top of page

2025'S FINANCIALLY SMART IDEAS TO Adopt

What does a six figure and a five figure earner have in common?


They both don’t know where all their money disappears to…in fact, they are scraping by.


Clearly, no matter what job you do, how much you make or what your responsibilities are, you can never have enough money to cater for or in the very least a bit left aside to save for a rainy day.


So, how do you make that barely enough salary you earn enough to sustain you and set some of it aside?


Budget for Everything:

Usually, we tend to only budget for the basics.  Rent, water, electricity, school fees, transport money, nanny.  Rarely do we ever budget for the everyday micros that though inexpensive, by end month, they’ll have siphoned so much out of your wallet. 

200 bob at the carwash, 20 bob mutura and 70 bob smoocha, 25 bob tamus for kids, 40 bob loose change for beggars, 50 bob for parking boys, 200 bob fruits from hawkers, 300 bob mtumba top you just had to have, 500 bob mchango to a neighbours’ relative funeral…

You get the drift right?

Budget for it all, even if you have to come up with a Miscellaneous category.

Save and Wait for Deals:

We know how much you’ve waited to buy or upgrade your phone, TV, fridge, microwave, washing machine or furniture. God knows if you won a lottery, you’d upgrade everything.

But, you got to wait for the right time.

Special occasions and holidays are ever backed with incredible deals worth a steal.  So, why not wait till Valentines’, or Easter, or Madaraka Day, or Christmas? 

At times, you get to save as much as 70%!


Shop in Bulk:

1 toilet tissue costs 50 shillings.  A pack of 10 of the same brand of tissues costs 350 shillings.

This is the case with every piece of commodity in stores.

Maybe you can’t afford to buy everything in bulk yet, but, you can always start small and eventually, you’ll be able to buy more for less.

Also, it cuts down on time spent every day running to the shops.

Same applies to subscriptions like Internet packages where you save so much if you pay your subscription annually or bi-annually instead of monthly.


Take Advantage of Reward Programs:

The rewards, they never seem worthy…but, in a couple of weeks or months, nothing will feel as good as walking into a store and shopping with these points.

Reward programs are available in all supermarkets and a couple of petrol stations and book stores. 

And you know that guy who gives you a free service for every 10 rendered…it also counts.


Don’t Guarantee Anyone’s Loan:

Harsh as it may sound, this is the safest way out to ensure that no one drags you down into more debt than you need be.

People are losing jobs and their businesses failing right, left and centre, that’s why they are taking loans, loans they may be unable to repay.

If you must act as their guarantor, I advise you only guarantee not more than 10% of your savings.


Pay Off What You Own, and Don’t Add to it:

A majority of us are enslaved by different kinds of mobile loans so much that we take another as soon as we pay off the latter.

Here’s my secret that will help you sustain your freedom back.

For mobile loans, instead of paying it all at once and taking another, pay it off gradually, so you don’t feel like you need to redeem what you just paid back.  Paying 2k after every couple of days is better than paying 30k at once.

For M-Shwari, I simply defaulted and paid after a couple of months, so my number was blocked from further borrowing, which is okay.

In case you have several loans from different lenders, get one to consolidate them, ideally a Sacco.


Invest:

I’ve heard about the 52 weeks saving challenge and other challenges that enables you to save small over a long time and have quite a sum in December.

But, money is no asset.  To gain value, it has to circulate.  Keeping it in a piggy bank or under the mattress may sound smart for now but come the end of the year, the lump sum you’ll have accumulated won’t be as valuable as it was a year ago.

Thus, find avenues to invest the little you have, even if its lending to a friend.


Adopt Minimalism:

Clutter is addictive, and costly.

The more you have, the more you want.

We hold on to the baby clothes and crib and car seats and toys because they have sentimental value or because we may want to try for another baby…yet there are parents who who’d kill for these things, for free or at a fee.

I see balconies loaded with furniture because the owners think they’ll soon be moving to a bigger house -  which doesn’t happen for the next 15 years.

Women have tons of clothes and continue buying more for when they lose weight or when they come back in fashion or when they get to go on vacation or be invited at the State dinner.

Freeing yourself off this junk will not just create more space and extra income but free your mind to focus on what’s important.

While at that, if you have to buy something, buy what you Need, not what you think may be wanted.


No Easy Cash:

I don’t care what it is.

If it sounds too good to be true, trust me, it’s a scam.

Betting is a scam.  Crypo investments are scams.  Greenhouse investments are scams.  Getting a sugar daddy or mummy is a scam.  Anything that gives easy money is a scam.

Stay away from it.


Save for a Rainy Day:

As much as it’s been raining a lot lately, you always have to set something aside for when floods hit.

Literally speaking, your home could get flooded as it’s the norm whenever it rains, homes get demolished, accidents happen every day, people lose jobs, robbery is ever on the rise and you may need to replace a few things, crops fail, cheques bounce, salaries get delayed, accounts get frozen…thus the need to have a Plan B.

Everyone has a formula for this.  Mine though is simple, what you save per month should be equivalent to your monthly house rent.

*********

  • Lastly, use cash whenever possible – banks and MPesa transaction fees though minimal, in the end run, are huge.

  • Learning to make quality fast foods at home will keep you richer and KFC and Pizza Inn won’t get any poorer.

  • Do your grocery shopping at your local farmer's market.  The foods are so much cheaper, fresher and less contaminated.

  • Embrace DIY and learn to do certain home repair and maintenance tasks on your own.

 

If well adapted, these options are guaranteed to have a huge impact on your finances throughout the year.  Similar to going to the gym, results will take time, but come this time next year, you’ll be more financially free, happy and content.

 

Ooh…and don’t you ever forget to reward yourself every once in a while.

0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments

Couldn’t Load Comments
It looks like there was a technical problem. Try reconnecting or refreshing the page.
bottom of page