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There’s no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to financial advice. What works for the ballers won’t always work for the hustlers, and that’s okay.
We asked 7 salary earners across different low and mid-income levels about their thoughts on savings, and this is what they had to say.
Lanre*. Income range: ₦200k – ₦250k/month
Saving in naira is a scam. I realised this when my sister received a sizable bonus at work, and she decided to save it for a year till she was due to travel out of the country. By the time she needed the money and changed it to dollars, it was far less than what it would’ve been if she’d changed it to dollars a year before and kept it.
I prefer to invest my money in agribusiness or opportunities that will generate interest. If I have to save, it can’t be in naira.
Mayo*. Income range: ₦70k – ₦100k/month
I’m a firm believer in savings. I can’t feel comfortable if I have absolutely nothing to fall back on.
I earn next to nothing, but I consistently save about 40%. Up until 2020, I always left my savings in a single bank account. But I got robbed and lost all my life savings in one day. So now, I spread my money across my accounts, fintech apps and even ajo contributions.
Joy*. Income: ₦300k/month
I only save what’s left after removing what I can conveniently live on. I used to beat myself up about not saving as much as some of my friends with similar incomes, but I give myself grace now. The cost of most things is now increasingly costlier on a daily basis, and I can’t live a fairly comfortable life and save adequately at the same time.
I don’t think it’s fair to work as hard as I do and deny myself the things I like simply because I want to keep money somewhere. I’d rather focus on earning more so I can do both.
I live with my parents and work from home, so I easily save at least 70% of my income since I have limited responsibilities. It’s not necessarily because I have financial discipline; I just don’t know what to do with money. If I find a lucrative investment or business opportunity, I’ll probably direct the money there instead of letting it gather dust.
Esther*. Income: ₦180k/month
I prefer to take loans than to save. This is because I typically save when I have a goal in mind. For instance, I need to buy a TV which might require me to save for three months. By the time I have the money, the price might have increased because of inflation. So, I’d rather take a loan to buy it at once and pay it back gradually. I can save for rent since it’s fixed. But for any other purpose, I’d rather take a loan. I also keep between 10% – 20% of my income as emergency savings when I have no particular savings goal.
Joseph*. Income range: ₦60k – ₦65k/month
Omo. Na who get money dey save o. By the time I sort out transportation and feeding expenses from my salary, I’m already broke by the third week of the month. The prices of things also increase daily, so sometimes I have to really stretch my salary to even reach that third week. Maybe when I start earning more, I can think about saving.
Ruth*. Income: ₦260k/month
I think saving is great, but my challenge is fighting the urge to blow my savings on something I like. I tried locking my money in a fintech savings app once, but then a genuine unexpected need came up, and I was stranded. I had to borrow money from a friend to pay my hospital bills even though I had ₦300k locked somewhere.
I’ve never locked my money again, and now I just try to do my best to manage it. If savings work in a particular month, great. If it doesn’t, I just keep moving.
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.
What’s your earliest memory of money?
My dad started giving me a ₦1k monthly allowance when I got into secondary school. It was big money for a JSS 1 student, and I didn’t know how to handle it. So, I’d spend it all on snacks within three days. After I was down to zero, I’d beg my mum to give me ₦100 every other day for snacks.
My parents quickly realised I had a poor spending habit and tried to curtail it. My mum gave me a book about money to learn the importance of saving. There were also lessons about saving and how negative spending habits can affect one’s life. None of it worked, and I was still spending anyhow.
What was growing up like financially?
We were comfortably middle-class. My dad was a marketing manager and also owned a school my mum managed as the proprietress. We owned and lived in a duplex, which was the finest in our neighbourhood. I thought we were rich until my dad took me and my older siblings to a posh Lagos neighbourhood one Saturday, and I saw better-looking houses. I remember thinking, “It’s as if we’re not as rich as I thought.”
It became like a weekly tradition, where my dad would take us to Lagos to see impressive things, widen our perspective of the world, and aspire to greater things. I quickly understood that “money pass money.”
