Plan for emergencies for they are an inevitable part of our existence
I woke up and went through my note on what my writing should be about today. I kept drifting off to sleep as sleep kept knocking me off.
I did finally give in to my body then woke up to finish. Life sometimes teaches us to find a balance and that when a vital thing is missing, we might struggle to attain our full potential
Imagine how I couldn't type past the first two paragraphs of this post until I gave myself the much-needed sleep and woke up revitalized.
Preparing for emergencies
Yesterday, I had to see a doctor concerning my migraine that has existed for God knows how long. As much as I didn't plan to spend the money I spent yesterday on a Hospital card and prescribed drugs, I was happy I had my week planned out.
Source@
My friend had visited and he brought foodstuffs that I knew if I manage well, will be enough for at least five days to six days. And he left me with small cash for situations where I won't be able to do a transfer ("my country is trying to develop a cashless policy, it's going horribly but we are adjusting").
I also had toiletries and other supplies that would last for at least two months
Since I like budgeting too much, I had done my maths and I knew nothing would shake me this week.
The cash he drop will suffice for transportation and I can stroll for some days, and take the bus on other days. The foodstuffs will suffice too. And if I ever needed to do a transfer, I had a small change in my wallet to run.
I didn't see the hospital bills coming. But it wasn't a problem because I had already mapped out my week, so using the available cash and the money in my palmpay wallet for my hospital bills meant I still had food and other supplies. This was a big relief.
Imagine if I had squandered the money he gave me, and the one in my wallet, my two months' supplies, or even misuse the foodstuffs, I would be in huge trouble. To think that I had been preaching emergencies and careful planning all week and this happened without any contingency plan on my part would be a crazy situation.
Emergencies are a part of life, as long as we live and breathe. Yesterday, I experience mine. While I was talking to my friend about my symptoms, he jokingly considered I might have a brain tumor. It was a crazy thought and I told him to stop because I didn't have the money it would require to get it treated.
But he mentioned, if I had a brain tumor, I would die. I chuckled. I wasn't fazed about dying. I just knew what I would do if I found myself close to dying.
Most people never think about dying, and this is why they don't prepare adequately for it. They shake the thoughts of dying off because they are afraid. But thinking about dying, allows you to plan for how your loved ones will be sustained while you are gone.
Especially if you are the breadwinner of the family. Death is one of the emergencies that can not be swept under the rug because it's inevitable. But we shy away from planning for it.
You see families whose breadwinner was well-to-do, dying, and the family is left miserable because he did not plan well. And you will see those whose family fights over the properties and fortune because there was no will. What about those whose children and wives are deprived of their dad's properties because there wasn't a son or a will wasn't prepared so the extended family comes to gather their brother's things?
These things happen. But as Africans, we tend to be delusional and we are always very superstitious. We don't want to think about dying so we don't plan for it. Instead of coming to terms with reality and making adequate preparation, we run and procrastinate, and before we know it, death or misfortune comes knowing.
An emergency fund doesn't outrightly say bad things will happen to you. What an emergency fund says, is, " I am not expecting the worst but in case the worst shows up, I'll be prepared to handle it", that's what it is. So you need to quit dodging these bullets and learn to hold them down when they come.
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