When Kenyans say ‘sina kakitu’ – I am broke, it often means the person had a ‘kakitu’ (some money) and now there is no more kakitu. (broke)
While most people think that earning more money is the way out of consistent brokenness, you can actually live well within your means and have enough to spare if you budget wisely.
Here are quick tips to avoid the ‘sina kakitu’ status:
Write down all of your expenses
At the beginning of the month or before you start spending any money that you have made, take a pen and paper and write down everything you want to get. Then create a priority list, with the most important things coming first.
Reduce on non-essential spending
This is buying things that you can live without. E.g drinks every weekend or paying for delivery when it can be cheaper to pick up something yourself. Cutting some of these can save you a lot of money if you are keen.
Save on household bills like power, gas and water.
Buying energy-saving bulbs, doing laundry one day a week instead of washing one item per day are some of the ways you can reduce power and water bills respectively.
Make a detailed shopping list.
When you cannot track what you are buying, you cannot track how much you are using. Make a shopping list that is standard and can give you an average of how much you are spending. You will see that there are some items that could be cheaper when bought in bulk than retail, thus saving you more money.