I have several mobile loans that I repay upon receiving my salary, totalling approximately Sh119,000 across various platforms.
My current financial situation has become increasingly difficult to sustain. I earn a gross monthly salary of Sh126,000, with total deductions amounting to approximately Sh91,000.
This leaves me with a net salary of about Sh39,000. In addition, I earn Sh3,000 from rental income. My fixed deductions include a mortgage (Sh29,758), a personal loan for school fees (Sh18,100), pension contributions (Sh8,200), and savings (Sh4,000).
On the expense side, I incur the following monthly costs:
School fees: Sh30,000- private school paying Sh10,000 per child per month
Rent: Sh7,500
Transport to see my family: Sh6,000
Tithe and offerings: Sh5,000
Contributions and pledges: Sh5,000
Food: Sh4,000
Miscellaneous: Sh4,000
Additionally, I have several mobile loans that I repay upon receiving my salary, totalling approximately Sh119,000 across various platforms. Given this situation, I am finding it difficult to meet all my financial obligations and sustain my day-to-day living expenses. Please help me. Gordon
Alex Kibebe is the founder of Rubiani Wealth Management Ltd and an investment consultant and business development coach.
Your financial strain is coming from a critical imbalance—your monthly expenses currently exceed your disposable income. From what you’ve shared, your net income is about Sh42,000 (Sh39,000 salary plus Sh3,000 rental income), while your expenses are roughly Sh61,500 – excluding mobile loan repayments.
This leaves you with a shortfall of at least Sh19,000 every month, which you are covering by taking additional mobile loans. That cycle of borrowing to meet your expenses is not sustainable and if not addressed, can easily lead to default.
Your first step in addressing your situation is to reduce your monthly expenses so that they fit within your disposable income. Once you achieve this, you can then systematically deal with your debts and begin rebuilding your financial position.
A practical starting point is to temporarily reallocate your monthly savings of Sh4,000. While saving is important, in your current situation, it is contributing to the shortfall. Releasing this amount will increase your available income to about Sh46,000 and give you some breathing room.
Next, prioritise your basic needs. You will need to scale back on your non-essential expenses for now, at least until you have addressed your immediate debt pressures. From your breakdown, the core expenses to focus on are rent (Sh7,500), food (about Sh4,000), and school fees (Sh30,000), which total approximately Sh41,500. These are non-negotiable in the short term. With an adjusted income of Sh46,000, this leaves a small surplus of about Sh4,500.
Your most urgent financial pressure comes from the mobile loans. These are typically very expensive, with high interest rates—often around 10 percent per month—and short repayment periods. The most effective way to deal with them is to consolidate them into a single, more affordable loan – if accessible. You can explore a SACCO loan or a salary-based bank loan, which usually carries an annual interest rate of about 12–20 per cent and allows for longer repayment periods.
However, this strategy will only work if you completely stop taking new mobile loans. Continuing to borrow would quickly reverse any progress, deepen the debt cycle and potentially leave you in a worse position. The success of this recovery phase will therefore require some temporary sacrifices until you clear these short-term debts.
Where possible, you can also explore ways to supplement your income. This does not have to be complex. Depending on your skills and availability, you can consider options such as part-time work, small-scale trading, consulting, or online freelancing. Any additional income can be directed toward covering priority expenses such as home travel and accelerating debt repayment.
Once you clear the school fees loan and the consolidated loan, you will have freed up about Sh22,000 monthly. At that point, you can begin establishing your financial stability by setting aside part of these funds in a Money Market Fund (MMF) account to build a buffer or emergency fund. This fund will protect you from future financial shocks and reduce the need to rely on debt. Over time, you can then redirect your focus toward longer-term goals such as accelerating your mortgage repayment or investing to build passive income.
You also have a monthly allocation of Sh10,000 for tithe and offerings, contributions, and pledges. Whereas these are out of your personal conviction, it is notable that they are not non-negotiable. While stuck in a dire financial situation, it does not do you any good to keep them up as you wallow in debt. You may want to consider suspending them and reallocating this amount towards stabilising your financial position, and more specifically, towards offsetting your mobile debts, which are racking up high interest charges. You cannot give what you do not have, or what you cannot afford.
If you have any money problems, send us an email at [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> and leave your number for contact. Money questions will be answered on this column.
