CHOOSING MY BUDGET

It’s no news that this season is filled with a lot of celebration, especially for the holidays. My mum had asked that I come home for the holidays as it’s been a long time since I did so. However, from the look of things, I might still miss this Christmas celebration with my family. My mum used to tell me that distance does not matter when the people you love are in the equation, but right now I have to think otherwise, else I would be shooting myself in the foot. I believe that with everything I have been through this year, I deserve to give myself and siblings a reason to celebrate, especially for my life, but going home right now would cost me so much that I would be left stranded in the new year. The question I have been battling with myself over the last month considering what my mum said is if it would really be worth it to hurt my finances this coming holiday…

Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash

The fact that with the things that recently happened to me I wasn’t able to really save for the holidays and the transportation alone would cost over 70,000 naira to and fro. After the transportation I would also be required to get things for the family and my siblings to assist in the celebration. At the end of the day I will be spending over 150,000 naira and spending at my current capacity would be really unwise, at least I think. So yeah indeed I am really considering not going because I would need to restock my house for January, renew my rent in January, and also pay a lot for utilities. I wouldn’t want what happened to me last year to repeat itself. I have learned from the financial mistakes I made in December last year that almost rendered me stranded.

This year I decided the first thing I would do would be to remove a certain amount for savings and investment, then I would remove another part that covers my transportation to work in January. After which I can send a good amount of money to my family since I wouldn’t be going, then I would be able to make do with what is left as I have already gotten foodstuffs that should sustain me till January. With my basic necessities out of the way, It would be easy to celebrate with what I have . Whatever it can cover, would be enough for me as I would not want to put myself under stress of any kind. I believe if I spend it safely, I would not have to borrow to eat in the new year because I was careless with my resources and thus I would make do with what I have, managing it to the best of my ability. I will also have to plan for a trip next year and with the current rate of insecurity in the country, it would be risky to travel at the moment. Knowing my mum won’t take it likely, I would make do with the anger and try to pacify her.

THIS IS MY RESPONSE TO HIVE LEARNER'S
PROMPT FOR WEEK 195 EPISODE 2