The More My Salary Increased, the More Broke I Became

I worked in Molo for 5 years. I always wanted to leave but never got anything that I was moving on to. I was working as an accountant for a small Sacco there. I started with a Ksh25,000 salary in 2016 and slowly rose through the ladder to Ksh40,000 a month. 

This might not seem much but for a small town like Molo, it was okay. The rent was cheap. I was living in a spacious one-bedroom for Ksh6,000. The food was also affordable. Commuting was not a problem; I was walking to work. So, I was doing alright. 

Despite being in Molo for five years, mentally I was never settled. I knew, career-wise, that that small town had a ceiling and it was very low. I wanted a place where I could grow. 

Looking For Greener Pastures

That is why I decided to apply for an internship at one of the big accounting firms in the country. This was in 2021 and I was 28. Quite old to be an intern but I thought it would not be a bad idea to seek a fresh start. Fortunately, I got the internship. I took a massive pay cut and moved to Nairobi, where life is much more expensive.

This new opportunity presented growth prospects that I was willing to bet on. I knew I believed in myself and was waiting for an opportunity to prove myself. Which I had now gotten. And proving myself, I did. 

Most of my peers in the internship were fresh from college, I had worked for five years. I had a big advantage over them. I had the knowledge, skills, and work ethic. The laborious work I put in in the small Sacco was now paying off. 

After the internship, I was absorbed, and my pay immediately doubled what I was earning in Molo. 

During the internship, I made a lot of sacrifices to survive. But now that I had a new job and it paid twice my last salary, it was time to appreciate myself for the effort and sacrifice I had put in.

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Greener Pastures

Immediately, I moved. I wanted to live somewhere closer to town. I got a one-bedroom apartment at Roysambu for Ksh18,000. After paying water and garbage, the total bill was about Ksh20,000 a month. Having moved into the new house, I needed household appliances and furniture. 

I thought, instead of staying in the house without the appliances and furniture, I would stock and lipa mdogo mdogo. Since I had a relationship with two suppliers, they agreed to my proposal. But that meant I was buying things at a higher cost. This is where the rain started beating me.

It took me a year before I could pay off everything. I had overpaid by almost half the cost of the furniture and home appliances. These included a cooker (Ksh 33,000), fridge (Ksh31,000), microwave (Ksh11,000), dispenser (Ksh10,500), 5-seater sofa set (Ksh 45,000), bed (Ksh18,000) and coffee table (Ksh15,000) adding up to I63,500. In the end, I paid a little over Ksh250,000. 

Other items that my friends were not supplying, I had to buy out of pocket. I also updated my wardrobe significantly within the course of the year and picked up a few expensive hobbies along the way, such as going out every other weekend and random road trips I had not planned for. 

It was my time to have fun, travel and experience life. After all, I had paid my fair share of “suffering” by living in Molo for five years. 

Overextending the Greener Pastures

By the time the year was coming to an end, I was feeling the financial pressure. I was just telling myself that as soon as I finished paying off my items, I would rearrange my finances for a fresh start. 

As soon as I finished with the heavy payment, I got promoted at work. My five-year experience was working for me and my pay was increasing by 50%. The plan to rearrange life anew went with the wind. I now had money, the pressure was off.

I took to partying a little heavily. I financed a Nissan Note, which I bought for Ksh950,000. The car came with a lifestyle upgrade of its own. I could now crisscross the country as I wanted. I found myself running out of money and started taking soft loans to finance my new lifestyle. 

The whole time, I was not saving. I was living it all.

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Re-aligning My Pastures

After about a year and a half of this wild life,I realised that I was getting into a bad cycle.I got paid, paid my bills and loans and did not have anything left to facilitate me the rest of the month. I had to take another loan to get enough to eat, fuel, and go out for the month. 

This was heightened by the creeping realisation that I was now in my 30s and needed to create a foundation for my later years. .

Starting June 2023,  I decided to punish myself. I took public transportation to work, I had lunch at a kibandaski near my place of work, and I walked instead of taking a taxi. 

I started restructuring my life. One thing you learn fast is that when you stop partying, you lose your entire social circle. I was very lonely. But I remained adamant about realigning my life. 

It has been a year, but things are back on track. I have some savings, I am almost finished with the car loan, and I got a girlfriend and for now, she is the best positive influence in my social circle. We are planning on starting a life together and have many other goals.

At work, things are going well. I am grateful that during my escapades I never fumbled the bag.

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