Should 240$ hold me hostage?

[Anon05554]

Hello good people !This is Aura from Western Uganda. First things first, I am super excited to be a part of this phenomenal forum. Thanks MJ for being a Financial Messiah. My mind has had the haze that has shrouded it in financial mediocrity lifted.

My story is typical of the Ugandan elite. My father struggled to see us :8 in number through school and died early at 55 leaving the burden of educating the younger ones to us. And boy was it hard.!
I am now a 40year old proud mum of five. If you are wondering why so many, they are the reason I joined this forum. I graduated with a first class honours in English and Literature which I have taught for the past 17 years at an income of 240$ a month's, laughable amount, don't you think? Actually, I am considered lucky to be earning that much and my peers would consider me a candidate for an asylum if I quit a government job.

Last year during lock down, I had to stay with my family of 10(We adopted twins shortly after we got married). The rented quarters were cramped and we were constantly in each others faces. I had to go with some to the village where we have invested like 5800 in Agricultural land. It was then that I tasted working by choice. No rent, water bills, electrify bills(we harvest rain water and use solar lighting). Food was home grown and the kids had a blast playing in the farm and even participating in farm activities. There and then, I decided I would read on how to become a millionaire and retire to the village as early in life as possible.
After a series of books that would nauseate you people with their slow lane gospel, I landed on The Millionaire Fast lane, and what a landing! I have since read it three times and mention itto friends more than twice a day. I wanted to see how MJ looks and when I google him, I discovered Unscripted and read it in two days. My mind now is in a whirl wind of adjusting to the truth I now know.
Members, I am at cross roads. My hubby who is also a teacher and earning the same as I do wants to retire next year when he hits 45 and concentrate a 100% on Agriculture using his gratuity _around 5000$.He has my full support. As for me, retiring now would mean forfeiting gratuity (the big cash event) and, pension of like 114$monthly(passive income).
Now that my mind is Unscripted , I have lost faith in the education I impart and no longer take pleasure in telling students to study hard, get good grades and then a job(jobs in Uganda are as elusive as Bigfoot). What I wish I could do now is teach the youth the first lane dogma so that they grow up unscripted instead. But that would be a paradox of practice since I am now as poor as they come.
There fore, I am going to make some money first and then preach what I live. I already have a name for the organization -FLY_Financial Literacy for the Youth.
My hubby and I dream of a food empire-where we can raise goats, cows, poultry and rabbits. We are already growing bananas and coffee. With time, we plan to add value to our products and even involve outgrowers, but manufacturing needs capital!
I will feel truly alive the day I pay my kids' school fees in one instalment, have 1420$ as an emergency fund, contribute meaningfully to causes that give the youth entrepreneurial knowledge, walk into a car bond and pay cash for a 10000$car, fly for the first time, and most importantly, gift my mother 500$.
I hope for advice from those who have achieved their dreams and are living unscripted . Let the learning begin. M J, thank you for giving me hope.

 

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[Ing]

Welcome!
Your text sounds full of energy!
Wish you soon success!

 

[p0stscript]

Welcome to the forum Aura

 

[Anon05554]

Welcome to the forum Aura

It is a pleasure. l really hope to benefit from the forum and be unscripted in four years.

 

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[Anon05554]

Welcome!
Your text sounds full of energy!
Wish you soon success!

Thank you. Not only energy, but anger at having been blind for so long.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Welcome, appreciate the intro. I just want to clarify that there's nothing wrong with teaching young people how to effectively read, write, and do math. Moreover, to think for themselves outside of the context of their culture. I'm sure Uganda is very different than the US. So please, what you do as a teacher in Uganda is probably far more valuable to your young students than a teacher here in the US.

 

[Johnny boy]

Thanks MJ for being a Financial Messiah.

@MJ DeMarco I think this would be a good title for you instead of something boring like "administrator".

 

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[Anon05554]

Welcome, appreciate the intro. I just want to clarify that there's nothing wrong with teaching young people how to effectively read, write, and do math. Moreover, to think for themselves outside of the context of their culture. I'm sure Uganda is very different than the US. So please, what you do as a teacher in Uganda is probably far more valuable to your young students than a teacher here in the US.

