The Situation
This image was taken from a post by @monica-ene where she wrote about shopping in Nigeria. You can check out the article here. Source
Now, I really enjoyed the insight into a Nigerian market but the overall picture was pretty bleak.
A few quotes from her article:
She believed that there is no chance that the wages would be enough to provide food for a month
Knowing fully well that all this wouldn't last a family of 4 beyond 3weeks.
That the wages just wouldn't be enough to survive on. It left an impression that minimum wage was a death sentence. Be fed just enough to make sure you are still hungry and wanting.
Well no body can actually be able to survive with the 30k looking at the current prices of goods as I will be posting them
At the end she made a shopping list of things to pick up at the market and go home depressed that it wasn't going to be enough and that it would be another month of struggle, no fun, no hope, and hunger.
Basically when you visit the market, you can only pick a few things with the 30k. Probably a tin of milk 2500 And milo 2500 Bag of Semo 7500 Pack of noodles 4300 Paint of rice. 2500 Keg of oil 7000
In addition to the lack of hope that I heard in Monica's post the Hive Learners community had a discussion topic of "How inflation is hurting and how you cope"
Again, the Nigerian community (and others) stepped up wrote about how hard it is to cope with inflation.
I heard stories of people not bothering to go out and socialize because its too expensive. Others not going out because there is nothing outside other than heat, crime and items that are unaffordable. Others trying to fight inflation by buying in bulk but still not having enough. Still others frustrated because prices seemed to jump daily with one poor poster having the price go up on him in the time it took to go home and get his wallet.
My Response / Sanity Check
I'm torn in how I should respond to articles like the ones that I've read.
On the one side I have no links or ties to Nigeria or its people. I've never personally met someone from Nigeria and nothing to gain from helping
On the other side I want to fight against poverty, injustice and hopelessness wherever I see it. Whether it is my personal fight or not.
Before Hive there was no practical way for me to take any action or communicate in any reasonable way with people so far away. With Hive I can communicate with the community easily and send funds directly. But is this a fight I should bother with?
I wonder if it's arrogance that I think I could come up with a plan where people in the middle of the fight are facing despair. I'm reading reports from biologists, doctors, and other well educated people about the futility of the fight. Why should I think I would do any better?
I wonder if it's insulting that I think I could advise someone in a situation I've never encountered. I really don't want to be seen as some rich westerner meddling in affairs that are not his own.
I wonder if its condescending that I would offer advice to people when I've never set foot in their country. The people I've been reading are incredibly hardworking, intelligent and skilled. If anyone could solve the problems it would be them.
However
I am hearing people who have lost hope. How can I not stop and try to help?
I am removed from the situation so perhaps I can give a different viewpoint from a different perspective?
Hive gives me a way to stand beside others and help as I'm able. If I can help other skilled people to work my effectively should I lend a hand where I can?
Asking for help
So, I'll be asking for help from anyone who cares to help me write my upcoming posts and thoughts on how to survive on such little money.
What help do I need?
Mostly I would categorize it as Prices and Feedback
I'll be presenting ideas on bulk buying, diet, community, lifestyle changes, cool money saving products and more. However, without getting prices on stuff I'll have no idea if I've hit the $65 budget or gone way over. Without getting feedback I'll have no way to know if I'm giving good ideas or useless crap.
My First Post
Is it even possible to eat for 30,000 Naira per month....Based on the prices given by Monica in her post?
First I'll consider a typical Canadian breakfast of milk and cereal.
Milk satchet was listed at 30 cents (USD). It isn't listed the size of the satchet but I'll assume it was 20g which would yield about 250ml of milk
Add on some cereal which is $3.60 for 350g.
I can already tell you the numbers aren't looking very good.
20g of Milo is about 90 calories
350g of corn flakes is about 1400 calories.
So $3.90 for 1490 calories with a requirement of 2000 calories a day.
Which is not surprising at all because of one rule I'm going to add for surviving on a tight budget
RULE: Don't pay other people to do your cooking!
