By Biodun Da-Silva – I was laying on my bed reflecting on a potential project that I needed to embark on in the nearest future. I had done a similar project about 2 years ago so I brought out the spreadsheet I had used for costs and expenses. The more I looked at it, the more I was telling my subconscious self that the numbers were obsolete. I sigh and said out loud that “it’s just 2 years”
The truth is, a lot can and has happened to us in the last 2 years in ways we cannot begin to imagine. From surviving the Covid-19 pandemic, watching the war in Russia as they unfolds, elections in America to coups in Africa and all their negative impact on our already fragile economy. Our cost of living has significantly increased and inflation is on an upward spiral with no hope of a remedy in sight. Economies across the world are under attack. If there was ever a time that the saying “ the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer” meant anything, it is now more profound. The poor are literally dying of starvation, frustration and depression.
The middle class socio-economic strata is gradually eroding. In recent times, you either rich or poor. The gap between the rich and poor is widening with each passing minute. Lots of people can not longer afford their home, educational inflation, food inflation and high cost of medical interventions and maintenance. The uncertainties surrounding inflation and the inflated cost of living is impeding not only our economic growth but also our personal growth and development. The question is, to what end?
The repercussions for high living cost means that a lot of people we have come to know may be dealing with a lot in their personal and financial space. A huge number of people are experiencing and struggling to navigate the world wide financial crisis while operating from a depressed state of mind. Some have been laid off due to company reducing costs to stay afloat. Many have been forced to take on additional employment or ones that are way below their cost of living just to keep body and soul together. Having disposable income now sounds like a myth as most family income barely covers or meet the basic immediate family needs.
The people of my generation have not had it easy but then there have always been challenges since the beginning of time and each generation have had to develop tactics and strategies that fit their times and pertinent to their economic conditions. The sad part is, this trend will continue decades after the good people of my generations are dead and gone.
Periods of high Inflation and harsh economical realities have become a normal way of life to be experienced at some point during the course of our lifetime. What makes it more exasperating is that they are out of our control. However, what is within our control are the ability to move with the times to find our place in it and ultimately, our survival in a changing world – That is resilience.
Like everything else, navigating this dispensation i call an era of uncertainty requires additional skill set that’d see us think outside the box. With the current state of the world economy, living our lives in recent times can be likened to living in the jungle. However, to survive in the jungle requires stealth, resilience, adaptability, mental alacrity, planning and timely execution. The principles of survival may be the same but when the times are different and perilous, new measures must be applied.
Below are five resilient ways and actions we can take to ensure our survival at this most difficult time of our lives. They however may not work for everyone but it is my greatest hope that you find one that would be suitable for your needs.
Invest in financial education: There is no greater time such as the time we presently live in to learn financial literacy. Periods of depression and recession are essentially a time when we undergo goods and money shortages. When an economy experiences a decrease in GDP and a lack or deficit in employment it all leads to one thing INFLATION and our standard of living will be the first to be impacted due to currency devaluations.
Financial education teaches you when, how and on what to spend or invest your money for maximum returns. When you are financially literate, your money decisions will come from a place of knowledge thereby avoiding pitfalls and potentially losing your money. It is vital to hedge our funds against depreciation during recessions but without adequate knowledge about basic finance we may end up losing our life saving.
Family planning: This is not just about child maternal, mortality or morbidity rate, it runs deeper than that. The best time to plan a family is when a man and a woman are yet to be married. They’d have the luxury of time to plan the marriage layout, the family they desire and the quality of life they intend to lead. From the amount of kids they both want, education, family time, vacations, accommodation up until their children becomes independent.
High quality child care are expensive. A family income has to be commensurate with the amount of children a couple should bring to the world to avoid misery and prevent child abuse. It is important to note that beyond the quality of life we would live when we plan our family, it reduces poverty, minimizes moral vices such as crime, child and teenage prostitution and pregnancy etc. It also ensures a more educated citizens and more importantly, the world would be safer and the population more controlled.
Reduce cost: I believe this to be self explanatory and it doesn’t apply to companies alone. Reducing cost in business context simply means a company reduces their overall running cost to maximize profit.
We can use that strategy in our personal lives too. We could cook instead of eating out of a restaurant. Fly economy instead of business or business in place of first class (we will get to your destination regardless) Read articles online or listen to ebook instead of surfing E-commerce websites etc. There has got to be a cheaper ways to live life to the fullest. We should find the ones that would satisfy our appetite and fit our lifestyle i.e if you truly intend to survive the high cost of living crisis.
Strategic Expenditures: Fundamentally, the basic human needs are food, clothing and shelter. Anything outside of that is basically a want that you can survive without. The line between income, basic expenses and disposable income are getting thinner and thinner. We barely have enough income left to admit disposable funds these days. So if you must spend on your wants at all, ensure it’s worth it.
Embrace multiple streams of income: Many people can now attest to the fact that a single source of income is not longer enough. One income stream barely covers the cost of running a home. The era of a man being the sole bread winner is also fizzling out as all hands must be on deck. In this age and time, everyone has to have something to bring to the table hence the need to find more creative ways to earn a living.
Learning a new skill is also a great way to enhance your career and to position yourself for promotions in your workplace. You become a high value individual when you know something the next person doesn’t know. Knowledge, information and application are vital in today’s job market and work environments.
A business owner can design more products relevant to the needs of consumers to create additional revenue source. There’s also freelancing and technological based businesses you could do from the convenience of your home or office that’ll ensure a reasonable amount of profit. I encourage you to tap into the digital economy and make the most of it while you can.
Every goals requires commitment, nurturing and being intentional towards making it work. People across the world are feeling the impact of inflation, it negative impact on the economy and its ripple effect on our everyday life. Life may be challenging at this time but the truth is, there has never been a better time in the history of civilization where we have options to combat inflation on multiple fronts. With technology, we are well equipped for a more prosperous and better days that are still in front of us.
Biodun Da-Silva is a writer, columnist, an entrepreneur and a humanitarian.
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