It is that time of the year when the fellow who holds the country’s purse on our behalf, otherwise called the Finance Minister, presents those mind boggling figures that are meant to make a groom’s life harder.
For a start, I’m not sure how one Robinson Githae can manage to balance Sh1.4 trillion (I get a headache merely thinking about the figure) to the penny while I’m having problems stretching my meagre coins to cover my household’s financial obligations for a month.
Unknown to me, Sweetheart was keenly following the budget speech at home, a fact that became apparent later on in the evening.
“Malcolm, I still think we also need to draw up a budget and keep track of our expenses. I know you may not think of the exercise as romantic, but it will surely bring us closer to each other. You know how akina TJ are always fighting about money...,” she urged.
Now, Sweetheart and I have done many things together, but preparing a budget? This was a minefield I was not prepared to walk on — with good reasons.
To speak the truth, I was not sure how making a budget was meant to bring us closer. Earlier attempts at the exercise only informed us of items we could not afford, but never stopped us from buying them.
Impulse buying
My previous efforts at handling the task were frustrated through impulse buying by some unnamed housemate. Since then, I tend to agree with TJ who views a budget as nothing more than a list that “makes you worry before spending the little money you have and afterwards”.
“Sweetheart, don’t you think our immediate worry is whether we will be kicked out of the house for being unable to pay rent, thanks to Githae’s threat to tax my landlord?” I asked.
Another domestic budgeting flop.
