Till When? The Frustrating Reality Of Skyrocketing Prices

The cost of living in my area has become a financial strain. The three necessities for human survival
are food, clothing, and shelter. How do you expect people to survive when the cost of these necessities is now painfully high? The economy of the country is in shambles and unfortunately, no one is doing anything about it. Every day, the prices of these goods and services skyrocket. In fact, it happens even faster than that. You might buy a product in the morning, only to find out that the price has increased a few hours later. I have experienced this many times when I step out to buy something and after a few hours, the price increases. Every day, people ask, “How long will this continue? When will it stop?” Today, the Hive Learners community asks us to discuss the cost of living in our areas.

Have you ever felt like you're mismanaging your money when the only thing you do a day is settle basic things like food, transportation, and other minor bills? Sometimes, I’d have to sit down and check my transaction history just to make sure I'm not spending my money with two others, or that my bank is not removing my money without my consent. But after carrying out the calculations, I find out that no one is spending my money secretly, nor has my bank been playing tricks on me. It is surprising when you settle bills like data subscriptions, transportation, feeding, and minor school fees and it’ll seem as if you've mismanaged your funds.

Basically, I am a university student schooling in a “not-too-civilized” state. This state was a forgotten state until about 13 years ago when they established a university. Gradually, the state began to modernize. I live in a student area where landlords, market sellers, drivers, and the university itself know nothing but to exploit and extort students. When I first got to this place, I was taken aback by the cost of living. Everyone around me seemed to be complaining about the expensive prices of goods and services. It was as if we all shared the same pain, “things are just too expensive here.” The prices of goods and services were significantly high compared to where I grew up, and we had no choice but to get used to it.

Note that this was four years ago when the economy of the country was still a bit friendly. “We can survive this.” I thought I had a grasp of what it meant to live in a place with a high cost of living. However, little did I know that the worst was yet to come. One major setback about this place is that there's no electricity, so students have to survive on generators and solar. 3000 got us almost a filled brim of a 25-liter keg. We learnt to manage this for at least a week. The prices of other things like day-to-day transport to school, snacks, and even the school fees were taking a toll on the student's budget, or so we thought. Little did we know that we were standing at the edge of the cliff, blinded by the unseen storm.

Fast forward to today, things are worse than they were four years ago. The prices of goods and services have skyrocketed to unimaginable heights. Who would have thought that basic things like bread, milk, pasta, and even water are now three times the prices they were four years ago? Four years ago, people were complaining about the prices of goods and services, but today that they have tripled, I'm pretty sure we would be more than happy to go back to that time. I’m pretty sure many of us would make sacrifices just to go back to the time when we thought things were expensive.

Good prices have tripled since I moved here. Four years ago, foodstuffs and provisions that used to cost about 75 dollars now cost above 150 dollars, depending on the amount and how long you want them to last, and of course the number of people consuming them. Eating out is even more expensive. But sometimes, I don’t have a choice. After a long day in school, sometimes I resort to eating out. Transportation costs have also increased. I mentioned above that my roommates and I used to manage fuel worth #3000 for a week (or 5 days). Today, that same quantity costs #14,500 and you'd be lucky enough if it sustained you for a week. Due to the significant increase in fuel prices, public transport fares have risen by over 50%.

Let’s not even talk about rent. Over here, the landlords are just old, oddly shaped meanies who see nothing wrong with exploiting students. Will things get better if I change location? Unfortunately not. Things are almost the same in every state, maybe even worse in other states. What could make things easier for students is for things to go back to the way they were, which is likely impossible to happen.

Images in this post are mine.

Thanks for reading.