The cost of living in Accra keeps climbing, and small habits add up either way. Here are ten practical ways to spend less each month without making your life miserable.
Buy foodstuff from the market, not the supermarket
The same tomatoes, onions, rice and yam cost far less at Makola, Kaneshie or your local market than on a supermarket shelf. Go with a list and buy for the week.
Cook at home and carry lunch
Buying lunch every working day is one of the quietest drains on a salary. Cooking in the evening and taking food to work cuts that to a fraction.
Manage your prepaid electricity
Switch off what you are not using, and know which appliances draw the most, since the air conditioner and the water heater eat credit fastest. Watching the meter changes how you use power.
Know your trotro routes
A single trotro is cheaper than a two-trotro change, and far cheaper than a Bolt for the same trip. Work out the direct route for the journeys you make often.
Buy in bulk and share
A sack of rice, a gallon of oil or a bag of gari costs less per unit than buying small and often. Split a bulk buy with family or a neighbour if you cannot use it all.
Watch your mobile money fees
Sending in several small transfers can cost more than one larger one, and some transactions are free while others are not. Learn which is which before you send.
Cut your data costs
Use Wi-Fi where you can, and buy a data bundle rather than letting the network charge you pay-as-you-go, which is dearer for the same megabytes.
Be smart about water
A dispenser bottle or sachets work out cheaper than buying small bottles through the day. Keep water at home and at work so you are not buying on the move.
Shop to a list
Going to the market or the shop without a plan is how you come home with things you did not need. Write down what you are buying and stick to it.
Track your spending for a month
Write down what goes out, even the small things, for four weeks. It is dull, but it shows you exactly where the money leaks, and that is where you cut.
You will not do all ten at once. Pick the two that fit your life, make them habit, then add another. The saving compounds quietly.
