the current economic condition of the country is having dire consequences on the finances of individuals, hence the need for people to employ these measures so that they can remain economically sound during these periods.

Speaking in an interview on Market Place on Joy News as part of Joy Business 'Business Advisory' series, Mr. Brown advised people to regularly monitor their spending plans and expenses so that they can adapt to the changes that may occur in the markets concurrently.

“The regularity with which you monitor and evaluate your plan should increase. If ordinarily, you do that once every quarter, now you should be doing that every month because we are in an uncertain environment. So every month, pick your plan and check if the expenses that you’ve budgeted would still be at that level because if prices have gone up by 20% after the first month. It means your plan has to change”, he said.

He further said that it is necessary to make one’s needs a priority rather than wants to ensure that one remains economically afloat.

“You have to find in the plan, wants that you can reduce and maybe there are wants that you can do without and stick to more pressing needs”, he added.

He further advised individuals to set financial goals and strictly follow their financial plans to avoid entering a financial ditch.