seen this article from fb, makes an interesting read,ignore the spelling mistakes,
ctrl +v
I feel Kenyans are toooo obessed with owning homes especially from comments in this group. I would like to share with my fellow kenyans that life does not begin or end by owning a home. We have so many ways of bringing in cash like having side hustles and investing in things like government bonds, shares etc.
Right now, property in Kenya is so so expensive. You will get a job and get the job offering you mortgage, because people feel like you have to own a home to have made it in life, you rush and take that mortgage and 10years later, you realise that you are stuck in a place, you cant move because most mortgages especially given by banks dont allow you to rent out the place and you have to pay for 50years and if you default they take back the house. Before rushing to buy a house, take a loan for it or take mortgages which go up to 40years, sit down and think whether its really worth it.
Recently I was calculating and seeing that the mortgages I can actually afford are for houses hukoooooo kwa bushes. If I take a mortgage in an area I want, chances are I will pay for 40years and I will be paying a lot of money that I can actually use as rent and move to whichever area I want to move to and to any town I want to. Before rushing to tie yourself to mortgages, ask yourself whether you will have the money flow for all those years or you will leave a burden for your children.
Dear fellow savers, it is okay to save but do not kill yourself saving. It is okay to drive your dream car and rent a house, as long as you can afford it, why not?
Most people who discourage us not to buy cars and park them in rented houses dont have any property. (hii ni ukweli)
Look for different investment opportunities and the best is to get one that can bring money in to sustain your nice lifestyle. We keep being told to save for tomorrow. Your tomorrow is today, you went to school to have a better life for tomorrow, the tomorrow is today. Live well and treat yourself well. Dont strain soooo much in the name of saving, make your kids stay in unsafe area to save a few shillings, stay in a place where you cant get home late, where when it rains you almsot swim in mud to get to work, in the middle of nowhere just to save. No. Save enough and leave yourself and your kin enough to also enjoy life.
You actually can invest in your education. If you have a few shillings at hand and maybe you have a finance degree, do a CPA, do a masters degree, take professional courses that will enable you be at a better position to get promotion at work or get a better job and earn more to live better. Work harf nd live the life you want dont woek hard to save and hide money and stay in some shady place where there is even no natural light getting into the house and it is always so damp and cold. You went to school to get a better future and give your kids the best surely you cant get good pay like 100k and above, go and stay somewhere ndani ndani huko Thika, yet you have to wake up daily to go to work in town, your kids stay in a dingy place because you want to save and you dont even eat lunch at work because you are saving. What are you saving for? If you cant take simple lunch, you cant sleep well because your neighbourhood is unsecure, your kids have to stay in the house daily because they have nowhere to play in, you eat bad food daily, your wife cant even put on a descent dress ati mnasave.
What are you saving for really? It is okay to pay rent about more than even 30percent your income. These rules are not cast on stone, usijifinyilie sana as long as you can afford that rent, food, fee and other necessities, even if you are saving very little at the end of the day, its okay. I told someone tbat when I started working. i used to earn almost 20k. The first house I ever rented was about 11k. My workmates would laugh at me that nawaste pesa yet I can move to an area nilipe 5k and I save. But you see, my work place was right opposite my house, I would cross the road to work, so no fare. I woukd wake up at around 7:30am and be at work by 8 ama. I would go for lunch to my house, I would not be tired in traffic each day to and from work and at the end of the day, I had around 9k remaining i would buy food for about 4k the entire month and save that 5k. I believed I lived quality life. They may have been abke to save over 10k staying in cheap houses far from work but for what? To pay fare daily, be stuck in traffic exhausted daily, wake up soooo early and get home late daily, buy lunch etc, to me I was okay and was givong myself the very best back then.
Give your kids the best, give yourself the best, your tomorrow is today, life expectancy in kenya is 45 so if you are already headed there and you are saving, will you be going out when you are 60? Will you be taking your kids swimming and for nice treats when they are 20? Will you finally move to your dream home when you turn 60 because you were saving all your life staying in poor living conditions? You can afford a good car bit you wont buy it because you are saving to biy a home 20 years from today, surely let us be serious. I decided to save a little cash, bought extremely piece of land in my home area, very cheap for less than 100k, building mu retirement home at almost a quarter the price I would have bought a house in Nairobi at. I will move into the house when im retired hopefully at 60 and over, I dont bother about property in Nairobi really, If I will get money to throw into a house one day, i will but I cant put money in a house then strain myself to live because I know I cant afford 20million to buy a house with at once and I dont want debt in the name of a loan. Do what pleases you but do not suffer in the name of saving.