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Why people who always have money are not earning more than you
25th May, 2026 10:17 AM
You probably know someone like this. They earn roughly what you earn, maybe less, but somehow they always seem sorted. They are not flashy, but they are never stressed before payday. They have money for emergencies, and when a good opportunity comes up, they have something to put in.
The common assumption is that they must have a second income or a rich parent. Often, the honest answer is simpler and harder to hear: their financial behaviour is just different.
Research published in PLOS One found that “individuals who exercise self-control, such as resisting impulsive purchases and sticking to their financial plans, are more likely to achieve better financial outcomes.”
It starts with what you spend, not what you earn
The most consistent gap between people who stay financially stable and those who do not is the spending-to-income ratio.
Earning Ksh80,000 and spending Ksh78,000 produces less stability than earning Ksh55,000 and spending Ksh38,000. This is obvious on paper and genuinely difficult in practice, especially in Nairobi, where social pressure to match a certain lifestyle is constant and often unspoken.
The city has a way of making upgrades feel like necessities.
Lifestyle inflation is the quiet problem. Every time income goes up, a new expense finds its way in: a better apartment, a better phone, a new subscription.
A 2023 study in the Journal of Consumer Affairs made this point plainly: “access to greater and more stable income offers greater financial stability but can also promote poor spending habits.” A raise is not automatically progress.
The financially stable people around you tend to resist this. Their lifestyle does not noticeably change every time their salary does. The salary goes up; the savings rate goes up with it.
Invisible wealth versus visible spending
There is a particular kind of Kenyan who dresses quietly, drives a modest car, lives in a decent but unremarkable neighbourhood, and has been quietly building a land purchase, a unit trust, or an emergency fund for two years.
Then there is the one who is loudest at every dinner, and whose M-Pesa statement would surprise you.
The financially stable tend to treat savings the way others treat rent: non-negotiable, first out, automatic. M-Pesa lock, a standing order to a money market fund, a chama (savings group) with strict contribution rules. Whatever the mechanism, the discipline is structural.
They do not rely on willpower at the end of the month. They make sure there is nothing left to impulsively spend.
