The first month of the year has brought to light a number of issues plaguing the society. One of the most noteworthy challenges is the “Njaanuary” phenomenon. For those who may not be familiar with the term, Njaanuary is a word that Kenyans use to refer to the lack of money during the month of January. It is a product of wordplay using the words Njaa, which means hungry, and January. Usually, the financial drought experienced in January is attributed to the excessive and unnecessary spending during the December holidays and festivities. Most Kenyans have a tendency of throwing lavish parties, travelling and generally behaving as though January will never come. Considering that and the fact that the month marks the beginning of a new term and shift to higher classes, January automatically becomes the longest month of the year.
The poor financial practice associated with Njaanuary is strongly ingrained within the Kenyan culture. Most citizens find themselves trapped within the depressing cycle of being broke at the start of each new year either as a direct result of their actions or as victims of those who made the poor choices. Those who overspend during the festivities are unable to pay their bills on time thus negatively impacting those relying on that cash. The Njaanuary phenomenon is also believed to have an impact on the perception of time. Notably, many Kenyans afflicted by this phenomenon find the month to be unusually long with people making memes and jokes about January having over a hundred days. Meanwhile, overall expenditure is low since people can only buy essentials and a large number of citizens get into debt just to stay afloat. In turn, this has a ripple effect on the overall economy as most people are broke when the year starts.
Let me paint a scenario: John throws party after party in December to celebrate the different holidays during the month. He uses up all of his salary and savings to impress friends and family. The people who come to the party decide to take advantage of the host and start making unreasonable demands. They butter him up and convince him to buy expensive liquor and meat to liven things up. Because he wants to prove a point, John foolishly takes a loan to finance the festivities. Soon after, John gets a call telling him that his grandmother rolled down the hill earlier that day and accidentally fell into another dimension; he needs to send money urgently (because all the freak accidents happen in December). So John goes further into debt to send money to help rescue his grandmother (which don't get me wrong is a noble cause but still means more debt). Shortly after, all kinds of calls come from Ocha (the village) with emergency requests that range from genuine ones to downright ridiculous ones. However, John does not want to be the only one on the WhatsApp group list who did not send money for the various emergencies and goes deeper yet into debt.
Come January, kids are going back to school and John suddenly remembers he has one of those in his house. To make it worse, his child is enrolling to form 1, which means a new uniform, textbooks, astronomical school fees, travel expenses, and an endless list of school supplies. The landlord then shows up and almost gives John a heart attack, even though he was just coming to wish them a happy new year. He remembers his insurance is due and will have to be paid by the 5th along with several other bills. John goes to his phone to get a quick loan and realizes he has already reached his limit. At this point his wife resents him and his friends who came to the party are nowhere to be found. With no friends and no money, January feels like it has 70 more days to go. John realizes he is experiencing what is commonly known as Njaanuary. At this point, John's questionable behavior affects several people since he is unable to make payments on time. In turn, those people fail to meet their needs and the chain continues. With a large number of people experiencing Njaanuary, more people are affected indirectly.
To increase your liquidity you need to avoid behaving like John. While it is good to spend money, make merry and make people happy, it is crucial to constantly think about the future. As such, it is crucial to learn ways to increase cash flow so as to break away from the Njaanuary cycle. Active income is the most common type of income and involves working continuously to earn a living. For instance, getting a job is an active income since you get paid for work done. However, depending on the amount of money earned and the payment frequency, active income cannot always guarantee liquidity. In contrast, passive income refers to making investments that will generate income down the line. A good example of this is stocks and real estate. However, in the age of digital business online investments, good affiliate programs have proven to provide sustainable income for both passive earners and active workers. With the current economy, it is critical to have both active and passive forms of income. This is crucial if you are to break the cycle of poverty.
One of the most talked-about ways of making money in Kenya is shifting to digital platforms. Unfortunately, with the increased number of con artists online, the possibility of making money online is exponentially low. Moreover, there are marketers at every corner trying to get a hold of people's purses with little concern for their victims. Consequently, this makes it difficult for people to find genuine ways to make money in Kenya. However, genuine affiliate programs offer great economic empowerment to workers. One of the most reliable affiliate programs is SimpleSell bulk SMS. The program enables people like John to take advantage of their connections and networks to make an active income through direct sales. However, even after the sale is done, the program offers the unique opportunity to earn passive income from future purchases of their referee. That means that John would still make money in January from clients recruited the previous year. As such, John would not struggle as much as he did in January despite his questionable choices since he would still receive a passive income from the affiliate program. To learn more about the affiliate program you can get in touch with the SimpleSell SMS team via the email affiliate@simplesellable.com and start earning.
By Christine Njoki - Published 31st Jan 2022, 11:55pm
