Dealing with worrying money matters

By Abel Kabiru

What keeps you awake at night? What repeatedly stresses you all the time? Can you draw a list of the things which on any given month cause you to worry, panic or to be afraid; things that when you think about them, the heart skips and your stomach flips?

The good thing about life is that there is always something you can do about most of the things. You do not have to just stay there and allow circumstances to ride roughshod over you. You can take the reigns and steer your life onto a different destiny. Let’s look at most people’s common sources of recurrent financial stress.

Rent. Out of a composite group of five people in Nairobi, three are tenants, one is on mortgage and one is a homeowner. So many people live in perpetual fear of their landlords. They begin to get stressed of next month’s rent barely a week or two after paying the current month.

Managing headaches

There are five things you can do to manage this landlord headache. You can increase your income either by getting a better paying job or starting a side business. An extra source of income relieves you of stress.

Secondly, and most practically, you can move to a smaller or cheaper house. Third, you can get a mortgage. Whereas the repayments will stretch your finances, you will be working towards something worthwhile — owning a house, which is most people’s ultimate dream.

Fourth, you can begin constructing your own house. Buy a plot somewhere and begin the project, little by little. Look for affordable land out of town. With Nairobi Metropolitan area set to circle Machakos, Narok, Limuru, and Thika, and all the by-passes as well as major highways being reconstructed, you could live in these places and count yourself a Nairobian!

Fifth, and perhaps most important, you need to re-examine your expenditure habits. It may not be that you earn little but you are just financially undisciplined. Examine how you allocate money and in what priority. Are you living beyond your means in apartments that are too costly for you? Do you care too much for ‘class and perception’? Whatever money you earn, you can get a very decent house at 25 per cent of your income. Another stressor is school fees in which case you can take your children to a less costly school or sign up for educator insurance policies and benefit from future compounding. If your health or that of your spouse or children is problematic, get a medical cover. Some people are always getting sick. If you are in such category, you are better off signing up with NHIF.

Shop wisely

Is you shopping always running out by midmonth? Shun the supermarkets and shop wisely in wholesale stores, bargain in markets, allocate more money due to inflation and have some controls in the kitchen.

Some people ‘eat well’ in the first half of the month and then survive the remaining days.

Are you in debts? Talk to your debtors and explain to them your financial predicament. Negotiate for more time.

Alternatively, structure the debts and pay them in instalments. Is your business doing badly? If it’s just draining your resources without returns, evaluate its present viability.

Finally, have a systematic medium to long-term strategy for dealing decisively with your recurrent sources of financial stress.

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