Delayed Gratification In An Unstable Economy

My sister saw a Polaroid camera for 50,000 Naira and she was really excited because she had always loved it since she was a kid. Unfortunately she couldn’t afford that moment, well, not technically, she had the money but wanted to invest it in her business. So she chose her business, hoping that by the time the investment had grown, she would be able to buy the polaroid camera and have a successful business at the same time. It felt like a “killing two birds with one stone” kind of situation. This means that she just delayed spending money on something that will make her happy to invest in a business hoping it will yield enough money so she can afford to buy the polaroid camera and a successful business.

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Few months later she checked backed with 50,000 Naira to buy the polaroid camera, sadly it cost 85,000 Naira. The reason it cost that much is because of the dollar to Naira rate. This polaroid camera is not produced in Nigeria, they are imported, so when they want to sell them, they sell them based on the dollar to Naira rate. Naira is constantly devaluing based on bad and unstable economy, so its always difficult for the price of goods and services to be stable. In a country where economy is stable, the price of good services remain stable to an extent.

Now my sister can’t afford to buy the polaroid camera, she has to save more to get it, well, today I checked and the polaroid camera cost 130,000 Naira, that is more than 100% from the initial price. This is a pure representation of how delayed gratification doesn’t work in an unstable economy, if you have the money right now, its better you spend it on what you want to spend it on, because inflation will rob you that gratification. Better still if you are in an unstable country, store your money in a more stable currency, to avoid inflation.

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