My survival strategies in this harsh economic conditions

[Frankolala]

Similar strategy with mine,but I don't give my kids homeschooling.I send them to school but a missionary school which is cheaper than a private school and have adequate learning facilities,so that they can compete with their classmates to bring out the best in them.

Another thing I did was to set up a business for my wife that she sells in front of the house because the house is located in a commercial environment so that she can make daily profit since she don't need to pay for shop rent which use to be challenge for traders down here in my country.

[lovesmayfamilis]

Firstly, OP, I want to thank you for such a detailed description of your life. I very often read posts from Nigerian society; for me, this is a revelation of how different people's lives can be in different countries. But I have a very respectful attitude towards all of you, because your country may not have all the charms that other, more developed countries have, but I see a great desire among people to improve the lives of their families. The attitude towards marriage is very surprising and worthy of an example for other countries.
I think you, OP, are very wise. I don't know your age, but everything you have planned looks very reasonable and mature. I say this because I have a comparison where it would seem that adults do not want to think about anything but entertainment; they have neither goals nor the desire to create a future for their children.
Your strategy and awareness will work for many people. In fact, it's hard to call it survival; I think you live a full, real life, and your children will receive many more good examples than even children who can study in private schools, but they have very few parents in their lives.
My respect.

[naira]

When governments manage the economy poorly, the solution is to think outside the box by finding skills, ways to learn, and a two-year job so that you can earn money that is considered little in a country, but it is wealth in your country.
For example, trying to earn $500 is wealth in some countries, but it is easy to earn it if you have high programming skills, or earn its text by joining signature campaigns, which are not enough to buy basics in some countries, and so on.

Agree, and this is what I've been running for the past few years. Poor economic conditions and government management encourage people to be more creative and look for sources of income outside the country. Especially working online with the skills you have. This is indeed quite worrying because the potential or skills possessed cannot be considered by the government, they don't seem to care. Many in my place such as application developers, designers, and digital-based skills are valued more abroad than at home.

[temple]

Firstly, OP, I want to thank you for such a detailed description of your life. I very often read posts from Nigerian society; for me, this is a revelation of how different people's lives can be in different countries. But I have a very respectful attitude towards all of you, because your country may not have all the charms that other, more developed countries have, but I see a great desire among people to improve the lives of their families. The attitude towards marriage is very surprising and worthy of an example for other countries.
I think you, OP, are very wise. I don't know your age, but everything you have planned looks very reasonable and mature. I say this because I have a comparison where it would seem that adults do not want to think about anything but entertainment; they have neither goals nor the desire to create a future for their children.
Your strategy and awareness will work for many people. In fact, it's hard to call it survival; I think you live a full, real life, and your children will receive many more good examples than even children who can study in private schools, but they have very few parents in their lives.
My respect.

I know it is some kind of utopia but I feel that the world should become much more solidaric than it already is. It is to a certain degree, but it could be even more. It is not only harsh conditions like OP described, and that is already harsh enough because nobody should be doomed to carry unnecessary burdens, but we also have situations of war or earthquakes in Turkey, sudden events that need instant help without any hesitation whatsoever and still there is bureaucracy stopping help from getting where it should have been yesterday in a best case scenario.

Nigeria is quite low in the list of income per capita. As OP described there are logistical inefficiencies like countless middlemen driving prices up etc. Why don't the wealthy nations set up programs that provide money and expertise to exactly improve the problems that keep those countries from prospering? I guess now the answer is that there is too much corruption involved and money from other countries like grants or loans seep away in corruption. But what is the conclusion? That our species is just too evil to be good? There are too many situations that prove otherwise, but still there are so many shortcomings and so much poverty in the world.

@OP in your case it's quite obvious that you are a smart mind, well-educated and ambitious to take things into your own hands together with your wife (what I said to you applies to her as well). But there are so many people in your country that can't dig themselves out of their hole like you.

I hope the best for you and I think your ability to sharply analyze your situation and adapt accordingly, especially investing time and effort into your children which I find particularly commendable in times of pressing scarcity, will pay off one day.   

Let me finish with some pseudo-egoistic wish for you - I hope that your crypto holdings go to the moon soon, so my do, too!

[Hispo]

It is interesting how different the culture there is from what you would find here in the Americas.
Usually here in Latin-America there is not much family pressure to get married or have children, actually more people are opting not to have children, to have more money. I personally have like 5 friends, all of them in their 30s and none of them have children and one is engaged.