Corn flakes is made by Nasco while Milo is made by Nestle. They are prepared foods made by big companies. In short you are paying the companies to make your food for you! It is poor people giving to rich companies! Can't do that on such a low budget.
Second I'll consider the instant noodle packages.
These are favorites of broke students worldwide! Maybe they will win on the $2.15day challenge. Although I bet it will not because of the above rule about prepared foods! But, lets look at the numbers.
Monica said it costs $9 for a carton. However, she didn't say how many are in the carton. I will assume that it is a 24 pack of 70g instant noodles.
Assuming that the 70g pack has 300 calories and 24 in a pack that means 7200 calories for the whole box. If a person needs 2000 calories a day then the box would be good for about 3.5 days.
$9 for 3.5days of food means : $2.57 per day
As I thought.
Third: Let's look at the oil, rice and semolina (flour)
I'm actually a lot more hopeful for these items. They are NOT really processed food. They are staple foods that you have to cook yourself.
Now in Monica's post she said that she bought
- A paint of rice for 2500 ($5.50)
- A keg of oil for 7000 ($15.40)
- A bag of Semo for 7500 (16.50)
I will make a few assumptions: That the paint of rice is a "Paint Can" of rice which would weigh about 14kg. The keg of oil is 5L of palm oil (shown earlier in her article). That the Semo is semolina as shown in picture not semovita as written and that it is 10kg.
Not sure of those assumptions but I have to work with something:
So.
- 5L of Palm oil has about 40,000 calories
- 10kg of flour has about 36,000 calories
- 14kg of rice has about 50,000 calories
That means $37.40 for 126,000 calories. If you need 2000 calories per day that means 126,000 calories will cover 63 days.
Or a cost of 59 cents per day for one person.
But there are a few problems. First, Monica was talking about feeding a family of 4 and she is right 30,000 Naira for a family of 4 is a task even I'm not going to try and undertake. Second, it is NOT possible to live on those three items. There are two carbohydrate sources and one fat source but there is NO protein source. Sad to say but protein sources are the most expensive portion of food budget.
I have ideas on inexpensive protein sources. Typically it means beans and other legumes. I remember another person reading about how they switched to a less expensive fish to save money. However, I have a little different approach.
Live as cheaply as humanly possible for many days of the week when its not important. Then spend a little of what you saved so you can have the nicer fish, beef, or chicken on a few days of the month. In short save regularly and splurge occassionally.
End of article message
I believe that there is hope
While it may not be great food. The oil, rice and flour could be used to make something to eat at a cost far less than the $2.15 budget we have. At least ONE person could eat on a 30,000naira/day budget.
However it is NOT possible for a family of four in my opinion.
It is also NOT possible unless you follow the rule:
Packaged and prepared foods just add to the profits of major companies and I don't believe that should be part of an inexpensive/frugal lifestyle.
Getting a protein source into the diet is also super important. Next article I'll look into making a diet from BASIC unprocessed ingredients and see what dollar value I get when looking at actually balancing the macro's (carbohydrates, fats, and protein).
Final Thought:
Help and Rewards.
I'd like to request the help of all you wonderful Hive users out there to get prices on basic staple foods. The ones I'm most interested in are:
- Sugar
- Flour
- Cassava flour / Garri
- Split peas
- Chickpeas
- Dried Soya bean
- Peanut
- Oatmeal
- Milk
- Eggs
- Beef/Fish/Chicken/Turkey
- Rice
- Potato
Now my upvotes won't be worth much so I'd like ideas on how I should reward those who help me out. Should I make a contest? Should I tip in Hive or HBD? Should I tip in ecency points? Plus how much tip is nice to receive and how little is insulting?
So, I'm asking for the help of these people I've either heard from or read from for feedback. I'm adding it to ping you and if you don't want to be pinged or don't like my posts please let me know so I won't bother you again.
@monica-ene, @emreal, @etorobong, @jmis101, @beautiefair @deborah-yelemu, @jjmusa2004, @nkemakonam89, @drceeyou
Thanks everyone.
And to the moderators. I think I've followed guidelines but if I've strayed let me know please