A fun weekend is simply as the name implies and for one to have a fun weekend, one needs money but what do you do when all you have to spend is $20 and you don't even have to spend it all. Now I believe this is a very tough situation considering that $20 isn't worth much in my country since the devaluation of my local currency (naira) which has brought about inflation of goods and services.
The present dollar rate in my country is between 650 and 700 depending on the seller but I'll go with the exchange rate of 650 naira. This means that $20 in my local currency is just N13,000. What do I do with this amount and I must not finish it. Hmmm! I really need to think hard and also be very prudent.
Lagos state is known for one thing and that is the availability of fun and relaxation centers. Although most of these places are very expensive, there are still some places that are affordable. Thinking aloud there are ways I can have a fun weekend with this money and still have some change left and I'll be enumerating them.
David Labno
Two ways I can have fun with $20 are either
- A fun weekend at home
- A fun weekend at the beach and cinema.
A fun weekend at home
I am someone that loves spending time alone at home. This doesn't demand much financially. I already have my Netflix on active subscription. All I need is data for the weekend to watch any nice series that will keep me glued to my television. I have 13,000 naira to spend. A 20gb data costs 5,000 naira and that should serve me for the weekend. I'll order a medium sized pizza to spice it up while watching and that costs just 3,500 naira and then a bottle of chilled coke which is just 200 naira. This gives a total of 8,700 naira for Saturday. On Sunday, I would make myself jollof rice and since I already have everything to make this at home except chicken, I'd buy half kilo of chicken which is 1000 naira and a bottle of coke (200 naira). This brings up the sum total to 9,900 naira. At the end of the weekend, I'd still have 3,100 naira left.
A fun weekend at the beach
There are lots of beaches in Lagos and each beach has its own gate fees and rules and regulations. My favourite Lagos beach is Landmark beach but it is expensive to have fun there so I'll head over to the Atican beach. Here the gate fee is N2000 and I am allowed to bring my food and drinks. I'll buy a kilo of chicken worth N2,000 naira and make my KYC chicken at home. I'll buy some tiger nuts, coconut and date palm and prepare my tiger nut drink at home. This usually costs me around N3,000. That's a total of 5,000. I'll find a cool spot under a tree and sit there and have a good time with myself while watching the waves and listening to cool music. On Sunday, I'll take myself to the cinema and see a movie. Movie tickets cost N3000 on Sundays with popcorn and a bottle of drink. I'll prolly spend N2000 on transportation for the weekend. That brings the sum total to N10,000. That leaves me with the sum of N3,000 at the end of the weekend.
These are my ways of having fun and looking at how judiciously I spent the money, I'm amazed that I can actually have fun with that amount of money.
This is my entry into Hive Learner's weekly writing contest.