When I talked to one of my good friends, he casually mentioned that his parents handed out plots of land to him and his brother. Please note, this was not one of those days where the boys were ceremoniously dressed up in matching suits and taken out to a restaurant for the titles to be handed to them in envelopes. No. It was a random, casual evening before or after dinner. He doesn’t remember the details because, according to him, this was as simple as receiving chocolate from the parents.
Why is this a highlight for me? I do not come from a background where children are handed land titles (or cows) once they are adults. And this is not because my parents weren’t willing—they did their best—which was taking me through school.
Most of us come from backgrounds where our ancestors’ shoulders have to support 12 siblings and a host of other relatives. When I think about my own background, my parents were literally magicians, ensuring that we survived and thrived with zero resources. I struggle raising myself, and cannot imagine the effort it took to raise my siblings and I.
However, if we can learn from the principle of evolution, which suggests that the next generation should slightly be better than the previous, we would have cracked the code. By default, everything in life is supposed to improve. Even the Delta variant is an improvement of its ancestor, the initial COVID-19.
I heard of a one-year-old child whose first birthday was celebrated from an apartment that she already owns (at 1), because of her hardworking parents.
Hearing these stories have given me a slight tweak of envy. Some people have it easier than others, but this is what life is all about. I have decided to turn my jealousy into hard work because the difference between these A-class citizens and me is that they stand on the efforts of the previous generations.
How can we reduce the likelihood of ‘black tax’ for our next generations so that they don’t have to save for years to buy a plot of land or a car? Because to be honest, these are basic needs today. Living for ourselves isn’t enough; we now need to live our lives so well that our children and their children start from our (good) ceiling.
This calls for living more responsibly by reducing the glam in our lives as we accumulate wealth for our next generations. Young people undoubtedly love the good life (duh), but we need to tone it down a little to achieve this. Living in an economy like ours makes it more complicated. We sometimes spend up to 80% of what we earn, leaving us with no extra income for savings and investments. But here are a few ways we can live under our means and change the vicious cycle:
● Cut your living expenses: I have learned to shop for groceries from a good market where prices haven’t been hiked yet. Instead of buying milk at the supermarket, I now go to Inyange outlets evenly distributed across the city. This usually reduces my expenditure by at least Rwf 500 per month.
● Reduce car expenses: Don’t hate me, but owning a car does not mean that you should give a ride to everyone you meet, even if they live on the opposite side of your home. I did this in my foolish days (haha) until I realised that a car does not actually come with fuel or spare parts. So drive when you have to and let the car breathe too.
● Cook: Cooking does not only reduce restaurant expenses, but it also increases our lifespan. We have been blessed with healthy, fresh foods in the market, so we might as well consume them at least five days a week. It also teaches us impressive cooking skills in the process.
● Invest in financial education: We tend to invest in other things but forget about financial education. To excel in anything, we need constant reminders, discipline, and even a community of people to keep us accountable for our decisions.
I could keep going, but I have to run to my side hustle so that the next generation gets to be handed land titles and apartments too. So, ciao.
The writer is Rwanda’s first female saxophonist.
stellathesaxophonist@gmail.com