Surviving

Greetings!

Some weeks ago, there was a trend on Nigerian social media centered on my state, Delta State, as the best livable place in Nigeria regarding the low cost of living with matching social amenities. When I saw what people were saying, I had to pause and ask myself if it was the same Delta State I live in or if there was another state I did not know about. 😅

The cost of living is currently so high that a majority of us are just working to buy food, with no projects in view. One thing I have been spending heavily on is food, and it is so bad that I cannot even reduce the amount I spend on food because that would mean staying hungry with no food to eat. It is so bad that the amount of money I use for food these days is far more than what I used to spend before, and that is a result of how harsh the Nigerian economy is.

I was not into the method of buying things in bulk until the last two years when I sat down to compare, and I realized that the only remedy that would help was to adopt bulk buying, which is cheaper and offers many options too. Before now, I usually bought items on the go whenever I wanted to cook, and because they did not cost much, I did not feel it. But now, if I decide to continue like that, I will end up borrowing just to feed. Yes, that is how bad the situation is.

House rent is another major issue, and landlords are not smiling either with how they keep increasing rent. Although I pay this once a year, the fee is one of the things that eats deep into one's income, making the cost of living extremely high. I do not have plans to relocate currently, even though I had it in mind earlier, but when I considered how exorbitant house rent is in other places as well, I had to put a pause on that and continue living here.

Transportation is another concern, but thank God I do not go out often apart from attending church or meeting clients(which does not happen frequently). T
hese days, I do not act like a 'big boy' when it comes to transportation. Taking my church outings as an example, I have some cars and bikes that go my way whenever we close from church. So instead of paying for transport fare, I usually 'book' rides with those cars and bikes for free transportation. If I were to calculate how much I should be spending on transportation for my church outings, I would be very shocked. So, the free rides have been helping me reduce costs significantly.

Are things going to get worse or better?

With the way things are going, it is likely to get worse. The only thing we have to do is hustle more and ensure we earn 20 times what we are currently earning. With this, one would not feel the high cost of living as much. It is just like the politicians—though the economy is tough and demanding, most of them are not feeling it because their earnings are far above the situation.

Thanks for reading.