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  • She Started Out Being A Doctor, Now She’s Chasing Something Else

    She Started Out Being A Doctor, Now She’s Chasing Something Else

    Every week, Zikoko seeks to understand how people move the Naira in and out of their lives. Some stories will be struggle-ish, others will be bougie. All the time, it’ll be revealing.

    Tell me about money when you were a kid.

    I remember the first person who ever gave me a ₦500 note. A guest spent the night with my family and gifted two notes to me when he was leaving the morning after.

    Shout out to visitors that roll out cash. 

    Haha! I’ll say we were comfortable. Bills were paid on time, new stuff for school every session, we travelled abroad for summer vacation. We weren’t wealthy, but we had enough. We had the new consoles, the latest sneakers, the newest phones.

    Sweet. 

    That was before my dad retired sha. After he did, my mum kept up the good work, but it wasn’t like before. 

    What did your dad do for a living, and what did your mum do?

    My dad was a medical doctor working as an expat in another country – he did that for 20 years. He had to work across cities in the country, even in a village. My mum was a teacher, but she moved to live with my dad for about 9 years and I lived with both of them for a while before coming back to Nigeria. She came back to Nigeria and became the principal of a school.

    Now she’s a businesswoman. 

    What’s the first thing you ever did to ‘earn’ money?

    In secondary school, I would write poems and sell them for Valentine’s Day. So I would write like 5 poems, you select the one you want, pay, then my best friend would use her beautiful handwriting to write inside your card. If you want a custom poem, you pay extra. My best friend and I shared the money 50-50. I was in SS2/SS3 at the time. 

    *Love letter for ₦100*

    We were in a boarding school so it was extra money to buy snacks and food during breaktime. I was known for my literary work once upon a time. 

    Young bestseller. Inside Life!

    Inside Naira Life, hahaha. 

    After that, did you do anything to earn money?

    I just had to be someone’s child, hahaha. Allowances basically – all through uni. There was really no need to look for extra income then. And medicine is a jealous profession. It’s not easy to combine it with something else. 

    So naturally, House Job after actual school?

    Yeah, I moved to Lagos for that. Got a job with the Lagos State Government and we were paid about ₦157k. Now the money was different almost every month, and the payslips never really explained what was going on but ₦157k was the average. I turned 25 during this, and I did the house job from 2015 till 2016. I got a job almost immediately after – barely a week – at a private clinic in Ikoyi and I was paid ₦80k monthly. 8 am to 4 pm, 5 days a week and alternate Saturdays. 

    However, just before getting this job, I started a fabrics business with a capital of ₦30k – buying and selling. 

    Smooth. 

    I worked in the clinic for a few months before NYSC. During NYSC, I was paid ₦43k by the state and after plenty gbas-gbos, ₦75k plus allowee of ₦19,800. 

    After NYSC, I had the option of going back to Lagos State or the private clinic but I wanted something else so I was home for six months. My husband noticed how much of a struggle it was during those months.

    Wow. What did you want so badly that you were willing to wait for 6 months?

    Something around Advertising, Marketing communications or Business consultancy. During that period, my business was my major source of income and fortunately, it was doing well.

    So so sorry about that. 

    Anyway, after months of not getting any job in the field I wanted because “what is a doctor looking for in this field” and other unreplied applications, I went back to the private clinic. But when I went back, I told my boss that I wanted to do social media marketing also and I wasn’t going to work 5 days a week.

    Wait, you mentioned husband earlier. 

    I got married during NYSC. 

    Ballpark number. How much did your wedding cost?

    Hahahaha. My husband usually says ₦10 million. We had over 1500 guests. But trust me, it wasn’t our money. Our parents paid for the wedding. The money we saved up was used to get an apartment and set it up – I saved ₦300k. We had a list of things we needed for the house so when people asked what we wanted for the wedding, we sent the list. 

    How much will you say your gifts saved you, in cash?

    Over ₦500k – fridge, microwave, washing machine, gas cooker, blender, water dispenser, and other things I can’t even remember. We could have bought those things eventually but we would have bought cheaper ones. My husband is a doctor too and when we got married, he was working in a private clinic while I was a Corper. So we had to be penny-wise. 

    You fed an army.

    The parents did. We just had fun. 

