One of the realities in Kenya today is the hard economic times. Only very high net-worth individuals may not be feeling this pain. Unfortunately, this is a very small minority in the country.
As if it was not painful enough, the government is loading an extra burden on employed people through more taxes proposed in the Finance Bill 2023. It is as if the Treasury mandarins and Kenya Kwanza politicians do not understand the plight of the people they are leading.
While it is very difficult to change government policy alone, there are a few things you can do at a personal level to weather these hard times. Here I share 5 important ways you could cushion yourself:
- Keep your saving rates as they are present – many people respond to hard economic times by cutting on their savings. For as long as your salary or income has not changed downwards, do not target your savings in your cost-cutting measures. It is your savings that if well invested will increase your earning capacity. This is what you need when the cost of living is going high and the government is raiding your pockets;
- Cut non-essentials if need be – if there is something we learned from COVID-19 lockdowns, many of us have many things that consume money that we can easily do without. Many of us have resumed our pre-COVID-19 spending patterns. Even if for a short time when the cost of living is high, see to it that what you can easily do without and focus on this for cost-cutting;
- Focus on yourself and avoid peer pressure – it is true that we are social beings and often would like to compare ourselves with other people; but in hard times like this, Self-preservation is the rule of the game. Just do what is within your reach for now and don’t give a damn what people may say. As I have always stated here, people will still talk anyway;
- Invest in yourself more – it may sound weird, but in hard times you want to increase your options. This may need you to acquire new skills or improve your current ones. The market pays for skills not papers or certificates. Hard times also come with many other opportunities that only those alert can notice and take advantage of;
- Do not fear – if you give in to fear, you undermine your productivity. At this time, you need to be more resilient and keep moving, even if at a slow speed –but just keep trying and fighting each day;
- A bonus point is to remain engaged -especially during this government budget process and submit your resistance to respective government organs. For instance, you can petition Parliament not to pass these offending taxes when the bill comes for public participation.