Nairobi News

Gone are the days where bread cost Sh 45, Unga ya Ugali at Sh 99, Salt cost Sh 27 a kilo and cooking oil had a price range of between Sh 240 and Sh 300. We now have to pay for extremely expensive vehicle fuel, more for less power tokens, more in school fees and transport while struggling on unchanged or reduced salaries.

Welcome to the high cost of living in Kenya where the average person cannot afford the daily staple food, Ugali, which was the cheapest food since independence. In Kenya, inflation is now being attributed to drought, shortage of American dollars, the war in Ukraine and post-covid economic slumps. We are also set to deal with higher inflation in less than three weeks when President Ruto’s proposed taxes will be read in June 2023.

Nairobi News lists layman tips on how Kenyans can survive what lies ahead in terms of saving money and how to navigate the inflation:

1. Decide what you need over what you want. You need food more than you need a new television whose value will lose value over time. You need rent more than you need to go on a vacation. Most of the time, wants are unnecessary and more expensive than what you need.
2. Reduce the amount of electricity you use. In this era of less tokens for more money, switch off lights not in use, use the electric kettle less often, use the hot shower less often- a cold shower works just as well in favorable weather. You can also buy energy saving bulbs. They are expensive to purchase but last way longer than the normal bulbs do.
3. Have separate bank accounts and automate your savings. This means that when you receive your salary, your bank will automatically send your set savings amount to your savings account. Set up your account that you can only access it once a month or twice every three months.
4. Do your meal preparations in bulk. It will save up on daily usage of gas/charcoal, will cut off the extra expenses when commodity prices change from day to day.
5. Cut off unnecessary subscriptions. You don’t have to pay for Netflix if you can find free streaming websites. You don’t have to pay for a gym if you can follow trainers on social media and their exercises on YouTube from the comfort of your home.
6. Learn to do things yourself. Learn how to repair broken items, how to prepare certain meals and how to take care of small issues without hiring out services.
7. Cultivate a culture of cost sharing with family and friends. You don’t always have to be the one footing the bills.
8. Think about buying second hand items- from clothes to electronics. Some electronics sold by first owners tend to be because of upgrading or need for finances, it does not necessarily mean that they are defective.
9. Buy groceries with long shelf lives in bulk. This can be UHT milk, onions, canned goods and cereals among others. This will temporarily shield you from fluctuating supermarket prices and nationwide inflation.
10. Reduce transportation costs. Think about car pooling, cycling and walking to reduce the amount of fuel your vehicle has to consume. If you are heading in a direction where you can get several errands done in one day, do them instead of planning for separate days because that is expensive public transportation fare and more fuel to pay for.

Do you have any more tips to share with us? Do let us know.

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