    Do you ever imagine a scenario where they just handed you the cash instead?

    I tried to convince the parties involved. I was told how impossible it was for me to have a small wedding. I’m the first grandchild of my mum’s family with 6 aunts and an uncle. They consider me their baby. Everybody came from across the globe. 

    Okay okay, back to getting back to being a doctor

    And social media marketer. Surprisingly, she agreed. Anyway, I started working 3 days a week and alternate weekends. I handled social media also. I was paid ₦1.5 million/annum, and I used the other two days to run my business. 

    So, you worked there as a doctor and managed their social media? Awesome!

    Yes. And surprisingly, when I calculated my salary, it was higher than what a lot of my friends were earning as doctors. 

    That’s interesting. 

    Medicine doesn’t pay well in Nigeria and it’s really sad. I have many many friends who have relocated and are planning to relocate soon.

    In fact, the whole medical journey can be a struggle. They sold us the medical dream but didn’t show us the full picture.

    My dad once told me that if I  wanted to be rich, I shouldn’t be a doctor. Didn’t make much sense to me then but I get now. 

    Doctors are some of the smartest people but many don’t know anything outside medicine. I know many people who would like to try something else but they don’t even know what else to do. So they stick with what they know.

     Society doesn’t even make it easy. The pressure is ridiculous. 

    In all, the real ballers are the owners of big hospitals. Especially those who have registered HMOs. Then consultants who studied abroad and then come back to Nigeria and consult for big big clinics, or hospitals. Just consulting for big hospitals is enough. That’s a lot of reading and investment. 

    Ah, that’s brave. 

    Yep. In fact, I got a job in 2019 at a marketing company. I still work as a doctor but only on alternate Saturdays and I still handle their social media. And I still run my business. 

    Let me tell you a funny story. 

    I’m listening. 

    When I was going to switch, I was scared – leaving the known for unknown. I had wanted this for a long time and I was really getting boredat the clinic. Then I got my job offer and saw how much they were offering.

    How much? 

    ₦3.6 million/annum. My friend and colleague at the clinic made me drop my resignation letter that day. My husband was out of town, I sent the offer letter to him and he sent back a draft of my resignation letter

    Hahaha. 

    When I resumed, I experienced culture shock.  I was coming from a place where we waited till the last day of the month or the first day of the next month for salary to getting several credit alerts for different things in the course of the month.

    Mad o.

    A few weeks after I resumed, the MD announced that everyone was getting a raise. I remember sitting there thinking:

    Is this how you people used to do it? That was the day I knew I wasn’t going back to full-time medicine. I had seen the light.

    Well done! So, business plus clinic side gig, plus main job, what’s that looking like?  

    When my business started, I used to do a lot of running around and it was quite stressful. But these days, I pray and focus on large orders – less stress, more profit. And everyone is happy. Pre-COVID, I tried to do one batch a month. 

    Ah, and now covid has paused it? 

    For individuals, yes, but I supply fabrics to businesses too so I still got some of those during this period. 

    What’s something you want but can’t afford?

    I was dreading this question. Because I don’t think I have an answer. Probably to spoil my husband and parents the way I would love to. My reason is because I hardly ever drop lump sums for anything. I prefer to pay in installments or save up for something. I plan my money.

    Talking about planning your money, what’s your monthly expense sheet like?

    Anything that’s not here doesn’t have structure. I do agro investments, I save one of my salaries in Dollar vest on Piggyvest. I just started getting into stocks and Eurobond etc – one of my salaries, the clinic gig. I send money to my parents sometimes. 

    I have a shopping addiction – shoes and clothes. I am trying to slow down now.

    Tell me about your wildest splurge

    I think December 2019, a store was doing sales and I was just buying shoes and clothes. Bought Christmas presents for people. Dropped money for church and some other money gifts. I don’t know how much I spent but roughly ₦200k to ₦250k.

    Woah. 

    You’ve heard worse jo. 

    Hahaha. Yes I have.

    I’m not really one to splurge. If it’s above my budget, I don’t think about it. It’s not even an option. I wait for sales or a better deal. If it’s essential, I save or pay in installments. The only thing I splurge at once are agro investments. 

    What’s the most annoying miscellaneous you’ve had to pay for?

