When I moved out of my parents’ house, I was excited at the prospects of venturing out on my own. Having my own space, calling the shots, making my own money and taking grown up decisions- like having cereal for supper because why is it just restricted to breakfast only?
To get my life rolling, I bought myself electronics, installed internet connection, got pay TV and life was blissful. I had entertainment on demand and repeated content on demand (Pay TV can be so redundant).
Six months in, I took stock of my expenses and noticed that I was paying for things I didn’t use at all. For example I don’t watch TV as much yet I pay almost Sh 5000 a month for it. My hectic schedule is partly to blame; weekends out socializing and then the convenience of streaming sites. The fast internet connection at home helps me to keep up with the latest TV shows, watch live award and fashion shows, and of course listen to music on the go, either on YouTube, Soundcloud or Jango.
So I made a bold decision and canceled my Sh 5,000 TV subscription because that was a lot of money for something I didn’t use. I however kept my internet connection because I use sites like Putlocker, Netflix (Sh800 a month) apps like TVCM, Kodi (free, just install) to watch my favorite shows on demand, and no commercials. Most pay TV subscribers pay almost Sh 4000 for nearly 100 cable channels to only end up watching their favorite 3 or 4 channels. That too me was a waste of my hard earned money.
Canceling my subscription helped me scrutinize my other spending habits and I realized there were things that were no longer necessary or I had the option of getting them for free or for less.
Magazine subscription
Ladies will understand me here. We have our True Love, Drum, Cosmopolitan, Vogue, Vanity fair, GQ, People. Men have National Geographic, The Economist, TIME, and Readers Digest. And we buy these magazines every month. I found out I could read these same magazines in my salon. So I vowed not to buy them again. But if you still want to stick to buying a magazine every month, then take out a subscription, it is cheaper and many magazines offer a free gift. Alternatively you can wait a month and buy the same magazine for relatively less from street vendors. For example, buy the June issue in July or August, it’ll be cheaper then. But if you can’t wait that long most magazines nowadays have an online issue- and it’s more or less the same content.
Supermarket own brands
Almost all supermarkets have their own branded items and they’re relatively cheaper than the preference brands. If you want ice cream, Nakumatt has a range of brands for you to choose from and they also have their own Blue Label Ice cream brand, which is like Sh5 cheaper than the rest and tastes really good. So you can save money on your groceries by foregoing brand names. But I am not telling you to stop buying the items you have a taste preference for. But try out some generic brands and you may be surprised at the quality or taste and the money you’ll save.
Bulk shopping
If you still want to buy your preference brands, then buy goods wholesale. My friend introduced me to a wholesale shop which gets goods directly from manufacturers; the same goods stocked in supermarkets. Buying goods in bulk can save you quite a sum. You can even buy them with as a group of friends then split among yourselves. The difference in pricing between a wholesale shop and a supermarket is usually between Sh20 to Sh50 and that is a lot. When I first started shopping there, I saved Sh 2000 off my budget. I’ve been hooked ever since.
Carry own lunch
Lunch around my work place costs between Sh 200- 400. If you buy lunch five days a week for a month, you spend between Sh 4000- Sh 8000. That’s a lot of money by any standards. I decided to carry packed lunch since our office has a fridge and microwave. It also helps me eat healthy and avoid the fries and chicken meals that are readily available. Also carrying fruits and healthy snacks like nuts can help you cut on unnecessary costs on snacks.
Bottled water
This one was a big surprise for me. I drink a lot of water. My audit showed me I’d been spending a lot on bottled water especially when out and about. So I invested in a nice refillable five litre water bottle. I fill it up before leaving the house, and refill before leaving the office or a friend’s house. This saves me about Sh 350 a week if I was buying water for Sh70 a bottle five days a week.
I applied the same treatment to my coffee (my system runs on coffee). If you buy coffee a lot, maybe it’s time to invest in a nice coffee maker. Yes you can still splurge in a coffee shop but you can cut back and save lots of money by making and carrying your own coffee.
These are just a few items of the many that we could cut back on or stop paying for in order to save money.
Feel free to add more of your own cash-saving ideas in the comments section.
About the author: Cynthia is a radio news presenter at Radio Africa.