Lifestyle

Cost of living is the money forgone or spent in exchange to maintaining a certain lifestyle or standard of living; These include, Housing, feeding, healthcare, clothing and every other necessity that makes the individual's life comfortable or worthwhile.

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Let's look at Standard of living: This the extent or level to which the basic necessities of life such as social amenities and wealth is being made available in a country, to it's people.

Now what is my cost of living?
My cost of living is high, especially for my salary level as it cannot comfortably foot all my bills and expenses for the month. Thus I see myself multi tasking just to make ends meet.

You know this wasn't the case of Nigeria before, as it used to be a country with relatively low standard of living. I was quite comfortable here and did not see the need of relocating in the past.

The economy was not solid then but at least we were able to salvage it to some extent, as the government greatly subsidized finished crude oil products which is of great determinate to the living conditions of Nigerians.

In recent times, everyone has seen thus far how a single policy leading to subsidy removal can greatly affect the economy and it's residents.

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Comparison between various countries cost of living:
The most annoying thing with this subsidy removal is how people encouraged it because in their term, Nigeria is the only country selling the cheapest when it comes to petroleum product.

But it is still this same Nigeria that is the number one country amongst these various countries to pay it's citizen a minimum wage and cannot get a family a decent home cooked meal that will last two days.

It is this same country that struggles with Salary increment, renumeration, pension and gratuity. All these were not factored, they just wanted to be on the same price level of petroleum products with other countries that are better off standard of living wise and these are the issues.

The government of a country ought to implement economic policies based on the standard of living of her masses and not peg it to the Economic activities of other countries.

Economically, it ought to be low standard of living pari passu low wage rate but somehow, Nigeria government has managed to bastardize every economic principle ever laid down and they keep at it.

Thus, I call the country a paradox.

The other day on Facebook, they were comparing the cost of living in Nigeria to the UK which doesn't make sense to me because it will never be a fair comparison.

Then they compared housing, which was laughable. I mean, these people's wage rate are being paid hourly, not to mention it is also tied to their productivity, which makes them earn far better

In our case, it is monthly with majority being underpaid for their labour.

My friend in the US said every month after tax and expenses, he has an extra $1000 left which almost all of it goes to black tax.

This is someone that his earnings grouped him as poor or let's be modest and say average, according to the US standard of living, but he's able to save, afford and ENJOY the basic necessities of life PROVIDED by the GOVERNMENT and still meet up with black tax.

Over here, some of the supposedly rich people still cry because you will equip your house like this with home appliances that ought to make your life soft but you will not see power to enjoy it and petrol is no go area.

So many people have abandoned their cars because public transport is now cheaper than fueling from pocket. We see ourselves constantly managing life here even when we are not supposed to.

If Adam Smith was to be alive or exist in our today world, he will weep at the state of the Nigeria economy

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Comparing between countries the cost of goods and services: When comparing cost of products and services we should not just look at the price alone but quality.

We in the economic field knows that Nigeria is a dumping ground and substandard products are the order of the day here as the regulatory bodies in the consumption field have constantly shown to have compromised in their various departments.

I went to Cotonou, Benin republic that is just backyard of Nigeria and I tell you the taste of same products that I consume in Nigeria are not the same.

Their beverages tastes better and richer to think then it was even cheaper than the nonsense we consume in Nigeria.

Should I talk about their beer??? Sweet and pure, even I that cannot stand alcohol was downing two bottles (Do not look at me like like that).

Most of the products consumed here are made in the most unclean environment with contaminated content especially bottled water and canned drinks.
The absurdity of this matter is that they are all sold for same price, if not higher as the ones supposedly produced to Nigeria standard.

Personally, I have long stop patronizing local markets for my toiletries and skin care as I have had terrible experiences in the past.

It was bad earrings my daughter's ear was pierced with at infancy that disfigured her earlobe that she cannot wear earring till date.

I saw a post the other day still on Facebook where someone talked about consuming Milo beverage made in another country and noticed it has no sugar content, it tasted richer in cocoa and milk.

The milo we consume here, you will turn hot water inside and still be seeing the grains of sugar in your spoon when you stir, and trust me when I say it will be same price or would even be more expensive. Even if its less expensive, the fact that it's of lesser quality knocks it off for me in terms of preference.

Another one said a bottle of fanta is cheaper in Nigeria than it is in the UK and I was weak. That bottle of fanta do not contain the same content.

The fanta in the UK is more expensive because the price is greatly determined by the quality of the product, which we all know in Nigeria substandard is the norm.

It should be worthy to note that, as we are comparing prices of goods and services, we should also put into consideration that we do not earn the same. In our respective cost of living, all things being equal, prices should be on the same level according to respective standard of living.

Will my earnings fetch me more or less in other countries: Given the devalued state of the Naira, my earnings won't get me much, not even in Benin republic especially when exchange rate is being factored in.

I won't even call Ghana because some years back my family and I visited for a religious seminar, we ran out of cedis and opted to use Naira for a purchase. We even indicated willingness to pay more than the exchange rate value in Naira but this people refused and treated us like we were carrying a plague.

They told us the only foreign currency they accept is the dollar as the Naira is useless to them. This was a time when naira was exchanging for One hundred fifty (150) Naira to One dollar. Not to talk of now that the exchange rate has gone so high to over a Thousand Naira for One dollar.

Would I consider relocation? ABSOLUTELY! While I love Nigeria as its a place I have come to know as home, the present situation of the country is choking as one cannot even get value of their hard earned money.

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