    MDCN annual fees. I hate that I have to pay for it year after year and nobody is actually checking to see if I am doing the right thing.

    I know you plan all your money, but what’s the last thing you paid for that required serious planning?

    We moved houses. From a rented flat to one that is almost free (₦12k a month with electricity and water and other perks) but we had to renovate. So we needed to plan that. However, because we had been saving our rent monthly, it made it easier so we just used the rent money for renovation and added extra. Stretched finances a bit but we are good.

    ₦12k a month? Is there still space?

    Hahaha, it’s hospital quarters o. I was doing shakara before but after doing the maths, nobody begged me. They are supposed to be taking it straight from my husband’s salary.

    Lit lit lit lit o. Do you have a sense of how much renovation cost?

    About ₦600k. We bought a few things too.

    Tell me a financial regret you have. 

    I wish I had gotten more savvy about investments earlier, probably during housejob. I started taking it seriously last January and I have seen great improvement. But also, one needs to earn more to be able to save and invest more. 

    My financial decision I don’t regret though, is starting my business.

    On a scale of 1 to 10, how will you rate your financial happiness? And why?

    7. I’m content with my life to be honest. I can’t think of anything I really need that I don’t have. I have things that I want but no hurry, everything good will come. The remaining 3 is for the potential money I can make if I take the right steps. There’s always room for improvement. 

    One last thing.

    I’m listening. 

    If your 13-year-old came to you and said, “Daddy, I have met the man/woman I want to spend the rest of my life with,” would you approve? 

    I am guessing you wouldn’t let the child make such a decision. So why do we make kids choose what career paths they want to follow at that age? 

    Some will know, but many of us are on a journey of self-discovery. And I’m still on that journey. I don’t have a 5-year plan. I have an idea of who I want to be but I take each day as it comes and enjoy the experience.

    I enjoy being a doctor, but I know there’s so much more that I can be and I’m not afraid to find out.

    Grand closing. Thank you very much for taking the time.

    This story was edited for clarity. Some details have been changed to protect the identity of the subject.

    Fu’ad Lawal

    , ,

  • The Side Hustle Queen netting ₦525k every month

    The Side Hustle Queen netting ₦525k every month

    If you’ve been reading this every Monday, you know the drill at this point. If you haven’t, now you know that Zikoko talks to anonymous people every week about their relationship with the Naira.

    Sometimes, it will be boujee, other times, it will be struggle-ish. But all the time–it’ll be revealing.

    When was the first time you made money?

    After school, before NYSC. I was working at a car management company, and I was the data management person. ₦15k every month–10 actually, but the MD liked me, so he was giving me extra 5k. This was in 2011, and I did that for 5 months.

    It was a boring job, my goodness. But yeah, 15k was not a lot, but I didn’t have to give anyone. I don’t even know what I used the money to do, because I couldn’t account for anything that happened in that era.

    Were you getting an extra allowance from home?

    After school? No. I mean, if I needed anything, my parents would, you know, sort it out. But there had to be a need. We were not very well-to-do at the time–not comfortable enough to be giving you money based on “Oh I want money.”

    “What’s wrong with you?” my mum will be like “me too I want money.”

    NYSC came and I was earning 5k, plus NYSC salary, as a teacher in a Secondary School. I started service in 2012.

    At the time, my older brother was sending me money every other month. There wasn’t a pattern, but he was helping out–5k here, 10k there, 20k later. So that helped a lot.

    But then, I was still sending money home to my parents, 5k. Not for them to use it for anything per se, but just so they could know I was doing something.

    Girls just tend to send money home. When parents say they want someone that will take care of them when they’re old, they tend to mean girl children.

    Post NYSC?

    All through 2013, Life happened to me, so I had to go live with my brother. He was giving me like 5k every other week. I was living in his house and I wasn’t going anywhere. So he was pretty much just giving me money to survive and do other girl stuff.

    It was a rough year, my worst year ever. I was on the edge all the time.

    Then 2014 came, and I got my first real job as a Sales Associate with an auto-servicing company. My pay was 100 grand. And in the first month I started working there, the MD-slash-CEO, married man, decided that I was going to be his conquest. I no gree.

    So, I pretty much earned one salary there.

    Ehn?