Thanks for the encouragement. It is true teaching in Uganda can be fulfilling especially when you see your proteges becoming successful in life.My challenge is that I have had enough of thumping pieces of chalk, with pay that is next to nothing while my life heads into its twilight. I love your CENTS formula and I am convinced that going full scale into production and processing, albeit at great financial strain, at first is the right move on our family's road to the first lane because people will always want food. Thanks a lot, MJ. You should visit Uganda.

 

[Speed112]

Thanks for the encouragement. It is true teaching in Uganda can be fulfilling especially when you see your proteges becoming successful in life.My challenge is that I have had enough of thumping pieces of chalk, with pay that is next to nothing while my life heads into its twilight. I love your CENTS formula and I am convinced that going full scale into production and processing, albeit at great financial strain, at first is the right move on our family's road to the first lane because people will always want food. Thanks a lot, MJ. You should visit Uganda.

Aura, you sound passionate and rearing to do more. You're also obviously a hard-working and caring person who's done a tremendous amount for those around her. It's great to see people like you strive for even more.

It's important I think, however, to temper your expectations. You can most definitely reach financial independence and achieve all of the goals you've set in 4 years. I believe that. It will, however, not be easy, and it will not happen magically without risk or sacrifice.

I don't know for sure what the purchasing power is like in Uganda, but if so many people covet such a job, relatively it should be pretty good. I wouldn't say that it's next to nothing. And I would not give away a lifeline like this, especially one that will lead to some passive stability further down the line, while having to care for such a large family.

You can do both.

And once you've learned your lessons and figured out how to create even more value in the entrepreneurial way, then you can very easily drop your public job for your private initiative, teaching and growing people and wealth, guilt-free.

You mentioned your husband will retire in a year and focus full-time on the agricultural enterprise. Great!

Agriculture, however, is highly variant and, while there will be good years, there will also be bad ones, and once you begin scaling up and investing in machinery and more land to expand your operations, things will get more difficult. Nobody can control nature. And it's difficult to stay informed and ahead of the challenges you'll be facing while you're knee deep in managing a farm. You can be the one that helps with that, at first, while also teaching.

From the words you chose, it sounds not just that you're tired of the school environment... I know, it can be thankless and it's very hard work. But you also feel trapped because the slowlane life is like a prison compared to the freedom you tasted on the farm, and the possibility of more. I get that. It's true. But it takes time and effort and chance to win your freedom. And for entrepreneurship... you need practice.

How much longer do you have to invest to receive that gratuity and pension? 5 years? You've already invested 17 years...

How can you change things so you don't feel like you are wasting your time teaching kids useless knowledge? Can you use 5-10 minutes of the lecture time to tell them a story about freedom or entrepreneurship and teach them life lessons they can employ in the future?

When I was growing up in school I always struggled with the purpose of the lessons. "Why am I learning this? This is useless!" ... but the information wasn't useless. It was simply a failure on my teachers' behalf to provide applications for that information.

Teaching people how to think critically, for themselves, and find value in learning and applying what they've learned through work -- is invaluable. You are positioned in a place where you can do an incredible amount of good and raise a new generation of resourceful people who will create great wealth. I wouldn't give that up immediately.

Can you network with the parents? Organize some extracurricular activities to teach the children the value of work and freedom? Maybe you can all go together at the farm and learn about agriculture, the parents can fund the trip by basically paying for the food. Maybe you can provide a take-home plant which they can tend for and grow and learn from. If they are older, you could teach them how to write job applications, do accounting, and how to think about value.

There are many entrepreneurial things you can do as an extension of your teaching, while you transition from your job to your FLY initiative, to test your ideas and their demand, and to raise funds while you build your own curriculum.

You don't have to feel at a crossroads and choose one over the other. You can mix them together and build your own path. As long as you're helping those around you, I'm sure you can make the path successful.

I wish you all the best.

 

[Anon05554]

Aura, you sound passionate and rearing to do more. You're also obviously a hard-working and caring person who's done a tremendous amount for those around her. It's great to see people like you strive for even more.

It's important I think, however, to temper your expectations. You can most definitely reach financial independence and achieve all of the goals you've set in 4 years. I believe that. It will, however, not be easy, and it will not happen magically without risk or sacrifice.

I don't know for sure what the purchasing power is like in Uganda, but if so many people covet such a job, relatively it should be pretty good. I wouldn't say that it's next to nothing. And I would not give away a lifeline like this, especially one that will lead to some passive stability further down the line, while having to care for such a large family.