Here if you just decide not to have children or get married, usually nobody cares about it and leave you alone. What do you think about it?

Your culture is different from ours in Africa. Immediately you get to the age of 25 as a lady, your parents would start mounting pressure on you to get married. Infact unmarried women suffer a lot of discrimination and mockery. As a matured man, once you get a job, the society expects you to get married. People even take loans to get married and start a family.

Many marriages have dissolved because of childlessness A lot of divorce cases in Nigeria is because of inability to conceive and bear children. Nigeria has one of the fastest growing market of In vitro fertilisation (IVF), surrogate mothers and other child bearing techniques because of the importance placed on children. If you decide not to get married or have children, you might be treated like an outcast.

With all the due respect to your culture, that sounds rough. I would have not guessed unmarried people there got treated badly for such a personal decision.
Is there any expectation by Nigerian society on the number of children each couple is supposed to have or it is something the couple is not pressured about?

Do people there get mocked or treated as outcast if they decide to only have one child instead of two or three?

A little bit off-topic, but what are your personal thoughts on countries like Japan where population is steadily declining, to the point that their government has evaluated to pay couples to have children?

[_BlackStar]

The simplest strategy is to save more money and invest. You don't have to starve yourself, but manage your spending on something you really need. No need to buy goods in bulk, it only makes inflation worse. Nothing too celebratory, just keep it as simple as possible. But think about the investment, it will give you a return that may be good in the long term.

I agree with some of the strategies at the OP, but about home schooling - it's just very different from person to person.

[Eternad]

The simplest strategy is to save more money and invest. You don't have to starve yourself, but manage your spending on something you really need. No need to buy goods in bulk, it only makes inflation worse. Nothing too celebratory, just keep it as simple as possible. But think about the investment, it will give you a return that may be good in the long term.

I agree with some of the strategies at the OP, but about home schooling - it's just very different from person to person.

OP listed many factors to consider to live a debt free life, we must know our priorities to be able to manage and determine what is better in our lifestyle or living capacity. It’s good that OP knows how to invest and what areas he should be focus in like having home or cheaper rent as well having investments. Having multiple jobs can help too if there is time like online jobs that will not affect too much of his schedule and use the salary to make more investments for their future. During pandemic I really see the need of not having sidelines than focusing only in one job.

[lionheart78]

You forget to add/ or have you considered doing side jobs for extra income.  Investment is a good thing but it will take some time to yield profit, a regular one takes years so what would we do to meet our daily needs if our main job is enough for bills and basic needs.  Finding a side job plays an important role to meet our plans and ease out the situation especially if we plan to have savings for investment.

We could add this but it wont work on us all meaning other people tend have hard time finding side jobs even if they want too like they don't posses those skills need or just they cant find one as most of those employers wants fulltime.

How could it not work when the purpose of looking for a side-job or other called it side-line is to increae the financial capability of a person?  I know others are having a hard time finding jobs or task that can give them extra money,  but still, it will be a great help if one can find one.

Also even though you have side jobs but still not enough then you need to follow those strategy by OP provided to save some money and that is the possibility that youll invest into something.

See in the scenario you are saying, it does not suffice even though a person has a side job, what more if he doesn't have it?  I don't think the importance of having an extra job or business as a source of extra money is debatable. In a situation where a family is lacking, it is one of the most important things aside from the strategies cited by @OP.  After all, the reason why @OP is doing those strategies is because of a shortage of finances, and having one or more sources of income will make the situation easier.  As I stated, investment is good but it takes time to profit, worst, when a person's budget is short, they might pull out the investment immaturely so having another source of funds to spend for the family is always better.

[Theones]

These survival strategies might not be the best but it has helped me to live a debt-free life. Unlike most of my colleagues I have not collected any loan neither am I under any easy-buy payment obligation and my family is doing well.

Some very good points shared!
But do you think homeschooling would be effective? That is correct it drains so much money and energy of parents and I really liked the idea of home school.

[karmamiu]

You forget to add/ or have you considered doing side jobs for extra income.  Investment is a good thing but it will take some time to yield profit, a regular one takes years so what would we do to meet our daily needs if our main job is enough for bills and basic needs.  Finding a side job plays an important role to meet our plans and ease out the situation especially if we plan to have savings for investment.

