Mimi huwashow most middle Kenyans are one step away from poverty

[Sanchez11]

@True_Monarch

$3,500 a month is an above decent amount in 95% of the world. Working a 9 - 5 in Africa and not having at least 12 months worth of living expenses saved up is a huge risk. The value of a man is closely tied to his bank account but some guys just don’t get that.

Savings muhimu Sana. unaeza patwa na emergency upate hadi hio gari uko nayo ama idle land haezi kusaidia at that moment

[GituK7]

@Mainoo

…haja ya uhamie hao ya 100k…move to a 30k keja if you have to…shule sio lazima ya 200k a term…we have very good schools for less than 70k. Only make the big adjustments in your lifestyle once you have a more durable and stable income…hizi kazi za USAID za 2yr contract zisikudanganye. If i was to go back to my 28yr old self i would put up rentals..and not an own house like i did in the dusty kitengela

USAID BADO WAKO?

[applebee100]

@Sanchez11

… or move laterally at a higher position than to make 5k from a useless side gig.
Someone making 200k should plan to live on 50k maximum. It’s the only way to build a big enough war chest that would generate outsized returns. Sio side hustle ya sijui 10k hapa na pale.

Biashara is not easy as you people think..Mtu ana earn 200K per month should keep the 9 to 5 job while still pushing the side hustle

Nothing is easy my friend. Ata iyo 9-5 has a lot of challenges na toxicity mingi sana. Halafu you know you can be fired anytime. I know what the “easier” risk is.

[Gaines]

@applebee100

100k a month, 200k a month, 300k a month…….it doesn’t matter as long as that paycheck is being signed-off by somebody else.

Upuss. ALL cheques are signed by someone else. Even entrepreneurs have their cheques signed by customers. Money doesn’t come from thin air my friend. You have to convince someone else to give you their money. Customers are your boss, even if it doesn’t feel like it. If they stop buying from you you will learn very quickly who the boss is.

[applebee100]

@Gaines

…long as that paycheck is being signed-off by somebody else.

Upuss. ALL cheques are signed by someone else. Even entrepreneurs have their cheques signed by customers. Money doesn’t come from thin air my friend. You have to convince someone else to give you their money. Customers are your boss, even if it doesn’t feel like it. If they stop buying from you you will learn very quickly who the boss is.

Do you need a disclaimer for every comment? Whatever you said should be intuitive to every smart person. Doesn’t make my comment misleading at all. Of course you know that bad you need a cheap argument so bad.

Furthermore, nobody is stopping you from making the easy money at someone’s desk.

[Gaines]

@applebee100

That’s true. Let’s not kid ourselves though. 90% don’t. And the few who do don’t generate any meaningful capital.

I would argue that its stupid for an employed person to start a side hustle if they can dedicate that time to:
a) Work overtime and earn more money doing the same job (zero risk of failure and more money in their pockets).
b) Upskilling to climb the corporate ladder.

In my view, watu wa kuyumbayumba end up being Jacks of all trades but masters of none. Ukiamua ni corporate be corporate 100% wachana na jua kali. Invest your extra money in passive ventures e.g rentals, shares, mutual funds, etc that do not interfere with your career. Ukiamua ni jua kali vaa dust coat tupatane kwa ground kieleweke in the mean streets. If you try both you will get outclassed in both by people who focus on one. How do you expect to outcompete guys who live and breath your niche in business if you still clock in and out at your 9-5? How do you expect to get promoted if you spend every hour after 5PM on some jua kali side hustle instead of upskilling and becoming indispensable in your career path?

Waswahili walisema mpanda farasi wawili hupasuka msamba.

[applebee100]

@Gaines

…yumba end up being Jacks of all trades but masters of none. Ukiamua ni corporate be corporate 100% wachana na jua kali. Invest your extra money in passive ventures e.g rentals, shares, mutual funds, etc that do not interfere with your career. Ukiamua ni jua kali vaa dusk coat tupatane kwa groud kieleweke in the mean streets. If you try both you will get outclassed in both by people who focus on one.

Side hustles don’t have to be Jua Kali and I wouldn’t recommend a professional to do that. Laterals for me mean offering professional services on the side using the expertise you’ve gained from your employment and the introductions you’ve been able to network your way to. Man, I don’t like discussing such stuff with people of “low ambition”. Then again, my type of crowd is the banker who left to start a consulting firm, or the engineer who figured there’s part of a process that could be made better and goes on to do that selling to other engineers who need it. So yeah, this discussion shouldn’t even be had on here but I know many people including myself who did that and made it out. Those are my kind of people. I could care less about some random gigs in downtown Nairobi lol.