You can do both.

And once you've learned your lessons and figured out how to create even more value in the entrepreneurial way, then you can very easily drop your public job for your private initiative, teaching and growing people and wealth, guilt-free.

You mentioned your husband will retire in a year and focus full-time on the agricultural enterprise. Great!

Agriculture, however, is highly variant and, while there will be good years, there will also be bad ones, and once you begin scaling up and investing in machinery and more land to expand your operations, things will get more difficult. Nobody can control nature. And it's difficult to stay informed and ahead of the challenges you'll be facing while you're knee deep in managing a farm. You can be the one that helps with that, at first, while also teaching.

From the words you chose, it sounds not just that you're tired of the school environment... I know, it can be thankless and it's very hard work. But you also feel trapped because the slowlane life is like a prison compared to the freedom you tasted on the farm, and the possibility of more. I get that. It's true. But it takes time and effort and chance to win your freedom. And for entrepreneurship... you need practice.

How much longer do you have to invest to receive that gratuity and pension? 5 years? You've already invested 17 years...

How can you change things so you don't feel like you are wasting your time teaching kids useless knowledge? Can you use 5-10 minutes of the lecture time to tell them a story about freedom or entrepreneurship and teach them life lessons they can employ in the future?

When I was growing up in school I always struggled with the purpose of the lessons. "Why am I learning this? This is useless!" ... but the information wasn't useless. It was simply a failure on my teachers' behalf to provide applications for that information.

Teaching people how to think critically, for themselves, and find value in learning and applying what they've learned through work -- is invaluable. You are positioned in a place where you can do an incredible amount of good and raise a new generation of resourceful people who will create great wealth. I wouldn't give that up immediately.

Can you network with the parents? Organize some extracurricular activities to teach the children the value of work and freedom? Maybe you can all go together at the farm and learn about agriculture, the parents can fund the trip by basically paying for the food. Maybe you can provide a take-home plant which they can tend for and grow and learn from. If they are older, you could teach them how to write job applications, do accounting, and how to think about value.

There are many entrepreneurial things you can do as an extension of your teaching, while you transition from your job to your FLY initiative, to test your ideas and their demand, and to raise funds while you build your own curriculum.

You don't have to feel at a crossroads and choose one over the other. You can mix them together and build your own path. As long as you're helping those around you, I'm sure you can make the path successful.

I wish you all the best.

I am humbled by the length to which you have gone to give me this detailed advice. You have actually opened my eyes to intrepreneural threads I hadn't considered. Will keep you posted about my journey. Hope you are successful in yours.

 

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[Speed112]

I am humbled by the length to which you have gone to give me this detailed advice. You have actually opened my eyes to intrepreneural threads I hadn't considered. Will keep you posted about my journey. Hope you are successful in yours.

You're very welcome.

Capital will always be needed. You can take a look at Kiva.org who also have partners in Uganda for potential microloans to help expand your farm. They may provide lower interest rates than conventional sources of capital.

And then you can use your proven success and creditability to attract larger investors and speed up your growth.

Definitely let us know what you decide to do and how things are going. I'm sure a lot of people here have a ton of knowledge to share with you and help you have an easier time achieving your goals.

 

[nothingness]

Welcome. If anything you are in an awesome position because you only need $1k a month to live like a Queen whereas that doesn't even pay rent in most of the West. Our side hustle could be your entire empire. Even $10 a day, easily achievable with almost $0 initial investment, by writing Amazon books for example, is $300 a month extra income, which is liveable income where you live.

 

[Anon05554]

Welcome. If anything you are in an awesome position because you only need $1k a month to live like a Queen whereas that doesn't even pay rent in most of the West. Our side hustle could be your entire empire. Even $10 a day, easily achievable with almost $0 initial investment, by writing Amazon books for example, is $300 a month extra income, which is liveable income where you live.

Thanks for the advice. True $1k a month in my world is a King's ransom. And you are also right about writing since I teach it for a living, why not apply what I teach? Will be tagging you for guidance on how to get published. Let me get serious about it asap. I just love how constructive advice flows here. Nice week.

 

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[Anon05554]

You're very welcome.

Capital will always be needed. You can take a look at Kiva.org who also have partners in Uganda for potential microloans to help expand your farm. They may provide lower interest rates than conventional sources of capital.

