Live Within Your Means

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So, here’s the thing. You can’t be living the lit life on social media. Attending the craziest events & hanging out at the poshest joints & you expect people to think you’re broke? Why should they? It’s visually obvious you’re sending out the message that you made it in life. I mean, you’re attending events that many out there are wishing to attend but can’t afford to. What else do you want people to perceive of that?

With this illustrated lifestyle, everything about you is expected to be fast lane, boss. Rick Ross. Including accommodation. With the life you’re flaunting out there, we then expect that you probably crash at some posh villa with inbuilt facilities, Wi-Fi, poolside, inside bar or something. I mean, if you can afford to hang out lavishly then you can definitely afford to live in a well suited house. Mansion.

Where I am driving my point to is about a Ugandan social media frenzy about this lady who was put in a daily paper by her landlord for failure to pay rent amounting to about four million Uganda shillings. I posted something about it & someone asked me whether I knew her for me to judge & I actually don’t. It is too bad the landlord went as hard as putting her up in the papers. Insane it is but crazier are the guys who wanted to organize a car wash to help raise her rent. Seriously! These are the things that are moving us now? And then we blame the government for spending money on things like the three wheeled motorcycles? LOL. But why? Those things are a joke.

I would say, people have failed to grasp the basic knowledge of spending money/ resources & by our utter ignorance we’re seemingly ready to support it. By organizing a car wash fundraiser for an apparent slay queen who failed to raise rent but can afford expensive weaves & outings.

For starters, people should learn to live within their means. If you have a job that pays you a basic 500k for example then why stay in a house that charges about 400k? How are you going to survive on the remaining 100k for a full month unless if you get free lunch & supper at your work place & it pays your power, water bills plus facilitating your transportation? Is that why some girls open brackets to survive? How are you going to save for future projects if your dream is to get wealthy legally & morally off your sweat & yet it’s some of these virtues that you’re clearly not in line with? If you’re one whose source of income is not big enough to support your lifestyle, I’d suggest you get a basic house in a basic area, keep friends that you’re able to run to in case life is not smiling your way. People you can confide in when you’re troubled & they can offer you help. Usually the people in your phone-book/ social circle are an indication of who you’re as a person. If you don’t have people who can bail you out when life is throwing Muhammad Ali punches at you then you may definitely be in need of a new set of friends.

Sometimes we do the mistake of feeding our wants & not our needs. Of following a lot of that which glitters thinking it’s all gold. Of trying so much to keep appearances instead of focusing on personal development & inner peace. Of thinking with our eyes & not the brain. Shallow. Someone told me not to judge but naturally, humans will judge first on how you appear or what image you decide to show.

Part of my anger comes from an interaction I had with someone of quite a similar type. She’s this girl who is always uploading twerking videos in groupie moments at posh joints. Her belly out, skirt short, beer glass in one hand, voice high, crop top & ass to the camera or dubbing her girls. She in boxed me one time after I don’t know how many years and without even settling into knowing how our lives have been since we last met in 2014 which should be common courtesy, she was asking me for money for some campus issue. This is someone I think finished campus about 3 years ago & when I told her I couldn’t help her, the conversation proceeded not any further. A few days later, she was at the morally controversial Nyege Nyege Festival. I was vexed.  Even if your argument may be that she might have saved for the festival, wouldn’t it seem more logical if she instead used that money to cater for her education needs than a senseless festival? Like as if it’s the festival that’s going to get her a job (unless of course if she sleeps with the right people there.)