Monday, August 11, 2008

inflation beaters

I have always wondered how Zim guys manage to live with that kind of inflation. i keep on wondering how they still manage to drive, go out, pay school fees, feed families etc. Well, like the swahili say, camels must not laugh at cows hump. Back home inflation is bitting hard and deep. savings are eroded, investments fall apart and good clothing is slowly becoming a luxury. they say luck favors the prepared mind but maybe inflation too. however for those of us who were found flat footed, serious Structural adjustment plans as well stomach adjustment plans have been put in place.
For one to get good clothes, just brave it and take a matatu number 9 to eastleigh. shirts which retail at 1000 bob in town are actually got easily from the famous isich for just under 400 shillings. trousers go for as low as 500 and you can even get suits for 2000 bob. and even those traders are facing the inflation music since they have become quite aggressive now. before they used to just sit back and wait but now if you enter any stall they try everything in the book to make a sale.

and in south C one tomato can go for as much as 10 bob, to beat that, just go early to markiti (city market) and buy wholesale. for 2000, you can get enough tomatoes, onions and carrots to last you a month. they wont be that fresh when you are using them, but again the times don't give that much luxury. to beat bread price, i just got a lot of peanuts from my shamba in nyanza. Nyanza produces some of the best groundnuts in kenya. highly nutritious and sweet. secondly peanuts are more filling than bread apart from being healthy as well. on top of that i got 1 sack of maize which somehow can last close to a year given the sedentary life of the city. lentils all obtained from shags.

Other ways of beating the curse is walking to church on sundays instead of going to the mass with the best music. using a matatu as much as possible. carrying packed lunch etc. and if you have a small backyard, you can just squeeze some mbogas in between the flowers. eg amaranthus vegetable is quite beautiful and can pass as a flower, even managu (osuga) or akeyo. Actually even tomatoes are quite flowery.in fact who says you cannot even have them as potted plants if you dont have a backyard? so you will be having your cake (flower garden) and eating it too. literally!

However every cloud has the proverbial silver lining, the situation has provided the best stock investment opportunities in a long time. pple are getting out to cut their losses. but i think this is the best time to take advantage of under priced stocks.anywhere you ever wanted to get in, here is the moment.

5 comments:

  1. Amen to Isisch... I have been a loyal patron ever since the day I discovered a pair of shoes costing Ksh. 950 there would have set me back Ksh. 2400 if i had bought it in town.
    Like it in the office when guys are asking where I bought that cool jacket...
    Other tricks (saw this in a post on SK) - convince your spouse to use candles instead of elec. Say some bull-crap like 'red candles are romantic!". Anything to beat those crazy KPLC bills.
    And yeah, back to matatus

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  2. I hear you OD. This inflation has hit everyone. We're feeling it out here too. Packed lunches are the norm. Carpooling is also very popular now, where if 3 or 4 of you live and work in the same area, you all ride in the same moti and take turns driving. Another thing which has become really common is handing down baby clothes and baby furniture to new parents. Babies grow so fast that it almost doesn't make sense buying new stuff every few months.

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  3. Yes, we are suffering but our condition is nowehere near those of Zimbabweans.There money has lost value.your employer pays u in equivalent commodities.Say 100 litres of fuel.take the fuel and trade/barter your way till the other month.

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  4. @qadaffi, i love that creativity of candles. very clever, i must try it.

    @no-spin, you are so right about the little people, their growth rate is too high and did you also notice that their clothes are the most dear?

    @pesa-tu, ok i agree Zimbabwe's case is crazy. i just wonder how they do it

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  5. OD: You have the best stories...

    Does Waweru of KRA even know where isich is?
    The KRA is hassling everyone else about taxes but do they even have the guts to go to eastleigh?

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