    So, I used to show up early because I lived far away. You know, the whole waking up to beat traffic. Many of the people who lived nearby came late on a regular. Anyway, the one time I got there late, this guy had gotten to the office before me. Someone else came late.

    And then he decided that we were going to get punished. He legit came to the gate and told the security, “don’t let them in, they’re on indefinite suspension.”

    They finally let us in, to collect our indefinite suspension letters, and I just dropped my laptop. Dropped my tag. Took my personal stuff and left. I knew I wasn’t coming back.

    But I knew I wasn’t leaving Lagos to go back to my parents. No way I was going to tell them that I quit a job. I dunno how I survived till October. My family doesn’t even know I didn’t have a job that long. Because I was still sending money home from my savings. So I survived on that, living with a friend and her family. I wasn’t spending much on anything. So that money was what I was using to live every month.

    Thank God we don’t look like what we’ve been through.

    I got another job in October of 2014. Now, my salary there was 85k (100k) while I was in Sales. Then I moved to Marketing, and that’s when things started to turn rosy. In marketing, I got bumped to 120k. Net. I can’t remember what the gross was.

    Nobody seems to care about gross.

    Aha! I left in 2015 December, then I started working at an agency. My net was 180k. That was when I actually realised I might not be bad at this marketing thing. Bear in mind that I already started volunteering the year before, 2014 that is.

    I only got paid a total of 50k for two years, but it really was volunteer work for me. Them paying me was just a stipend. I really just loved doing it.

    Anyway, I started volunteering for another community group, and I wasn’t just going to do it because I loved doing it at this point. I was sick and tired of that loving-it shit.

    Back to the Agency.

    Anyway, I was in the marketing agency till the end of 2017. But before we even got to this point, I started taking side jobs. My first side hustle was to manage social media and I was getting paid 35k. After that, I got–

    –I can’t remember the job I did o, but I know they were paying me 30k every month. All of this was while working at the agency.

    Another place I was volunteering also started paying like 20k. Wait, was it 20k or 15k? Erm… Yes yes! 20k. In between all of this, I had a project for three months for another company that paid me 120k every month for three months.

    Anyway, I left that agency to another job that was paying 900 dollars. Then another side hustle that was paying 50k.

    So side hustles have always been a thing.

    Since 2015, yes. They still are. In 2018, I worked for another small company. It was part-time, so I didn’t have to go to work. I did that for four months–150k/month. I was still doing the 50k one still. Is it confusing?

    Mad o. At your peak, how many side hustles did you juggle at the same time?

    About four. There was a time I gave one to someone sef. So they were paying the person through me.

    So you’re an agency, basically.

    Hahaha. I already registered my business name. I just don’t have the time to give it the attention it deserves. Because I got more jobs but I couldn’t take them on, not because of uhm…

    It was too much to handle?

    Neh. They weren’t paying me enough to handle. The main reason I still work for the 50k gig–I mean it’s now 40k–is because I really love the person. Can’t go that low for anyone else. By the way, I was getting some of these gigs through someone, my plug.

    Shout out to your plug.

    Got another gig mid-2017 that started paying me 60k. Then another gig that paid in dollars and was approximately 330k. Did that for 6 months.

    Then I moved to my current job. My current job pays me 350k net. Then there’s the 40k one. Then I get another 35k. Then my husband gives me another 100k for house allowance, which I get to keep because sometimes I use just about half for house things. The rest, I pocket it. It actually used to be 150k before it reduced to 100k, and I’m just looking at him. Because if he should reduce it to 50k, this house will not contain two of us.

    Hahaha.

    See, the first day it happened, alert just entered kpim-kpim. 150k. Wow. What am I using it for? Wow. My husbanddddd. Then we had this month when we were moving, and had a lot of expenses and real estate investments, and the next month was when it first became 100k.

    I barely get to spend my own personal money like that.

    What has changed about your perspective between 2012 and now?

    Put in the work. Everything will click. Like, when I think of the things that made me put myself under a lot of pressure, I probably shouldn’t have. I have a lot of leftover anxiety from those days.

    What someone might achieve at 25, you might achieve at 35.

    Also, I used to spend without thinking about the big picture, so it felt like I spent anyhow. That has changed. I bought some things today that I’ll now transfer to my Spreadsheet.