We could add this but it wont work on us all meaning other people tend have hard time finding side jobs even if they want too like they don't posses those skills need or just they cant find one as most of those employers wants fulltime.

How could it not work when the purpose of looking for a side-job or other called it side-line is to increae the financial capability of a person?  I know others are having a hard time finding jobs or task that can give them extra money,  but still, it will be a great help if one can find one.

Also even though you have side jobs but still not enough then you need to follow those strategy by OP provided to save some money and that is the possibility that youll invest into something.

See in the scenario you are saying, it does not suffice even though a person has a side job, what more if he doesn't have it?  I don't think the importance of having an extra job or business as a source of extra money is debatable. In a situation where a family is lacking, it is one of the most important things aside from the strategies cited by @OP.  After all, the reason why @OP is doing those strategies is because of a shortage of finances, and having one or more sources of income will make the situation easier.  As I stated, investment is good but it takes time to profit, worst, when a person's budget is short, they might pull out the investment immaturely so having another source of funds to spend for the family is always better.

Personally, everyone has different circumstances and situation which they have to deal with. People like us who are on the lower spectrum of wages on the economy but has ambitions and want to change their situations needed to think for more conventional ways to earn extra income. We could always hear or see people telling us everyday that investment will be the foundation to have a better life, but as I've said people like us firstly needed to find ways to have an extra income before doing such moves.

[alastantiger]

The economy of this country presently is so devastating. The cost of good and services is at its peak. An average man barely feed three times daily. The salary is the same but the cost of living is getting high on a daily basics. The strategy i used in surviving is not spending unnecessarily. For example, i use to hangout with friend a lot and spend money on things that are not important, i use to club a lot before as a bachelor but due to the economy i only go to club once in a month. As a bachelor, i eat at an espensive restaurant almost everyday. But due to the economy i now realised that cooking the food myself will reduce cost and i will also have morr to eat later on. The economy has really tought me how to to manage life.

[Lida93]

For the homeschooling aspect I was trying to decipher how both you and your wife manages the little time between other family needs as people with children and the home teaching at same time with your work time, isn't that going to be tiresome?  Homeschooling in hard times isn't a bad idea but one disadvantage I discover that could be on the side of the children is that they would lack or be denied the opportunity to be exposed socially with children like them from other backgrounds and this situation can affect their social interactions in a way when they go outside.

[michellee]

Everyone, whether he has a family or lives alone or with his extended family, will try to make massive savings in anticipation of drastic economic changes. They don't want their lives ruined because they can't manage their income and will change whatever is needed. @OP provides a good example for us but we will have different ways from @OP but we have the same goal in this case, namely wanting to survive in difficult circumstances that can come at any time. I really agree not to make loans to other people, especially if we can't return it according to the time we agreed or we don't have other sources of income. That will make it even more difficult for us and instead of wanting to make savings, we will be chased by these debt collectors.

[Die_empty]

A little bit off-topic, but what are your personal thoughts on countries like Japan where population is steadily declining, to the point that their government has evaluated to pay couples to have children?

Birth reduction strategies are economic tools to reduce population in order to bring down governmnet spendings and to achieve some some economic prosperity. But this strategy has a long term consequence which are affecting countries like China and Japan negatively. These countries' productive population is gradually declining and the government is faced with the challenges of inceeasing the population they reduced. The problem now is that most youths of these nations are no longer interested in having children because the birth control policy has influenced them. The government is not trying to persuade or influence them to have children because of the shortage of labour force. The truth is that they have to rely on immigrants for a long time until these birth increase policies becomes fruitful.

Overpopulation indeed is one of the problems of Africa but the continent has enough resources to feed even double of its present population. If the youthful population of Africa is empowered through education, skill, training and development they will become productive and contribute meaningfully to the development of the continent. But our major problem is bad leadership. A group of individuals mainly politicians are conniving to steal the commonwealth of African nations, thereby leaving Africans to die in poverty and sickness.

[Davidvictorson]

While growing up I will used to see a lot of parents hand down clothes from their eldest child to the younger ones, sometimes they even have to amend the clothes just so it will fit the younger ones. This was one of the methods of survival during the harsh economic realities of that time. I never understood this until I became older. In this time my survival strategies include:

- getting used items instead of new ones.

