Gardening
For as long as I can remember, my mother was involved in a grocery club, locally referred to as “round” in Zimbabwe and “stokvel” in South Africa. These clubs are, are essentially groups of people, usually women, contributing money every month for a period of six months to a year either to
- Buy bulk groceries to share at the end of an agreed period, i.e every six months or a year; or
- Form an informal credit union that lends money to its members other people for an interest. At the end of the year the principal and interest earned is shared amongst all club members; or
- Give the monthly contribution, from all members, to one member every month to use as they please on rotation.
These clubs have been in existence for as long as I can remember and they are successful. Growing up, these clubs provided for my family in terms of groceries. My mother was able to buy big-ticket items and even helped finance for her second home. In a sense it is like getting an interest free loan; imagine that you have a group of twenty people contributing $1000 each every month, on your rotation you get $19000 and for the next nineteen months you pay it back without paying interest!
Most people contribute small amounts like $20 which over time adds up and allows them to buy basics in bulk at a better price than buying at retail prices.