    Everything is budgeted. I hardly do spontaneous expenses anymore. What happens when I want to do something tomorrow and I don’t have money? I’ve been poor before. I don’t ever want to be poor again, it frightens me.

    So, your fear of poverty is a thing.

    Yes. Constant fear. I don’t want to ever be poor. Like, I don’t want to hear that my husband loses his job and I can’t support the family. I don’t pray for it, but anything can happen. That fear helps me in my spending, my saving and my investing.

    Now, let’s break down that monthly income.

    Waait, let me bring my calculator…

    Wow, where’s all the money going to?

    I put 100k in my savings first. Again, I don’t have a particular amount I save in total every month. I use an app for saving, so It takes every week. So the money just goes. So sometimes I’ve already saved my regular 100 grand, then they can remove another 40k. So, average, I save about 150k every month. Save or invest. I do mutual funds too. And I want to start farming.

    My husband invests in farming cycles. I asked him yesterday like, “Is it that you don’t think that I like investing too?” He said he knows I invest in other things.

    “But I know that you farm, so you don’t think I can farm?”

    He said okayyy, when the next cycle comes I’ll tell you. And I said waaaait, so you didn’t know you’ll tell me since?

    The place he invests in, they do mostly crops, and he gets margins of up to 50-something per cent. I’m moving all my investments into this when the next cycle is coming.

    I don’t really splurge, because I don’t really go out. Every month, someone in Church is always wanting us to pay for something. So

    So, your money looks split between the House, Family, and Faith.

    Yep. I spend a lot of money on my husband too. You garra take care of the person that is giving you money. Keep him happy and all that.

    “You don’t have black shoe again? I buy you black shoe.”

    “Native is fading? Let’s sew another one.”

    “Baby, you need a pedicure.”

    I have a budget for him every month.

    Then, I change money to dollars. Wow, that means I actually save more than I think I save o.

    What’s your dollar budget every month?

    100 dollars. Because you never know when you can ja from this country.

    You don’t seem to be doing badly, but how much do you feel like you should be earning?

    Minus side hustles? 6 million per annum, net. I actually got an offer like that, but it was a startup. They asked me what I wanted and I said 6 mil, and they said okay, come for an interview. I was just there thinking “ehn? Why didn’t I say 8 million?”

    Why don’t you want to work for startups?

    Generally, startups are too unstructured for me. Like, it’s great and everything, but there’s just too much chaos. I’m sick of it. I can’t deal with the communication issues, the uncertainties, the fact that you talked about doing something in two weeks, and suddenly you want to do it tomorrow. I never want to get to the point where I tsk at work. Because when I start doing that, I start looking for another job. I don’t want to work in a place where they tell me that after two months, they can’t pay my salary, because of kini-kan kini-kan.

    Where I currently work though, there really is a sense of security for salary and other stuff, so I’m good.

    Also, I’m looking to switch from marketing to actual management of products. That’s where the money is. I wanted to take a course online for it but it’s a lot. And I’m just like, is it really worth it? Should I wait till when I move to Canada?

    Ah, Canada when?

    Next year, maybe. We’ve started the process, little by little. Are you religious? I am religious. God has shown me where I’m going to work in five years.

    Tell me.

    It’s one of the Big Tech. Managing products. When I had that revelation I was like, “I don’t know shit about product management” so I have to start learning. So I’ve started taking courses on Udemy, for example. Small-small.

    So it means you know what you want to be earning in 5 years.

    110 grand per year. In dollars. Because the average is 110. That’s not even you being exceptionally good.

    What’s something you want but you can’t afford?

    A new car. This car is showing me pepper. I’ve spent over 200k on this car this year alone. And it’s still making noise. But then I’m not sure it’s a real need, because why am I buying a new car when I’m leaving Nigeria next year?

    Do you see a future where you retire from work?

    I will–but I’m still going to have a business. Also, my children need to be in football or something so they can be part of my retirement plan.

    Have you started saving for their football money though?

    We’ve started saving for their future. We both have a savings plan for them. It’s part of my money that I’m saving, but he’s also investing in a bunch of things. To be honest, our investments are pretty much for them.

    Like, all I have in my mutual funds are for my children.

    I need them to be well equipped, so their mum and dad can enjoy their lives when they’re 50. It’s important they enjoy before they can make us enjoy.