But you make a good point based on the environment you’ve always known so kudos to that line of thinking. Still not my kind of “side hustle”.

[bra_bra_cupship]

@applebee100

… selling to other engineers who need it. So yeah, this discussion shouldn’t even be had on here but I know many people including myself who did that and made it out. Those are my kind of people. I could care less about some random gigs in downtown Nairobi lol.
But you make a good point based on the environment you’ve always known so kudos to that line of thinking. Still not my kind of “side hustle”.

Hahaha. Ati looking down on downtown gigs. When Equity released their dresscode, i did the math and saw the consultant was paid some Ms. Nothing could stop me. I set up and went to every micro-finance, bank hr, insurance office, and sold to hr as a dresscode consultant. Offered free previews and offers, a la what Levi’s did for corporate America to introduce the famous casual Friday. I learnt a very important lesson about doing business in kenya.

Shove your auxiliary services up your ass, and provide basic needs. If it were mzungustan, I’d be rolling in dough. I tried the same online, but that’s a fuckall chase. Relationships and business are built on and off the ground, not via emails.

I’d laugh at anyone who scoffs at downtown businesses anyday over some consultant who will struggle to pay the office rent but looks ok. Nairobi is still a baby.

I shared the math and some question on the gay ass national subreddit, but it seems only weirdos hang out there.

[applebee100]

@bra_bra_cupship

… tried the same online, but that’s a fuckall chase. Relationships and business are built on and off the ground, not via emails.
I’d laugh at anyone who scoffs at downtown businesses anyday over some consultant who will struggle to pay the office rent but looks ok. Nairobi is still a baby.
I shared the math and some question on the gay ass national subreddit, but it seems only weirdos hang out there.

I didn’t make fun of downtown gigs. I just said they’re not my cup of tea. There’s guys like you who who like that and it’s fine. I just prefer selling domain-specific services. Look, there’s no one right way of doing it. That’s not the point. Some people like chicken while some love beef. It’s not a problem at all. Just that some won’t ever touch beef, and that’s okay too.

[cheekbusta]

@Gaines

…will get outclassed in both by people who focus on one. How do you expect to outcompete guys who live and breath your niche in business if you still clock in and out at your 9-5? How do you expect to get promoted if you spend every hour after 5PM on some jua kali side hustle instead of upskilling and becoming indispensable in your career path?
Waswahili walisema mpanda farasi wawili hupasuka msamba.

It depends with your goals in life. Realistically most people are stuck in jobs where the possibility of getting a major promotion that will radically increase your salary in a few years are limited. Even if you get a promotion after some time your expenses would have already caught up with your. You are then forced to attempt various ventures to increase your income. It may work out or not. Like @Ndovu stated, if you have any plans of buying vehicles or building houses and you work a typical Kenya 8-5 you will have a hard time. Responsibilities increase with your salary.

[Maize_Combuster]

@cortedivoire

Shida ni omwami anapeleka watoi braeburn. School fees ni 1m per term. Anahama Lavington na keja ni 150k. Anabuy range rover sport na loan anakatwa 150k per month. Kufuel hio guzzler ni 50k per month. What do you expect?

Ukiwa break from your janitorial duties hapo Calabash, please comb me how a car consuming a little per 12km is a guzzler.

[Maize_Combuster]

@Trucker

…der 40 hawana financial literacy…we also made the same mistakes in our 20s and early 30s…but with time mtu huchanuka…hii ni life lesson yenye kila mtu mwenye hakuzaliwa kwa pesa lazima apitie…he will come back stronger.
He was paying rent ya 110K according to the post ..but 400K per month in Kenya ni pesa mingi

Trust me it’s not. I have a friend who was making a million net but he’s always in debt

I am struggling to understand your point. 400k is a lot of money in Kenya n tusidanganyane. KNBS itself inasema 90% of Kenyans are hooves eaters. So how can 400k be peanuts? If you have poor money habits, even a billion will leave you broke by the 10th. The basics of cash flow management is that the outlet need to be smaller than the inlet.

[cheekbusta]

@bra_bra_cupship

I set up and went to every micro-finance, bank hr, insurance office, and sold to hr as a dresscode consultant.

