Money Confessions: I Quit a 50K Job Because I Didn’t Want to Live in Ushago

There are many things I am learning in my late twenties. I grew up in a remote village where our understanding of success was to move to Nairobi - the big city that never sleeps. It is because of this mentality that I quit a well-paying job with a Ksh50,000 net salary to come hustle in the city. 

A lot has happened that has transformed our village - but still, many of us think of city life as the epitome of good living. I too was in that mistaken belief, but I have learned it the hard way. This is my money confession. 

I grew up country, Kivandini to be exact. Kivandini is on the far end of Machakos County, about 170 kilometres from Nairobi. Although we are in the same county as the people who live in Syokimau, we are closer to Embu than to Nairobi. 

Going to Uni

These days, getting to Nairobi takes us less than 3 hours, smooth tarmac all the way. When I was growing up, things were different. The roads were bad, no electricity, and there was hardly any economic activity in our hometown.

It got worse as you went up the villages. Still, we worked hard in school because our biggest motivation was to get an education and seek better opportunities in Nairobi. By the time I cleared high school at Machakos Boys, things had started to change. 

There were multiple universities apart from Nairobi, KU, and Moi which we had heard of growing up. By then, it made more sense to pick a university outside Nairobi to increase your chances of getting a better course since the out-of-town campuses had less competition. 

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An Awakening Village

That is how I ended up at Masinde Muliro University of Technology (MMUST) - studying the famous BCom -  Bachelor of Commerce. Kakamega was a decent place to be a student, I enjoyed the four years I spent there. Time flew by and before long, I was back in Kivandini awaiting my graduation. 

Luckily, my hometown had changed significantly and there was a bit of economic activity to keep me busy. From fixing computers in the local schools to tutoring local students. 

One of the students I was helping with Math tuition happened to be the son of a senior manager at a local power company that had set up a plant a few kilometres from my home. That is how I landed my first job - initially earning Ksh25,000 per month as an intern. 

After my graduation, my salary was increased to Ksh40,000 and a year later, I had hit Ksh50,000. Looking back, I was extremely lucky. Many of my college mates were earning a lot less while others were jobless. 

My Big Mistake

But life has many contradictions because I was still envious of my friends who had gotten jobs in Nairobi. I think the job had become so easy or routine that as I look back, I feel I took it for granted.  

I felt like an underachiever working in the same place I had lived for the first 20 years of my life. It did not help matters that some of the people I looked up to - uncles and elder cousins, kept making fun of my dwellings. 

“You went to university just to come back here and live with us in this hot village? I am sure even when it comes to marriage, you will be competing with us for the girl to take home from this small town,” they would tease me. 

The pressure got to me and I decided to resign. Remember, my Ksh50,000 gross salary came with other benefits such as overtime allowance and per diems whenever I travelled. 

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Village Tycoon

The extra earnings were enough to match my statutory deductions - meaning my net income came to more or less Ksh50,000. I was living at home and did not have rent costs. 

I took care of the household shopping and other family-related costs which came to about Ksh10,000. I spent another Ksh10,000 every month on entertainment and personal needs. Transport to and from work was catered for by the company. Thus, I was saving about Ksh30,000 every month. 

After working in my hometown for close to two years, I quit to chase what I thought would be better opportunities here in Nairobi. That was in January 2020. I had saved quite a huge amount - close to Ksh200,000 in cash and liquid investments. 

Nairobi is Hard!

I spent part of it buying household items and renting a bedsitter in Roysambu which I would use as my base to conquer the city. Unfortunately, just after I had settled, the pandemic struck - grounding nearly every aspect of our lives. 

I had the option to go back to the village and restrategise but I was too worried about what my peers would say if I came back to Kivandini after only 4 months in the city. And worse off, with nothing - my old job had already been filled by a new entrant. I chose to persevere. 

It was not until September 2020 that I landed my first job in the city. I was hired as a business development officer at a local bank. 

The news was well received in the village but little did they know I was barely earning half my salary in Kivandini. By this time, I had already realised my mistake - Nairobi was not what it seemed in my innocent and naive perspective from Kivandini. 

My initial gross salary was Ksh30,000. Minus statutory deductions, I got Ksh24,000. My rent was Ksh9,000 while my daily fare from Roysambu to Gikomba, the branch I was assigned to, was Ksh250 daily. That’s about Ksh5,000 per month. 

Food is expensive in Nairobi - coupled with the fact that I needed a new set of formal clothes to blend in the banking world. On a typical month, I was left with Ksh4,000 to share between saving, sending to my parents, and entertainment. 

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Retracing My Steps

Unlike in Kivandini where I had ample time to socialise and work on personal projects like upgrading my “simba” and rearing goats, city life was always about work. I would leave Roysambu at 6 am to get to Gikomba on time.   I would then leave some minutes to 7 pm and get home well past 9 pm.

 This was the routine from Monday to Friday - Saturdays I worked till 1 pm but I was always too tired to do anything else. It was a difficult time in my life. Even after my salary was increased to Ksh50,000, it was barely enough to take care of my needs and savings. 

In January this year, the bosses announced a new opening for my position in Wundanyi - my colleagues were loudly hesitant but after confirming I would get the same salary and a relocation allowance, I made the bold decision to leave the city. 

I am now happier, healthier, and richer - from the same salary I was receiving in Nairobi. 

My return to Ushago has come with a new perspective which I have been sharing with anyone who cares to listen. Many people forget that they left the village to upgrade their lives and that of the people they left behind.

Now, if the same opportunities we were looking for are more abundant in the villages than in the city, then there is no problem with getting success away from the city!