    Talking about the future, what’s your pension looking like?

    One of my first jobs had a pension plan that was keeping aside 8k per month. The next one, about 12k. To be honest, I don’t even know how much is in my pension account right now sef.

    If I ask you what your most annoying miscellaneous has been, will you say your car?

    Ah, yes. Wait, it’s my phone. Last year. They stole my phone, and I wasn’t ready to buy another one. I went for Christmas rocks, and they stole my phone. I could have just stayed in my house and slept. This phone cost me 300-and-something-k.

    But this year, it’s definitely my car. It cost me 55k. Then my husband paid 80k, because he loves me like that. Because I’m his sugar baby.

    I just saw alert, and I’m like “you sent me money?” and he says, yes, it’s for your car. He takes care of me actually. He takes really good care of me.

    Not sure I need to ask you the satisfaction question. But anyway, on a scale of 1-10?

    Awwn, 15. I’m really happy. Can’t even lie. Sometimes I just get overwhelmed with work, school..Ohhhhhh, I forgot one part. There’s this certification I’m going to school for. Totally not worth it. If I had known 2 years ago that I was going to become a product manager, I wouldn’t have taken the course. I paid almost 200k last month. I was now living from hand to mouth. I don’t like this course anymore–it’s dragging for so long and it’s not giving me the value. They didn’t even advise me properly. The only reason I’ve not abandoned it is because of Canada.

    What’s something you wanted me to ask, but I didn’t?

    Oh, I’ve seen you ask this question before. Neh, nothing. You asked everything. Wait, maybe you should have asked me about investments, but then I already said everything because I knew you were going to ask about it.

    This was super lit. Thank you for taking the time.

    Worth it.

    Check back every Monday at 9 am (WAT) for a peek into the Naira Life of everyday people.

    But, if you want to get the next story before everyone else, with extra sauce and ‘deleted scenes’ just subscribe here. It only takes a minute.

    Fu’ad Lawal

    , ,

  • The Marketing Babe With Millionaire Dreams At ₦200k/month

    Every week, we ask anonymous people to give us a window into their relationship with the Naira – some will be struggle-ish, others boujee–but all the time, it’ll be revealing.

    If you’re looking for a person who’s genuinely enthusiastic about work, the subject of this Naira Life story speaks to this.

     

    This particular episode was pulled off in partnership with Fairmoney. They’re promising that you can get up to ₦150k in 10 minutes. Mad ting.

     

    Age: 25

    Occupation: Product Marketing

    Current Income: ₦210,000/month (net)

    Rent: Nil

     

    Tell me about the very first money you made.

    Let me think–it was at my Church’s Media Team. I was a P.A. to the Director of Productions.

    Oh no! Wait, I also made money in school–I sold Cheese Balls and biscuits.

    The first time I tracked my profit, I realised I actually made ₦5-₦7k. I went to a private University where leaving school was a problem, so I ended up having to send school workers to help me buy more goods. This was my 2nd year and I guess that counts as my true first hustle. I did this for at least 2 years.

     

    The Church money was in my 3rd year, and that was ₦30k.

    Were you getting pocket money?

    I didn’t exactly grow up in a proper mummy-daddy family. So for some reason, there wasn’t any structure around pocket money. Money just came when it came. Whenever I was broke, I just go, “can I call my aunty to tell her I’m broke again?”

    What other hustles did you have?

    Before I served, I worked at an Ad agency as a front desk officer–₦50k, plus tax. I remember when 40-something thousand naira entered my account, and I was like, what is this tax thing for sef?

    Omo, I was a big girl that time o. It was close to work, so I never spent money on transport. There was this guy who was toasting me, so he was always giving me free rides.

    That period was actually the first time I bought stuff online–one rubbish skirt that cost ₦6k.

    Then NYSC?

    I was tired of being at home in Lagos with my folks–too much control and curfews–so I was glad I got out of Lagos. My allowee was ₦19,800, then ₦10k from my Place Of Primary Assignment (PPA).

    But I had one extra hustle there: My PPA was at the Government House Church, so there was an extra gig–as a church greeter. I kid you not.

    “You’re welcome to Church!” every time the governor was arriving. Different colourful clothes and all that, every Sunday.

