Ladies and gentlemen let’s get real o!
How have you been coping with the recent increase in prices of food, clothes, school fees and even hair salon/barbing costs? The other day a group of women were gisting at the salon about how things ‘get as e bi’. Truly we all just need to eavesdrop on the average conversation and focus on how to get by during these tough times.
A reality for most family people, is that the end of the year is coming and the New Year is knocking at the door. This is usually a great time for families to get together and have fun with loved ones & friends too. But it also means a few more mouths to feed, more clothes to buy and yes! that Aso –ebi for brother Sunday’ son’s wedding.
So how do we get by? The sisters at the saloon advised we attend every single FREE online seminar, that will happen between now and December on managing budgets. They also made some suggestions on how to save money on end of the year expenses by buying in bulk and here are some of the tips:
- Groups are not just for gist. You can pool your resources together into buying food stuffs in bulk. The trick is to plan ahead and put some savings aside for group expenses (possibly in a FirstBank saving account). Then get about 6 to 10 people to form a group for bulk buying clusters for basic food items like sacks of rice, beans, garri, semo, yam, cooking oil and share. The group simply keeps this platform running and makes such purchases every quarter of the year or twice a year as the needs in the group are identified.
- Some groups buy in bulk and redistribute in smaller bags so cash outlay is pooled together for better bargaining power. In this plan, there is no long term savings account or long term quarterly purchase. Money is simply pooled for purpose of stretching resources available at hand for better bargaining power. End of year food shopping, school uniform purchases, clothing material purchases, etc are items that can be procured with these pooled resources.
- Shop ahead of time.
For non – perishable items, try to buy and store ahead of time to avoid the last-minute rush where prices will go up due to demand. Do you know you can buy your birthday, Christmas, Festive and New Year cards and gifts 1 year in advance and store away. You will get great bargains and many freebies when you purchase in bulk off peak season and this applies to clothing items too.
For perishable items just check the expiration date and try to buy when the demand season for such items is low. Buying in bulk, will give you better economies of scale.
- Recycle, recycle and recycle.
The gist picked up here is that many of our clothing and shoe items can be given a new lease of life by recycling different combinations. Convert some of your wrappers and Aso-Oke’s into new clothing items as this will save you money and the bulk of your items can be given a new lease of life. You can also buy new clothing items in bulk as a group when you choose to.
- Whatever you do, keep your objective of buying in bulk in mind. Do not become too generous and dash out all your stock (as the idea is to keep in stock and use over a long period of time). Do not also overeat, just because your storehouse is full. No need to increase your consumption of meat per meal to 4 pieces when your norm is 1 or 2.
Keep your goal in mind and maintain your focus to buy in bulk and save money.
Happy shopping and do remember to pay with your FirstBank debit or credit card!
Image Source: SHUTTERSTOCK
