When the Cost of Living Outruns Your Income

The world economy is going crazy, and it's alarming at the rate at which it's going and how it has led to inflation and made lives difficult for the average humans. It's actually not a great time for most, especially down here in Nigeria, where people are paid peanuts and yet have to deal with a high cost of living and now inflation that leads to a hike in the price of literally everything. Surviving is not easy, and many are taking different measures to ease the burden on themselves; that's the way to go, and I'm trying my best in that way, and that's why I'd be sharing how I'm managing myself in this harsh reality of inflation.

To be honest, even the wages I'm being paid aren't enough to fend for my financial demands, and seeing how the inflation has caused more damage, I can't help but feel down and sort out ways to survive. The first thing I did in the reality of this inflation is to first cut down on my expenses. I've literally reduced the amount I dedicate to some aspects of my job, such as the amount of time I purchase and on the generator, reduced the amount of time I eat in a day, and tried to cut down my outgoings or even merge errands so as to cut costs. These and several other aspects are how I've been cutting costs to help me manage my finances.

I've also embarked on a mission to secure a second stream of income, because what I used to depend on aside from my salary, which is Hive, is also experiencing a decline in value by the day, so to survive, I've been speaking with friends, asking around, and finding ways to secure other ways to earn so all can come together to help me sustain my family and me during this tough time. Even though I've not been able to get deeply into one, the most recent is in aspects of attempting surveys and getting paid for doing them. I'm hoping that works out, and if not, I guess I'll just have to keep searching.

Talking about saving, I actually used to participate in different savings schemes such as thrift and the like, and it's actually still active to date, but I'm actually looking into quitting them for the time being till I can earn more and have enough that I can save, but the current income can't give room for savings, and that's why I'm looking into quitting most of them by the end of the six months of this year.

That does mean I'm not to break some of my savings, because they were saved with the intention of using them for something. So the savings will still be where they're, just that I might not add more in the coming months except if there's a positive change in my income.

All photos are mine.