    Then I took another weekend gig that had very little to do with money. I always had this dream that I’d have some form of impact wherever I serve. And because I like kids too, I started teaching some children on weekends. I asked for ₦2k. Do you know their father still owed me? Nonsense.

     

    When did NYSC finish?

    2016. Then I started working at a small media company. I got paid ₦50k. Ah, my mum insulted me sha. Plus my uncle too. They didn’t understand how they’d spend almost 4 million on my education and then I’d settle for ₦50k for a first job.

    It wasn’t even funny at all.

    But to me ehn, it wasn’t really about money at the time, so I was willing to take it.

    I left after three months. The structure, or more accurately, the lack of it, was a problem. I did Social Media management there.

    Then I joined another media company. I was working on digital strategy and content management. This was actually where I started taking all the online courses I could find because I realised how much I liked marketing. I studied something completely different by the way.

    How much did this new company pay?

    I asked for ₦120k, and they basically just said: “you’ll see your salary.” That’s how my salary came and I saw ₦70k. Rookie mistake. 

    It was a disaster.

    Then they stopped paying consistently. Then one day, in the second half of the year, we got laid off. Bruh, I cried all the way home. I didn’t even know where to start. Keep in mind I still had responsibilities with family. So I started job hunting again.

    While I was looking for a job, someone told me about a woman who had a blog and needed someone to handle social media.

    I was like, oya let’s do this. Why I especially liked this gig was that I had enough room to grab new skills. ₦35k.

    I started at another media company in October. But how I ended up as an intern there despite having some decent experience is even more epic.

    When I first applied for the gig, I got an email that said stuff like, “Oh apologies, we don’t have full-time positions, because we’ve hired for these positions. But we have internship positions.”

    I was willing to take it to be honest, but my mum was like “what exactly is your problem? What internship are you doing with all your past experience again?” She wasn’t having any of it.

    But I really felt like this company was pretty much one of the biggest in the media game.

    When I resumed, there were no ‘filled out full-time positions’. In fact, no fulltime hires had been made recently. They just wanted someone who could do all the work for less money. The learnings ended up becoming valuable, but I can’t forget that. 

    I got paid ₦40k at first, then later ₦50k after 3 months.

    Crazy.

    Also, I still had the side hustle–that woman with her blog–that gave me ₦30k.

    My internship was supposed to last 6 months, but by the sixth month, there was no word of the way forward. So when I sent in a notice that I was going to quit, I got a “Oh you’re going to get a raise. We’re going to confirm you, full-staff.” In my head, I was like ohhhh, so you had to wait for me to try to quit first.

     

    I quit anyway.

     

    Something I told my mum before I took the job was that, when I begin to apply for other jobs, it won’t matter much that I interned. What will matter is the work I did, and bruh, did not I not do a lot of work? It stretched me intensely.

    Then I joined another company and my net was ₦210k. Even better is that it was also close to home. The thing about this new gig is that it required all my attention when I joined, so I quit my side hustle.

    What has changed about your perspective, in all this time?

    As much as I say money is not everything, it’s still a major key. Being broke makes me cranky. Even in my relationships, when I tell you I have a problem, I don’t even need to ask you to give me money. You’re just supposed to use your head.

    Okay, let’s talk about the money you currently earn.

    First of all, I budget a lot. I know where my next salary is going. 

    I tend to feel bad about it, but I spend a significant amount of my money on hair. My monthly spending tends to change a lot too. For example, my ideal savings should be ₦100k. But then I spend on hair, and that one just disappears. Also, makeup. Usually, each time I’m shopping for makeup, the budget is ₦10k, but I just bought a crazy new brand that’s more expensive–₦26k.

    See ehn, I’m not doing again.

    Let’s create a scenario of what an average month looks like

    looks like.

    I’m also big on kolo or piggybank–anyone you call it. I just throw change in there. I’m not a cash person, so every time I withdraw money, I make sure to keep some of it in. I have no idea how much I have in there to be honest. 

    There’s also the part where I’m obsessed with clothes.

    What’s the highest you’ve spent on clothes at once?

    I spent ₦50k once. It might not seem like a lot, but that’s a quarter of my salary. No shopping for another four months after that.

    How else do you manage your money?