And then you can use your proven success and creditability to attract larger investors and speed up your growth.

Definitely let us know what you decide to do and how things are going. I'm sure a lot of people here have a ton of knowledge to share with you and help you have an easier time achieving your goals.

Thanks. Will definitely keep you posted. Nice week.

 

[farouqali]

welcome to the forum Aurelia,

 

[Anon05554]

welcome to the forum Aurelia,

Hello friends. I decided to continue with this thread so that my posts can have context.
As I type this right now, I am livid and seething. I have worked for this government for seventeen years, making students excel in their English skills and exams to the extent that one of them has a novel published and on amazon!

How does the government reward us? $1142 monthly salary for graduate teachers of Science subjects while those of us teaching Arts subjects are stuck at $240! Can you conceive of such an injustice?

Mind you, we teach the same students and the teaching load is more or less the same. How shall we share a staff room with such tycoons, and what shall we tell the students who are studying Arts by way of encouragement? I have never hated the slowlane more!

I have now come to that point in my life where I must do something, anything to get out of this accursed rat race as soon as possible.

When first I introduced myself here, I was advised to try writing as a side hustle. I reached out to one of us here(God bless you Speed )who gave me sound advice. The implementation, though, was objected to by my better half who still has a slow lane mindset and believes it is unbecoming for a woman to have big ambitions.

Our farm is doing okay by our standards and I have decided to focus on it. This year, due to the increase in commodity prices, we grossed around $2143 from the sale of coffee alone which has encouraged us to plant more, and start using manure since previously, the soil was taking care of the plants' needs unaided.

Bananas also earn us about $205 monthly, but the plantation requires much labour and demands a lot of mulches which makes the profit margin negligible.

Having read most of the gold and notable threads on this forum, my take is that the fastlane is the only way to a fulfilling existence.

I have also taken note of the bottlenecks to my efforts to go fastlane:

I don't own a computer yet,
My knowledge of computer is limited to typing, saving and posting,
I live in a male chauvinistic society(read married)
I am advancing in age, so I don't have a lot of time to waste.

My strengths are as follows :
I have time(yea, read it again).I teach three days a week, and spend the rest of the week at my very small retail shop where the customers trickle in.

I have plenty of agricultural land which if optimumly used could earn us some money(but the climate is changing, and we only go to the village on weekends).

I love reading and would make a good book reviewer (can read a book a day when I am not in class). I have written a review for online book club, but can't get paid for it because my phone cannot support the BBC code stipulated in their guidelines, and we can't withdraw money from a PayPal account in Uganda.

I am hardworking and once I set my mind on a venture, I turn it into a do or die mission.

I am done with child bearing and I am now flexible should a need to travel arise.

If serious need arose, I could get myself a second hand laptop. Nonetheless, I will get a colleague to teach me some basic computer applications.

I tried Constant content , but had my application turned down.
My take on Up work is that it requires advanced computer knowledge, so, I can't consider it yet.

I have given you this lengthy bio of myself so that you can advise me from an informed point of view.

Those who have fastlaned an agricultural venture, kindly come to my aid.

Those who have risen from a point of no computer knowledge to a thriving online fastlane business, I am waiting for your tots of wisdom.

Those who have battled male chauvinism and emerged victors, I can't wait to have your say.

Those who are exporting organic foods from the developing world to the West, you might have the key to my financial liberation.

Those who have written books and earned a fortune from them, I am at your feet for mentoring.

I forgot to say, once in a while, I can write a poem. I Will try and see if I can succeed in posting one of my poems here.

Thanks for reading through and for the tons of advice I know I will receive from you selfless people. Good day to you all.

 

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[Awakened2022]

Hello friends. I decided to continue with this thread so that my posts can have context.
As I type this right now, I am livid and seething. I have worked for this government for seventeen years, making students excel in their English skills and exams to the extent that one of them has a novel published and on amazon!

Hi fastlaners, I hope your ventures are showing some promise of financial freedom on the horizon.

For some reason, I requested to have my account deleted, but other than the name change, this was my introduction.

A lot has happened since I joined this wonderful forum that I am burning to share with you in the hope of learning from your unparalleled wisdom. I wish to start a progress thread and was wondering whether it is okay to keep this.

Moderators, is it okay?

Nice evening.