Adjust your Budget to Fit the Situation

By Dickson Tumuramye

The word of God says that “the thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life (John 10:10). This coronavirus pandemic is equally the same as a thief that has intentionally come to destroy nations.

Many people are now at home; no work, no movement/travel, no socialization, no fellowships, which has left people in total lockdown. Life cannot remain the same where there is no income. The pleasures we like to enjoy can’t remain the same. Even some essential things to some may now look a luxury.

Your usual lifestyle of hanging out with friends every evening can’t be anymore. When you would wake up in the morning without fuel, you would figure out using a taxi or bodaboda. This cannot be any more until the ban is lifted. This is not just only a healthy war but an economic one as well.

This is a time to sit down with your family and rework on your budget. You can’t keep spending the same way when you are not sure what the future holds. The family and personal priorities have to be adjusted to fit the prevailing situation. Much as it may take a short time to resume work/business, stabilizing there may not be easy. It may not be business as usual and as faster as it used to be.

Therefore, new financial decisions have to be made and there is no way you can cope up together with your family without involving every stakeholder, including your house helps/shamba men. You have to think of new survival strategies. 

This requires you to plan afresh ahead of time.  Planning for expenses of a whole week or a longer period like for meals, charcoal, utilities, among others may be a better option. Saving for the future can’t be withheld if life has to continue even after this. We anticipate some economic shutdown countrywide if not all over the world. This may come with a loss of jobs and businesses. If you're among the affected individuals,  how will you survive that if not well planned now? 

My mind goes to low-income earners, those who earn as they work daily, the casual workers in offices and companies, people whose wages depend on the day they have worked, living on hand to mouth yet they have families in urban centres that can’t now relocate to the villages.

Think of how you can portion your savings to cater to all the family basic needs. Meditate on how you can maintain better family welfare. If you have been eating meat 4 times a week, change to at least two times. If you buy organic food items from the supermarket, now you have time to visit a market where it could be cheaper. Just look at your budget and think of how you could minimize on the expenses as you plan to save for the uncertain.

Now that you can't use your car for shopping, use online shopping or your trusted bodaboda men to deliver products at your door. 
Look out for business opportunities during this lockdown which you can take advantage of. Don't just sit home and relax and only talk and curse coronavirus.

Think of what you can do to benefit from this holiday. An academician and/or a researcher should read and come out with a research project out of this. A farmer has no excuse because it has come during the rainy season. The writers have enough time to complete their writing projects or start new ones. Children or those on studies have to continue revising books from home. Those with research work can complete it this time around. Learn some online program which may even be free than keeping in the house lamenting of COVID-19.

If you have never been creative enough and a dreamer, this is an opportunity to become one. I have had meetings on Skype, Zoom and Whatsapp video calls more than before. Some organizations are using video conferencing to continue with office business and life goes on in their indoor/lockdown amidst all inconveniences.

Don't be colonized by coronavirus. Wake up and look far than ever before like ant which in Proverbs 6:6,8 says "Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise.........they labour hard all summer, gathering food for the winter!"

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Dickson is a child advocate, parenting coach, marriage counselor, and motivational speaker  on:
# Positive parenting
# Marriage and families
# Child counseling
# Career guidance