    I sit down at home. What am I looking for about? If you want to take me out, come and carry me, please dear. Last weekend, when I wanted to go out so badly, I slept through it. When I’m craving anything that involves going out, I sleep. Sleep works like magic.

    Let’s talk about your airtime spending.

    I was in a long distance relationship with someone Abroad, we used to text and do video calls. Then I took a break. Then I started talking to someone back here. That meant that I started buying airtime to talk on the phone because the Internet can’t be trusted. I’ll buy ₦1k airtime, and next thing I’ll hear after talking a little is “your account balance is low.”

    Mad ting.

    One of the guys I’m currently reviewing said we need to take a break from going out. Because every time we go out, it’s like “let’s go and eat here,” “let’s go and chill there,” and then you end up spending money. One guy took me to this restaurant that’s so damn expensive. When they brought the bill like this–₦40k. And what did I even eat?

     

    Local relationships are expensive. You want to go to nice places but they’re all overpriced. Abroad, good pizza is cheap, but here everything is expensive. 

    Long distance relationships or just being single saves you money.

    Okay back to income: How much do you feel like you should be taking home monthly?

    Like ₦400k. Because my work stretches me mentally a lot. I have sleepless nights just trying to crack it. If the things I come up with to add value to the company, I should be paid. My work takes all my time. I have no work/life balance. If I spend so much time on my work, I should be paid more.

    How much do you think you should be earning in 5 years?

    I see myself being Marketing Director in a top company. Or a marketing consultant. I should be earning like ₦3 million a month when I think of where I’m headed and the amount of knowledge I’ll have by then. This figure is of course based on the current value of the naira. 

    What is something you want right now but can’t afford?

    A car. I need it now-now. I’m done with these Uber drivers. I’m tired–the ones that smell, the ones that talk to me one kain, the ones that annoy me.

    The car I want is ₦10 million, but the one I’ll manage is ₦2 million. Two separate things.

    When do you think you’ll retire?

    I intend to run a primary and secondary school in my 50s, when I’m done with the corporate world. But if you’re asking when I’m going to stop working, the answer is never, because I really can’t be idle.

    How much do you know about your pension?

    13k gets put in my pension account every month? To be honest I’m not sure. It’s just one of those things I do because they said we should do it. But I don’t feel strongly about it, because I feel like if I have my own money, I won’t need it. But they say things might just go wrong and then you suddenly need it.

    Last thing you bought that required serious planning?

    My phone. It cost ₦306k. My Airpods, on the other hand, didn’t require serious planning because I bought it once–it did require serious thinking.

    Most annoying miscellaneous.

    As much as I didn’t want to do it and didn’t budget for it, it was school fees for one of my siblings. It was some ridiculous reason that would mean he didn’t resume on time, so I paid ₦40k.

    Do you have any investments?

    My baby brother’s business. Investment is something you get out right? Uhm, no I don’t. Because it’s more of giving than actual investing. This is why I want to start my own. I also want to invest in someone’s business soon. Someone I know is starting a food business.

    Rate your financial happiness over 10?

    Something like a 6.5. My current income just gets me the basics, but there are so many things I need that I don’t have. Like my car, I want my car now.

    There’s still so much more I want to do, but I can’t do now. I won’t say I’m unhappy, but I need more to be able to do more things than I can do now.

    What’s something you’d have loved me to ask you but I didn’t?

    I was hoping you’d ask how much I’ve ever earned in my entire life?

    That’s interesting, tell me.

    Add all the money I’ve earned since then–the 50k gigs, side hustles, the end of year bonuses and returns on small investments here and there. I’ll put the money at maybe ₦15 million?

    What’s next?

    I’m starting a side hustle soon, it’s more about finding personal purpose than finding money. I feel the need to touch lives to directly and I want to do it with business.

    The funding for this? It will have to come from my savings.

     

    It’s time to put all that kolo money to work.

    Two things: 

    The people at Fairmoney aren’t playing around with this spray-the-cash movement. You shouldn’t be playing either. Check it out now-now. Check back every Monday at 9 am (WAT) for a peek into the Naira Life of everyday people. But, if you want to get the next story before everyone else (plus some stuff I might have edited out), just hit me up here. It takes only one minute.

    Fu’ad Lawal

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