Consumption patterns of a S. Sudanese urbanite

So, this inspired me today. In England there’s no end of stuff to spend your money on; DVDs, snack food, clothes, magazines, theatre, dinner out, a music concert… the list goes on!

I stumbled upon the average % of money spent by households on various things in South Sudan and found the stats startling when I compare it to my spending habits back home. Say I earned £2000 a month (I wish!), and had a South Sudanese’s spending patterns, here’s where my money would be going:

Food (69%): £1380

Education (2%): £40

Health (5%): £100

Clothing (4%): £80

Utilities, incl. bills (5%): £100

Transportation, incl. communication (6%): £120

Personal care (3%): £60

Housing, incl. maintenance, repairs, appliances, utensils and cleaning (5%): £100

Recreation (0%): £0

Other (1%): £20

Well, it helps me to put the rising price of vegetables in Tesco Metro into perspective - £1380, per month?! You can get a lot of courgettes for that. But, perhaps I’d be likely to spend more on my food if my rent and bills totalled £200 per month. Not sure what they mean by “personal care”, pedicures, perhaps?

A graph showing consumption by state. The percentages I use are based on the average for a person living in an urban area in S. Sudan.

Of course, this is very rudimentary, and I understand that it is problematic to compare my spending to that of the average South Sudanese person since this is based on percentages, and if the South Sudanese economy was stronger I’m sure the % they spend on food would reduce also. However, it does make me wonder – rent and bills aside – is it necessary to spend all that I do on gadgets and frivolities? Does it enhance my wellbeing to spend my money on more stuff? Should I quit spending money on more stuff and buy the finest at Waitrose instead?! What would I do with all that excess money if I were to be fortunate enough to earn some, someday?!