Even before the era of the Coronavirus, Nigerians were living below $1. According to a report of World Poverty Clock, 91.16 million Nigerians were living below a dollar a day as at February 13,2019. This was further confirmed by the British Prime Minister,Theresa May, According to Vanguard (Lagos) on the 15th of February,2019, who said Nigeria had become home to the Largest number of very poor people in the world, putting the figure at 87 million.
Also, Aljazeera on the 4th of May, 2020 reported that the National Bureau of statitics (NBS) said that more than 82 million Nigerians live on less than $1 a day.
Though, the economy received a positive performance report with the GDP growth at about 2.55 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to Business day on the 24th of February,2020. It is quite saddening to know that majority of the average Nigerians still don’t have enough to feed on.
Now with Inflation hitting badly due to the Lockdown, according to Nairametrics which reported that Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that Nigeria’s Inflation rate increased by 12.20% in February 2020. According to Nairametrics, the Inflation meant that the purchasing power of Consumers has worsen and their ability to afford the same quantity of goods has reduced.
With Inflation and prices of goods skyrocketing at the moment, one must ensure that money is not spent anyhow on frivolities, The purpose of this article is not to tell you how to spend your money rather it is to give you Hints on how to reduce your expenses within this period in order for your available cash to be sufficient.
Hints on how to reduce expenses within this period
- A budget should be planned priorly before Salary is received
In order to avoid the thrill of having cash make you buy unwanted things or things which are not very essential, it is advisable to have a budget. Having a budget means planning how the money will be spent. With a budget in hand, money won’t be misused as easily as it would without a budget.
- When shopping,go with a shopping list
Whenever you go shopping, itis advisable you plan a shopping list of what you need to buy. Once a shopping list is on ground,you find it easier to resist buying things which are not more essential than those on the shopping list.
- Try as much as possible to buy fresh items,they tend to be cheaper than their packaged counterparts
When buying products,most especially foodstuffs ,fruits and vegetables, go often for the fresh items as they tend not only to be very fresh,but also to be very cheap. It saves lots and lots of money, especially in this period.
- Where possible,buy wholesale rather than retail as it tends to conserve money
When it is possible, try buying in wholesales rather than retail. Items like vegetable which are easily perishable should not be bought in large quantities. Rather items like Indomie, cereals etc can be bought and kept for a period of time.
- Limit Outings
Try as much as possible to limit outings which tend to consume lots of cash. Going to Restaurants and Eateries may seem necessary,but try to reduce them since you tend to consume lots of money there. Rather plan a nice evening at home, with friends and family and you find you enjoy it equally as going to an eatery
Written by Akanegbu Osinachi
