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Cutting your coat
One of the great things about people is that they come in all sizes and shapes. Most of us have friends, relatives and people who always like to appear to be more than they are and quite frankly, they are doing a good job at it. They have perfected the art so well leaving no room for doubts but no matter how hard they try, we are always awakened to the reality when they come again knocking at our doors, to borrow something else or more. Sometimes reality also means we are the ones knocking on doors to borrow, yet again. I still remember the first thing I borrowed. The…
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Cutting your coat
One of the great things about people is that they come in all sizes and shapes. Most of us have friends, relatives and people who always like to appear to be more than they are and quite frankly, they are doing a good job at it. They have perfected the art so well leaving no room for doubts but no matter how hard they try, we are always awakened to the reality when they come again knocking at our doors, to borrow something else or more. Sometimes reality also means we are the ones knocking on doors to borrow, yet again. I still remember the first thing I borrowed. The…
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Chronicles of Borrowing
Although it seems like all I read these days is about the Elections in Nigeria, I have found the time to follow this month’s theme on borrowing. The reason why I have read every post this month religiously is that I also have my share of the high and lows of borrowing. At one point in my life I decided to go into business to support my family, I didn’t want to go look for a 9-5 job because of my spouse’s vocation, I needed the freedom of a business to support him at any time he required. After thinking through what I wanted to do, I decided to…
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The Contentment Struggle
Back in my university days, I had a particular dorm mate that was notorious for always borrowing stuff. There was absolutely no limit to what he would ask for. Personal stuff like briefs, boxers, roll-on deodorants, etc., were not spared! Interestingly, he was never bothered by the fact that he often gets these items at the lenders’ emotional expense or discomfort. Sadly, many of us, who were his dorm mates, found it incredibly hard to come out with the blunt, single word of, no. Of course, we were acting the Good Neighbours. We also did not want to hurt his feelings. Well, what makes it worse is how he sometimes…
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Money Matters
When I was growing up, my Dad ran a very successful business and Mum worked at home; okay I would have said a stay-at-home Mum, but I have never been comfortable using that phrase to describe Mum because it somewhat has a way of conjuring a mental picture of a woman who is home all day doing nothing or watching TV – well just throw in a few chores. Okay back to Mum. The phrase just doesn’t suit her. She had nine kids to bring up, two or more extended family per time living with her, and several others dropping in to visit, or spend a few days or weeks…
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Doing the maths
I had a casual attitude to borrowing growing up. I remember my youngest sister looking at me one day and saying ‘How can you sleep well at night knowing you have borrowed so much?’ She just could not live like that. That is inter-sibling borrowing never mind going outside the family. Occurs to me now that people have different leanings naturally. To be fair, she is still like that. I remember begging her to collect a credit card about 1 year ago. I was encouraging her to seize the opportunity of being offered one to do shopping after which she could give herself years to pay off gradually. She refused…
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Turning Points
“Happy New Year!!!” Over and over we give and receive this greeting in the course of a year, particularly at the beginning. With a new year comes renewed hope, fresh determination and a sincere quest for higher heights and deeper seas. Our latter just has to be better than yesterday. I started 2019 by considering the things I had at hand and thanking God for the opportunity of a new year. I had a very infrequent source of income(which was one up from the previous year), I had my family and my health, and I had hope that by December, I would look back on the year and be thankful…
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Life happens…
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From Now – Till Then
Dear Amrita, Happy Birthday to you – future me!!! Yep it’s a brand-new year for you and I hope you have had a lot of excitement in the past 10 years. Yes, this is Amrita from ten years ago. What’s the world like these days? I hope it is not too weird reading from your past self. I’m writing down some goals for this year and the next ten years, so I wanted to have something to remind me of what I’ve written. Let me remind you about where things stand for me at present. I had a really good education and I completed my Masters over 5yrs ago (that…
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Show me the money
I don’t know about you, but I’ve never thought of myself as one to waste money. I mean, I’m a self proclaimed bargain hunter. But when does it stop being about spending wisely, and starts being about trying to stop yourself from buying everything you don’t need? Any one else know what I mean? The problem is I find those “sale” prices. EVERY TIME! And then I end up feeling pressured, by myself no less, into buying everything. Towards the end of 2018, I realized something had to change. Because I had new responsibilities, like paying rent for the house I’d just moved in to, I ended up being more…
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Go and ask your Father!
I enjoyed the car ride to our shopping destinations and loved window shopping, I just did not understand why mum was sometimes grumpy whilst shopping. Most of the time she did not want you tagging along but at the slightest opportunity, we would happily grab our shoes and sit in the front seat of the car looking out of the window and dreaming about being able to go out by ourselves. The only time you were allowed to chip in is when you go out Christmas clothes shopping. “Which colour do you prefer”? At many stops she would say ‘wait for me in the car’, there was one year we waited…
