Savings and Rain

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Pic: Nonqaba waka Msimang.

Saving for a rainy day, was mama’s motto. We knew she meant school fees, school uniform or new shoes when shoemaker could not repair present ones anymore.

People all over the world believe saving is a good idea. Families in Sweden reportedly lead the pack in bank savings, followed by Germany. The U.K. seems to be in bad shape with estimates that nearly half of people there, have less than 100 British pounds in their savings accounts.

First of all, saving might be the ideal, but it is not possible if you are living from hand to mouth; earn less than the minimum wage; have seasonal or part time jobs; or paying off student loans, as they do in the U.S.

If you are lucky enough to have a steady job and a profitable business, you can save. But when is the rainy day? That is subjective. It depends on many things. My rainy day might be sunny to you.

Some people argue that a rainy day is just proverbial, because we have car insurance, home insurance, flood insurance, parcel insurance we buy at the post office and all other types of insurance.

But still, we can safely say a rainy day is when we are caught unawares, in a big way.

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.

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