I’ve Sh4,000 left monthly. How can I save Sh1.5m for land by December 2026?

I am 30. I live and work in Meru. I earn Sh77,000. I am divorced with two daughters who are in Grade Three and Six.

My expenses include rent for a two-bedroom house Sh13,000, groceries and household shopping Sh20,000, cooking gas, water and electricity Sh5,000, salon for myself and children Sh10,000, airtime and internet Sh2,000, chama Sh2,000, my mum Sh5,000, my small brother in college Sh3,000, after-school care programme Sh5,000, transport Sh3,000 abnd recurrent mobile loan Sh5,000.

I raise my children by myself (my children’s father is married and though he is capable of chipping in, I am not sure I want to get involved in child support court drama) and often find myself struggling when schools are reopening. How do I manage their education costs better? I would also like to save up Sh1.5 million and acquire a prime plot near Meru town by December 2026 and start building my home in 2027. How do I achieve this?

Gertrude Njeri is a personal finance and investment consultant

First of all, you're doing an amazing job. Raising two girls on your own, managing a household, helping your mum and younger brother, working full-time, and dreaming big about buying land and building a home? That takes grit.

Now let us map out a game plan. You bring in Sh77,000 every month. Between rent, shopping, after-school care, family support, salon, and mobile loan, you are left with about Sh4,000. This amount is not accounted for, and the biggest pressure point for you is when schools reopen.

The reason school fees feel like a crisis is because it sneaks up on your wallet all at once. Open a Money Market Fund (MMF) just for school fees so that the money you save in the fund gets compounded daily above the inflation rate.

Conduct your due diligence to understand what each fund is offering in terms of net returns, the history behind the fund and how it is managed or consult a reputable and professional financial advisor to direct you to the right fund.

Before you decide on how much to commit, automate your current account through a standing order so that money gets sent to this fund the moment its hits your account.

The amount you commit shall be hived off your current budgetary allocations. Consider the alternative of public schools. Although there will be some funds required here and there such as exam fees, public schools will reduce the amount you pay in fees by up to 90 per cent. Scan your location for the best public schools.

You have mentioned that your children’s biological father is capable of contributing his share of parental responsibilities, but you are not keen to involve yourself in the court process.

Consult with a family lawyer who can give you a clear picture of what the process of getting child support requires. This will lessen the burden that you currently shoulder alone. The other parent’s affairs are really not your concern; your primary concern is the best interests of your children. You have not mentioned if you have any savings.

Assuming you are yet to start saving, your target of Sh1.5 million in 18 months would require you to set aside Sh84,000 per month. This is impossible given your net salary of Sh77,000.

However, you can wiggle your way by breaking the amounts you will contribute towards this goal in sizable chunks and saving them in a reputable Sacco account that will earn you dividends and offer the possibility of financing through the 3X deposits multiplier model. This might also require you to extend the plot acquisition and home construction timeline beyond the 18 months.

In the first year, you can aim to save Sh80,000. Start by evaluating your chama contributions. If it is a merry-go-round, your money is not growing and needs to be shifted to an interest or dividend-earning savings platform such as a Sacco.

Research well and consult an independent professional advisor on the right professionally run Sacco to join. In one year, this would amount to Sh24,000, which would leave you with Sh56,000 to arrive at your target, which can be hived off from budget cuts. I recommend that you adjust your budget as follows:

Salon (you + girls) from Sh10,000 to Sh5,000. Try to have your hair done monthly instead of biweekly. Shopping and groceries from Sh20,000 to Sh18,000. Track these expenditures per item purchased for a month.

Airtime and internet from Sh2,000 to Sh1,500. Utilities from Sh5,000 to Sh4,500. Compare cooking gas prices, water and power saving to salvage Sh500. These cuts will give you an additional Sh8,000 in disposable income!

The extra money should go to the Sacco account that will earn you dividends at a rate above 10 per cent. You have an extra Sh4,000 that is unaccounted for.

To avoid misusing this amount, have it go directly to your Sacco account immediately your salary is paid. If you top up the additional disposable income from your budget cuts to your Sh2,000 chama funds, you will have at least Sh10,000 for Sacco savings every month.

In the first month of saving, pay off the Sh5,000 mobile debt that has been recurring every month and do not borrow again. Avoid mobile debts. They are extremely expensive.

These changes and actions will push your total savings in the second month to Sh19,000 (Sh10,000 from budget cuts and chama cash, Sh5,000 that currently goes to mobile debt, and Sh4,000 that is left in your total expenditure).

In the next six months, your total savings will be Sh104,000 and by December 2026, Sh332,000 (before you factor in dividend earnings), assuming you maintain consistency.

This amount could however be lower if you opt to keep your children in private schools. By the end of 2027, you will be past the half a million savings mark, and in a position to explore plot acquisition either through Sacco financing (depending on your ability to repay) or via cash payment depending on size and proximity of location in Meru.

As your finances improve, I advise that you consider an emergency fund so that you are not left financially exposed after saving or making heavy investments.

Should you choose to consult a family lawyer and pursue child support, your financial burden will reduce even further. This will allow you to explore soft side hustles that are aligned within your expertise and upskill using a variety of free professional courses available online to create extra income streams that will come in handy in rebuilding your savings and investments kitty after you purchase your dream plot.

If you have any money problems, send us an email at [email protected] and leave your number for contact. Money questions will be answered on this column