On a day like this next week, not everyone will be enjoying their post-Christmas moments, if previous trends are anything to go by.
There will be some people facing trouble with hired cars, others will be stressed after digging holes into their pockets, and others in the soup after road accidents.
Some of the troubles that come with the festive season are avoidable, and a team of experts in various fields shares tips on how to avoid the common problems.
Ms Anne Maina is a business development manager at Personal Finance Academy, an institution that trains individuals and teams on how to wisely spend their money. She has a few rules on spending.
“We tell people, ‘Don’t break the bank because of a day’s event.’ Also: ‘Don’t dare eat an elephant in a day.’ Once its life is gone, it’s gone. And you cannot finish it. So, that’s what people do during the festive seasons; you crash a big business for the sake of hours of entertainment,” says Ms Maina.
“You have to think about the things that matter. One of them is realising that life is for living; yet even if you have to live, you have to work on a budget.”
Some parents are usually forced to overspend, and even to borrow, to ensure their children get a treat during festivities so they do not feel odd. Ms Maina says no one should be carried away by the fear-of-missing-out wave.
“Our incomes differ. Stick to your budget. You can do a cruise; you can do an out-of-the-country flight, but on a plan,” Ms Maina advises.
Security practitioner: Beware, Covid-19 aftershocks have bred many crooks
Mr Tony Sahmi, CEO of Securex Agencies, says his company has noted a continuous rise in residential break-ins since September.
“The economic impact of Covid-19 has increased the desire to commit crime and the tendency for Kenyans to travel over the festive period means that opportunities are in abundance as properties are left unattended,” he wrote in the Daily Nation on Friday.
To reduce chances of suffering a break-in while on holidays, Mr Sahmi advises a combination of measures, among them installing alarm systems and burglar-proof windows and doors.
Cases of people returning from holidays to find empty houses are all-too-common, and Mr Sahmi advises those who will be leaving their homes to consider installing devices like smart sensors that can detect movement in a house and send an alert to a person’s mobile phone.
Fitness trainer: Wherever you go, you can always exercise
Mr Otieno Ogeda, popularly known as Zoezi Maisha, is often on social media reminding Kenyans to go on their morning runs. Much as the festive season comes with travel and readjustments, he says, a person’s training schedule should remain intact to reduce the risk of forgetting one’s fitness goals while merrymaking.
“Whether you are travelling from urban to rural or rural to urban areas, it doesn’t make any much difference. What matters most is the commitment you’ve made. You might be coming to the urban setting where we have a couple of traffic challenges, but you can still create room to exercise,” he advises.
For those who have not committed to staying fit, the remaining days to 2021 should be a time to set the mind on leading a healthy lifestyle.
“One thing about resolutions is that you cannot start implementing them on January 1. These two weeks prior to it should be a launch pad for you to put all these (fitness plans) in place,” he says.
The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) is making spirited efforts to ensure this festive season does not record a high number of accidents as has been the trend in previous years.
An ongoing campaign by the agency against drink-driving says: “Don’t drink and drive; it is always a loss.”
Speaking on festive season accidents last year, NTSA Director-General George Njao said their analysis of available data had showed that 98 per cent of crashes are attributed to human behaviour such as loss of control due to speeding, lane indiscipline, overloading and dangerous overtaking.
