Many of us think we lack financial prudence, when sometimes, the truth is that the economy is simply dealing with us.
You buy a small bowl of ice cream, and the moment you look at your account balance, you start regretting every decision that led you to that purchase. Then, almost immediately, you see a post on social media talking about how people are extravagant and simply don’t know how to manage money. But when you actually sit with it, you realise that it isn’t always about poor financial management. Things are just ridiculously expensive.
The smallest things are beginning to feel like luxuries, especially when you’re earning a meagre salary and trying to stretch it across everything you need. The economy keeps getting worse every day. And honestly, I can’t blame the leaders alone because citizens are also contributing to the mess by constantly hiking prices whenever they get the opportunity.
On Friday, I went to visit a friend, and by the time I was leaving, it was a bit late. I was heading back to my parents’ house, which is a little on the outskirts of town, so I had to take a motorbike.
I know how much these riders normally charge for that route. But guess what? The moment they noticed the sun had dipped below the horizon, the prices suddenly changed. It was my first time being out that late since I went over to my parents. Normally, I return home early or sleep over wherever I happen to be. So I wasn’t prepared for the evening price hike.
Funny enough, it seemed like all the riders had reached an agreement that evening. They were charging almost twice the usual fare, and when I asked why, they blamed it on the increase in fuel prices. I asked how much the fuel price had actually increased their costs, and I was told it was about ₦30. Thirty naira(not even up to one cent if converted in dollar value).
I was bewildered, but what could I do? I needed to get home as quickly as possible, especially because the weather wasn’t looking really friendly. They weren’t willing to negotiate either. They had made up their minds, put on those hard faces and stood firmly on their new prices.
It actually got me thinking. While our leaders are accused of taking advantage of the system, ordinary people are also finding little ways to take advantage of one another. Then we turn around and complain about the same behaviour in those occupying positions of power.
Sometimes I wonder if some of us were handed the opportunity to sit in those positions for a day, would we really behave differently?
There are so many people struggling just to survive, pay their bills and afford basic transportation. Imagine budgeting your expenses carefully, only to leave the house and discover that the amount you planned for transport in the morning is no longer enough by evening because the fare has suddenly doubled. That’s frustrating.
And this is why I get irritated when I go online and see people casually telling others that they’re broke because they’re lazy, extravagant or simply don’t know how to save money. I usually just block them because financial prudence is important, yes. But we also have to acknowledge the economy people are trying to practise that prudence in.
You can budget carefully and still get hit by an unexpected price increase. You can cut down on unnecessary spending and still struggle because your income hasn’t increased while the cost of almost everything else has. You can stop buying ice cream, eating out and doing all the little things people call financial irresponsibility and still find yourself wondering where your money went.
Sometimes, it’s not that people don’t know how to save, there simply isn’t enough left to save. And while I believe everyone should be responsible with their money, I also think we need to stop pretending that personal financial discipline exists in a vacuum. The economy matters. Inflation matters. Wages matter. The behaviour of the people providing goods and services matters too.
We can’t keep telling people to manage their money better while making everything around them increasingly difficult to afford. At some point, we have to admit that the economy sucks.
Posted Using INLEO
