Ever heard of a saving that Nairobi ni shamba la mawe? (Nairobi is a concrete jungle where nothing planted can barely survive). And indeed, Nairobi is a tough place where survival is only for the fittest. Daily, people are running up and down to try and make ends meet.
Virtually everyone is in Nairobi to look for money. You will hear someone saying that tulikuja Nairobi kutafuta pesa. (We came to Nairobi to look for money). And that is the truth. People in Nairobi are ready to do everything and anything to get mullah (money).
Nairobi is not a place to live within your means. Anyone telling you to live within your means in Nairobi is either himself living beyond his means or has another stream of income. It is difficult to survive on a common salary in Nairobi unless you work with the government, where you supplement your salary with bribes.
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Here are four ways to survive in Nairobi on the little salary that you get:
Get a house whose rent you can afford. You cannot live in Nairobi without paying rent, and no landlord will allow you to live in their houses without paying. They will tell you hizi nyumba si za mama yako (These houses do not belong to your mother.) Most rents in Nairobi are due by the 5th of every month. Make sure that your rent is always up to date, no matter what. This will give you a lot of peace.
Buy foodstuffs and store them in your house. If you have a refrigerator, the better. You cannot survive without food. Whether you are broke or have money, you will always need food. Find out how much you spend on food monthly and estimate the amount of foodstuffs you need. Purchase them. Take advantage of discounts and up your stock within your house.
Check on how much you spend on transport to and from your workplace. If you stay a long distance from your workplace, choose the times that the fare is lower to leave your house to work and from work. For instance, if your one-way fare is 100 shillings during peak hours, and 50 shillings during the off-peak hours, why not travel during off-peak hours and save those coins?
Start carrying a packed lunch. From the supper you eat, start putting aside leftovers and carry them to work. You will realize that it helps a lot. Just do the math on how much you spend on lunch at work and you will know that cutting down on it by carrying leftovers will save your pockets. Why be the one who buys lunch for others in your office when they never reciprocate the same?
Above all, get a job that pays you on time. Nothing takes your life behind than a boss who pays you whenever they feel like without considering your bills and needs. Some even do not care how you will get to work. They just want their work done and are not willing to pay.
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