I know like it may sound like I am shitting on your dreams but did you realistically think that being a dresscode consultant was something that was going to be a lucrative and sustainable way of making money in Vumbistan? It’s such an unnecessary expense for most businesses and even if they needed one why would they pick you? Especially for mkono ngumu businesses like microfinance where people are under intense pressure to meet targets wewe unakuja kujipitch as a dresscode consultant. Even if you got gigs would they be consistent? I would be surprised if you weren’t laughed out of some offices.

[Jack_Black]

@Trucker

…der 40 hawana financial literacy…we also made the same mistakes in our 20s and early 30s…but with time mtu huchanuka…hii ni life lesson yenye kila mtu mwenye hakuzaliwa kwa pesa lazima apitie…he will come back stronger.
He was paying rent ya 110K according to the post ..but 400K per month in Kenya ni pesa mingi

Trust me it’s not. I have a friend who was making a million net but he’s always in debt

Is he a cocaine addict?

[solosantos]

@Gaines

…will get outclassed in both by people who focus on one. How do you expect to outcompete guys who live and breath your niche in business if you still clock in and out at your 9-5? How do you expect to get promoted if you spend every hour after 5PM on some jua kali side hustle instead of upskilling and becoming indispensable in your career path?
Waswahili walisema mpanda farasi wawili hupasuka msamba.

Very well put elder kamata Moja on my bill

[applebee100]

@Gaines

…will get outclassed in both by people who focus on one. How do you expect to outcompete guys who live and breath your niche in business if you still clock in and out at your 9-5? How do you expect to get promoted if you spend every hour after 5PM on some jua kali side hustle instead of upskilling and becoming indispensable in your career path?
Waswahili walisema mpanda farasi wawili hupasuka msamba.

I had to come back to this comment. In the Kenyan context, what’s the likelihood that you’ll get paid overtime? Can we quantify these numbers?

Honestly, I don’t think most jobs in Kenya pay overtime. Not only that, they don’t pay any more than 100k unless you have 10 years of experience in which case you’re a big fat guy with a kitambi and no energy to do something else outside of work when you have a nagging wife and kids in the house.

If you’re in the diaspora, then it makes more sense to work overtime because the rewards are commensurate with the hours worked.

Tuongee ukweli, most jobs in Kenya pay like 35k. Even if you got some overtime, that’s like 50k. I’d rather go build something and fail a million times before age 35 and see what happens. The time to try things out and fail is probably mid-late twenties - early/mid thirties. Past that, when you’ve now started making that 300k, it becomes more difficult.

Maybe I’m wrong.

[bra_bra_cupship]

@cheekbusta

…ng money in Vumbistan? It’s such an unnecessary expense for most businesses and even if they needed one why would they pick you? Especially for mkono ngumu businesses like microfinance where people are under intense pressure to meet targets wewe unakuja kujipitch as a dresscode consultant. Even if you got gigs would they be consistent? I would be surprised if you weren’t laughed out of some offices.

People wear uniforms in many places. Some dudes are paid to talk about this shit in vumbistan, i was not doing guesswork. Laughed at about what? I have worked at a micro-finance before, those fuckers have money

[Gaines]

@Maize_Combuster

…iend who was making a million net but he’s always in debt

I am struggling to understand your point. 400k is a lot of money in Kenya n tusidanganyane. KNBS itself inasema 90% of Kenyans are hooves eaters. So how can 400k be peanuts? If you have poor money habits, even a billion will leave you broke by the 10th. The basics of cash flow management is that the outlet need to be smaller than the inlet.

Anyone saying 400k net in Kenya is peanuts is just an irresponsible bastard. There is no excuse. Anyone who can’t afford to live comfortably (not lavishly), and save at least 2.4M per year from a 400k net salary is financially illiterate. Hii shida mimi huiona sana na high earning professionals like medics, managers, and lawyers. Kenya is a relatively poor country and you don’t need to earn millions to live comfortably.

[Trucker]

@Maize_Combuster

…iend who was making a million net but he’s always in debt

I am struggling to understand your point. 400k is a lot of money in Kenya n tusidanganyane. KNBS itself inasema 90% of Kenyans are hooves eaters. So how can 400k be peanuts? If you have poor money habits, even a billion will leave you broke by the 10th. The basics of cash flow management is that the outlet need to be smaller than the inlet.

I am actually agreeing with you, without money management skills 400k, 1m or whatever is not a lot of money. You saw Salasya showing his payslip the other day

[lawnmower]

This thread is about personal finance management something many people struggle with. The power of money is not in how much you earn but how well you use what you earn.

If you want a personal finance management tool DM me