Is January really all that, or they are just stories?

Wills Isingoma
Well, it helps to prepare for January. Business is slow but we are always aware January is coming. So, I prepared myself beforehand and spent carefully in the festive season making sure there is a boundary I do not cross. As people are busy settling in from the festive season, I live my day like every other day since I left some savings to kick start my 2020.

Elton Asiimwe
December is my busiest month of the year. Being a musician, I had different bookings even before December set in; I wasn’t stupid, I saved since I have a lot to accomplish. In addition, I knew the month ahead was not easy, thus worked harder. With all that at hand, January has not affected me in any way and my work goes on just fine.

Alexandra Tusiime
I do not know why people are broke. Maybe it is because of the kind of job I do. I am a make-up artiste, film costume designer and actress. I get gigs often, so I always have some sort of pay all the time. Everything is normal just like any other month according to what I do. My clients come and go as usual.

Isaac Ayebare
Most of us spent much of our money during the festive season and this is affecting us. There is no money.
It is survival for the fittest since you have to be aggressive. This month, strength and wits are your only standing sureties.
I’m surviving on savings I put aside for something else.

Rashida Nasabu
I recently lost my job, so life has been harder. Plus, all of those necessities that come up as the year ends leave you drained. This January, I am using savings to look for something to do. Thing is even getting a friend to help you out is next to impossible, everyone is trying to figure their year out.

Rashida Birungi
January is a broke month considering we spend most of the money during the festivities. With children going back to school and a load of work to get back to, we hardly have the time for a snack let alone ceremonial functions like weddings.
The boss wants work done and the children are handing in school shopping lists.
It is tough in January and it affects the economy at large as well. Prices are unstable and the need to still take the family out on weekends also calls for attention and at times you cannot ignore it, especially if it has always been a tradition.

Paul Twinamatsiko
I’m not complaining because I was aware January is a financial hustle. I planned ahead. I kept some money aside, specifically for this time of the year.
At my work place, we passed a resolution to receive the December salary at the beginning of January. Everyone at work received the December salaries on the January 3.

Ritah Ainembabazi
Well for some reason I have learnt to prepare myself in December for January. Why most people complain about this month being broke is because December salary comes in earlier than usual so they end up spending it unsparingly. I, on the other hand, spend my December with January in mind. That way I don’t really feel the pinch.

Albert Ampaire
January is so tight, thanks to all the outings, friend reunions and fancy dinning in December.
Once I started feeling the pinch, I did intensive shopping of foodstuffs to last longer. By the time the food is finished, I will have a plan B.
Instead of going to restaurants as I often do, I make my meals at home.

Prince Iroegbu Kemdi
In December, we go to the village, reunite with loved ones and want it to be special. We end up spending more than actually planned. I start planning from July on how to go about my activities in January. In so doing, I did not spend on irrelevant things, which helped me keep the December budget on track without affecting January.

So what brought the January blues?

The blues. If there is a month of the year that has inspired more internet memes than the rest, it is definately January. It is argued that after the heavy parties that by default take place in December, people find themselves in a new year with less than they usually have at the beginning of any month. This has forced many to believe January is longer than it actually is.

January is a month of many plans.
Planning for school fees, some children are changing schools while others are making a transition from one level to the other.
Those joining secondary school from primary will definately have a whole different set of requirements to those starting school altogether.
Yet, even when we know the month is always around the corner, January seems to catch people unprepared.

Avoiding the blues
Barbara Katende, a financial coach, lays her opinion on the month and how we can avoid the same next year and the years ahead.
“Christmas is a one day affair and I am sure Jesus would not want us to spend ourselves broke because of his day,” says Katende.
The other thing, she says, Jesus was born in Bethlehem and not our villages, “which is actually one of the main thing that drain our pockets, imagine paying Shs100,000 just so you could be at home for Christmas.”
She says that’s much money, one can just send to the village and they will enjoy as much as they can. This will actually give one a lee way to go around April or any other months that do not have the transport rates all peaked up.
“You will after all achieve the same thing if you go any other time since at the end of the day, family is about happiness and that will come anytime you go to meet them,” she says.
December is also full of weddings which means a lot of spending on new clothes and hairstyle, among other things.
Katende says that a wedding is always about the bride and the cake – even the groom has less eyes fixed on him. So why all the lavish expenses.
“A friend of mine told me she actually went to three weddings in one month wearing one particular dress and no one in the house even noticed!”
She says it is always our self-consciousness that eats at us but the rest of the world is handling their hustles.

What needs to be done
Planning earlier and buy things in bulk (dry food), pay for water, electricity bills and even the Landlord ahead of time and slowly pay towards the school fees of the children so that January is not so tight and you have the space to breathe, think and plan properly.
Making New Year’s resolutions will also save the embarrassment some people go through.
This can be achieved by prioritising needs before wants and that will definitely help to spend sparingly.
“You want a holiday in December? Start saving for it earlier and not wait for the month to come and you spend yourself dry,” she says adding, “if we do not learn from one year, every year will be the same with similar obstacles.”