The walking dead finance; Facts

We all know that the COVID-19 pandemic crippled the economies of many countries. While some nations managed to bounce back from this declining economy, others are still struggling to recover, and some have even worsened.

My country is one of those whose economies were worsened by the pandemic, and we are yet to recover from it. There are other factors to consider when discussing what is causing the country's continued high inflation. (I wonder what the inflation rate is smoking to keep it high forever.)

I am actually not here to talk about the country in general but to discuss my finances, which I now describe as "walking dead."
I don't know how to put this anymore because I have tried every piece of financial advice I can get from friends on Hive and books that discuss finance, but none of it is working against this declining economy. The sad part is that even a double stream of income is not enough to meet your needs anymore because the more you earn, the more the prices of goods and services increase. Sometimes I wonder to myself, what am I really working for? It's more like I am working just to eat.

At first, I tried a financial plan I got from a book titled "Why Don't They Teach Me This in School?" by Cary Siegel. From that book I devised a plan.

Prioritizing my needs, which consist of shelter, food, and clothing, I calculated my monthly earnings, which are forty thousand naira ($33). My annual house rent is one hundred and fifty thousand naira ($125), which equates to twelve thousand five hundred naira per month when divided by twelve. This means it is necessary to set aside twelve thousand five hundred ($10.4) from my salary monthly, so I don't get evicted when the rent is due. I allocated ten thousand ($8.3) for food and five thousand ($4.1) for clothing. Any remaining money will be transferred to my savings.

This was the saving mechanism I was using until things got worse and my finances became dead. Currently, the prices of things are so costly that even the money I earn from all angles isn't enough. I saw a blog on Hive where a user was explaining some saving mechanisms, which I see as a very good idea, but if what you earn can't meet your demands or needs, then I don't think there is any reason to save.

I kept asking this question: "Is it possible you are starving, and you refuse to touch your savings?" Is there anyone with this kind of restraint? If there is another source of food available to the starving person, then restraint is possible, but if there is none, it is better to eat and struggle for another day.

According to inflation statistic analysis
In my country, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures the change over time in prices of 740 goods and services consumed by people for day-to-day living. The index weights are based on the expenditures of both urban and rural households in the 36 states. The most important categories in the CPI are: food and non-alcoholic beverages (52% of the total weight), housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels (17%), and clothing and footwear (8%). Transportation accounts for 7%, and furnishing and household equipment maintenance account for 5%. Others include education (4%); health (3%); miscellaneous goods and services (2%); restaurants and hotels (1%); alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and kola (1%); recreation and culture (1%); and communications (1%).

This is to show that the number of basic things needed to survive is increasing day by day. The price you paid for some goods on the market last week is not the same this week. I bought two tubers of yam in the third week of May for 4,500 naira. I went to the same person to buy the same yam the following week, only for the man to tell me the new price is 8,000. A cup of tomatoes ball before which was 50naira per 7 tomatoes ball, went from 50 naira to 500naira in three month. That's more than an 100% increase in price. It's tiring already, and it's making my finances dead, but I'm walking.

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