Let me tell you the story of a toy. In August 2013, when my daughter was about one and a half years old, I had to travel to South Africa for a week for work, followed by another 2 weeks when I wouldn’t be able to see her because my mom insisted that she stays with her in Meru for an additional 2 weeks. It…
Read MoreWhat are your work and life goals? Are you working today, to save up x amount of money, then you will retire to either do what you love, or to rest in old age? Most of us are. We defer rest and happiness, suck it up in jobs we hate that are aging us, all for the hope that one day, we will have enough…
Read MoreOver the last 4 months, I have been participating in a savings challenge. When I started out, the intention was to save for a holiday in India, where I intended to run the Bengaluru Midnight Marathon. However, because of work concerns, I will not be going to India this December. But, you can bet I will be running a marathon somewhere in Asia early next…
Read MoreIf you live in Kenya, you are definitely familiar with the idea of car resale value, which is a huge part of the Kenyan car buying experience. A significant part of the car owning population buys second hand imports from Japan (typically 5-7 years old), with a view of driving it for may be 3-6 years, then replacing it with a newer second hand car….
Read MoreI recently finished reading Ramit Sethi’s I Will Teach You To Be Rich. He gives very good practical personal finance advice,but I felt the book was written for and suited for an American audience. For example, when discussing how to pick a bank, he talks of asking the bank to waive fixed fees and other fees and threatening to move banks of they do not….
Read MoreFirst off, borrowing money (or lending) to family and friends is a terrible idea. Most of us have horror stories of money lent out that cost you the relationship or you let go off to avoid losing the relationship. I have had many such experiences where I lend money out and never get it back. I also have testimonies of decades old money borrowing and…
Read MoreFor the longest time, people repeated and believed the 21 Day Rule; that it takes 21 days to form a new habit. However, recent research has shown this to be false. The number of days it takes to form a habit depends on the type of habit, and the strategy used or how you train your mind on the new habit. For example, the habit…
Read MoreBefore I went out into business for myself, my goal was to always be credit-free. It is a bragging point for most personal finance bloggers, gurus and wanna be gurus, but being debt free is also a great place to be! I have however discovered that in business, being debt-free is almost impossible. This is especially so if you are in agriculture where you do not…
Read MoreA few years ago I hosted a very good friend at my home for the first time. Later in the day, as he thanked me for hosting him, he told me a rather curious thing (paraphrasing): ” I like your house very much, though I think the TV you have downgrades it. I didn’t expect someone of your status to have such a TV” My TV…
Read MoreThe last post in this series was about making big changes in your life to be able to start saving or meet long term goals. I shared that for me, the big changes included even moving towns because it meant a cheaper house, a better (and cheaper) school for my daughter, and less time wasted in the city. However, it is not always possible to make the…
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