- taking walks to short distances instead of ordering a ride. I am considering buying a bicycle.

- I work out at home instead of spending money on monthly gym subscription.

- I bought a solar panel and batteries for electricity instead of using petrol powered generator whenever there is power cut.

- I have resorted to making my own body lotion instead of buying expensive lotions at the supermarket/malls.

I can go on and on but I'd stop here now. I hope I have been able to share some valuable insights.

[Smartprofit]

There are only two ways to successfully survive in an economic crisis - increase income or reduce costs. 

At the same time, increasing income by changing jobs is largely a dead end.  During the economic crisis, the employer is concerned about reducing costs and increasing the efficiency of the organization's employees.  Thus, you will inevitably run into a situation where you have to work harder than usual and get very tired.  At the same time, the employer will make efforts to reduce your wages, avoid having to pay you quarterly and annual bonuses, etc. 

Intensive work can adversely affect your health and require additional funds for treatment and rehabilitation.

[fullhdpixel]

There are many ways we could make use of a particular strategy to help survived through the economy challenges, this has to be a personal approach and determination, we need a commitment to achieve this, we have to know that there's no particular place that does not have this kind of exper but when we remain determined to achieve success in whatsoever thing we do, our hardworks will contributes to the survival even while others were complaining.

This is what the people didn't realize. This is why they kept on looking for another strategy but the op's post is very informative and might help those people who struggle about the same problem. Other people are complaining and sometimes blame others, the governments.

This is very wrong and it does not help a lot and what if other people are also poor or helpless? And what if the government itself is selfish or corrupt? If that was the case then a personal approach is the only thing that we will need. We then need to team it with determination and commitment (like you said) so that we can successfully overcome the issue. All countries/places are not exempted with it, it's just that others are badly affected.

[Hispo]

A little bit off-topic, but what are your personal thoughts on countries like Japan where population is steadily declining, to the point that their government has evaluated to pay couples to have children?

Birth reduction strategies are economic tools to reduce population in order to bring down governmnet spendings and to achieve some some economic prosperity. But this strategy has a long term consequence which are affecting countries like China and Japan negatively. These countries' productive population is gradually declining and the government is faced with the challenges of inceeasing the population they reduced. The problem now is that most youths of these nations are no longer interested in having children because the birth control policy has influenced them. The government is not trying to persuade or influence them to have children because of the shortage of labour force. The truth is that they have to rely on immigrants for a long time until these birth increase policies becomes fruitful.

Overpopulation indeed is one of the problems of Africa but the continent has enough resources to feed even double of its present population. If the youthful population of Africa is empowered through education, skill, training and development they will become productive and contribute meaningfully to the development of the continent. But our major problem is bad leadership. A group of individuals mainly politicians are conniving to steal the commonwealth of African nations, thereby leaving Africans to die in poverty and sickness.

It is an interesting topic, actually, it is something I have researched a bit on the internet.
How some governments even to this day try to control the demography of their country, my favorite modern example is India with their Population control bill they approved back in 2019. They go as far as allowing couple to have up to two children, so they can apply for state sponsored benefits, like loans.

The State shall promote small family norms by offering incentives in taxes, employment, education etc. to its people who keep their family limited to two children and shall withdraw every concession from and deprive such incentives to those not adhering to small family norm, to keep the growing population under control

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_Control_Bill,_2019

About what you say on Africa, I generally agree that you live in a continent which is very rich in natural resources but unfortunately has suffered some sort of bad luck with generations after generations of tyrants and corrupt politicians, there is a similar thing which happens here in the Americas.

[BIT-BENDER]

Great advice especially on the bulk buying aspect, many people may consider it unnecessary and even wasteful but buying in bulk actually do help in bad economy season.

I remember when I stalked up some bags of rice in my country at a very good price although I wasn’t anticipating any fall in my nations economy it actually did happen and not only did the stalked up rice see me through that situation I actually earn double the amount I bought one by selling off some.

[Oceat]

This is what I like a very practical thinking yet cost efficient to handle the raging prices and inflation. People should be doing this during the pandemic although covid isn't done yet but with all of these strategy to survive, it's better than to be buried in debt. Practicality at its best thinking any cheap alternative to cut-off some other or over expenses especially in this era where inflation beginning to hurt our pocket/wallet yet the salary isn't raising yet despite of all the price hike in almost everything.