Odegle Nyang

• inflation beaters

  Posted: August 11, 2008, 5:51 pm by odegle

  I have always wondered how Zim guys manage to live with that kind of inflation. i keep on wondering how they still manage to drive, go out, pay school fees, feed families etc. Well, like the swahili say, camels must not laugh at cows hump. Back home inflation is bitting hard and deep. savings are eroded, investments fall apart and good clothing is slowly becoming a luxury. they say luck favors the prepared mind but maybe inflation too. however for those of us who were found flat footed, serious Structural adjustment plans as well stomach adjustment plans have been put in place.
  For one to get good clothes, just brave it and take a matatu number 9 to eastleigh. shirts which retail at 1000 bob in town are actually got easily from the famous isich for just under 400 shillings. trousers go for as low as 500 and you can even get suits for 2000 bob. and even those traders are facing the inflation music since they have become quite aggressive now. before they used to just sit back and wait but now if you enter any stall they try everything in the book to make a sale.
  
  and in south C one tomato can go for as much as 10 bob, to beat that, just go early to markiti (city market) and buy wholesale. for 2000, you can get enough tomatoes, onions and carrots to last you a month. they wont be that fresh when you are using them, but again the times don't give that much luxury. to beat bread price, i just got a lot of peanuts from my shamba in nyanza. Nyanza produces some of the best groundnuts in kenya. highly nutritious and sweet. secondly peanuts are more filling than bread apart from being healthy as well. on top of that i got 1 sack of maize which somehow can last close to a year given the sedentary life of the city. lentils all obtained from shags.
  
  Other ways of beating the curse is walking to church on sundays instead of going to the mass with the best music. using a matatu as much as possible. carrying packed lunch etc. and if you have a small backyard, you can just squeeze some mbogas in between the flowers. eg amaranthus vegetable is quite beautiful and can pass as a flower, even managu (osuga) or akeyo. Actually even tomatoes are quite flowery.in fact who says you cannot even have them as potted plants if you dont have a backyard? so you will be having your cake (flower garden) and eating it too. literally!
  
  However every cloud has the proverbial silver lining, the situation has provided the best stock investment opportunities in a long time. pple are getting out to cut their losses. but i think this is the best time to take advantage of under priced stocks.anywhere you ever wanted to get in, here is the moment.

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