Chachanomics Money Talks

Reader's Question "My name is Vincent. I earn a net salary of $1,120 which after conversion is Sh130,000 . I do get allowance of car mileage of Sh30,000. My expenses include: car loan which I do regret Sh60,000, house rent Sh25,000, transport Sh10,000, parents Sh10,000, shopping Sh10,000, internet subscription Sh2,500, utilities like water and electricity Sh5,000. I'm always broke. Kindly advise on how I can start saving for my future. I was planning to build a house in my rural areas and find a space in Nairobi where I can put up my house to stop renting (possibly Syokimau). I need help and kindly advise which currency I should be saving, USD or Ksh. Sometimes, I get gigs to do as a photographer and whatever. I get it saved though I end up using it." Expert Advice From your financial breakdown, your total income is Sh160,000 (summation of net income plus car allowance). Your total expenditure is Sh122,500 and a whopping Sh37,500 is unaccounted for. This points ...

Reader's Question "I am a personal assistant at work and a single mother of 3 children. Only one is in school in class 7. I earn 56,000 net salary. Here is my budget: rent per month is 15,000, 2 bedroom househelp-6000, water-1500, electricity-2000, transport-5000, entertainment-3000 , shopping-10,000, school fees per month for my school going child-12,000. However, I have a co-op bank loan that deducts 25,000 per month which is expected to be cleared in 3months. What happens is that my expenses are too much so when co-op bank deducts 25,000 at the end of the month, top up the loan again to run for another 3 months. This has remained my cycle and I am just really tired of always paying this loan. By the 15th of the month, end up with no money and I start borrowing friends and colleagues to sustain my family. My second born is to begin school in January next year 2023 but I am not sure if i will be able to pay for his school. Am not able to save even a shilling... Please advice ...