Fast forward to 2013, I moved to a different town for a ten-month-long Cambridge A’levels program. I was 15, and the A’levels was my dad’s idea. I had finished secondary school but was denied admission to the university because I wasn’t 16 yet, and my dad didn’t want me to just sit at home.
It was during this program I made money for the first time, but it was out of necessity.
How did it happen?
My parents regularly sent me more than enough money to provide for myself, but I always spent everything in five days. I knew I couldn’t call home for money barely a week in, so I started selling recharge cards. I’d ask friends to send me credit, and when they did, I’d sell it in the hostel at a cheaper rate. For instance, I sold ₦100 credit for ₦90.
I stopped this business when I got into uni the following year. But my terrible spending habits became worse.
Tell me about it
There was a classmate whom I admired. Her shoes, dressing and make-up were always on point, and I decided I wanted to look like that, too. Once I collected my ₦20k monthly allowance, I’d use all the money to buy beauty products and fashion accessories.
When I inevitably got broke, I’d resell everything I bought to other students. There was one time I was so hungry that I convinced someone that the rope of my bag was a belt and sold it for ₦1k.
When I had nothing to sell, I’d take on typing gigs. I’m a really fast typer because I had access to computers quite early due to my parents’ school. So, I put the word out, and people would come with their laptops so I could type assignments and projects for them. I didn’t have a standard price; I just found out whatever business centres in school charged, and charged a lower price.
How long did you do this for?
About a year. In 200 level, a friend who sold pastries in school was looking for someone to handle his social media. I had no clue about social media management, but I’m not one to say I can’t do something. I told him I could do it, and he employed me. He paid ₦6k/month, and as usual, I’d blow all the money once he paid.
Four months into the job, he delayed my salary by a week, and I was on his neck for my money every day. He got pissed and was like, “We’re also friends. Can’t you just give me some grace this one time?” But I had no grace to give because I was broke and hungry. He eventually paid me, but that event ended our work arrangement.
I wasn’t unemployed for long. I started pitching other brands, and through the help of some friends, I got another social media management gig for a yoghurt company. The job paid ₦10k/month. Between that time and when I graduated from uni in 2018, I did one social media gig or the other to augment the allowance I got from home.
What happened after graduation?
NYSC. My PPA, a government agency, paid ₦5k/month in addition to the ₦19,800 monthly stipend from NYSC. My parents’ house was only a few hours away from where I served, so I didn’t have to rent an apartment.
I’m the last-born, so I also got ₦2k here and there from my mum and siblings for transportation.
I had no responsibilities, so when allawee dropped, I’d take all my friends to chop life at malls and restaurants. I now realise they never spent their money on these outings. When I wasn’t spending on them, I’d take myself out to eat and have fun. I knew I’d be broke in a week anyway, so why not enjoy myself?
This continued until I finished my service year in 2019. Afterwards, I returned to school almost immediately for my Master’s degree. I didn’t have an allowance this time because my dad had retired, so what I got from home was usually a combination of whatever my siblings gathered for me.
Were you doing anything else for money?
I didn’t do anything till 2020, when we were sent home due to the COVID pandemic. I was supposed to graduate during that period, but the lockdown put a pause on things. While at home, I started taking surveys and tasks online so I wouldn’t have to ask my parents for money constantly. It was a waste of time.
Why?
I could take 30-50 surveys and only earn $1. Plus, the minimum withdrawable balance was $10. I also needed PayPal, which I couldn’t access, so I just dumped it. Then, a friend introduced me to a news hub where I could submit stories to a portal, and if they published it, I’d earn money per page view or click.
So, I registered on the hub and started writing. It was self-paced; I could write as many articles as I wanted daily. The first payment I got after the first couple of weeks was ₦800, but I was excited. I was doing something that was bringing money. The following month, I got ₦6k. Subsequently, some of my articles went viral, and I got special recognition and an additional ₦20k. On average, I was making ₦20k/month from writing.
After about four months, I started having issues with the news hub. The process was entirely computer-based since we had to submit the articles via a portal. Sometimes, the system would malfunction and say your article isn’t original, then reject it.
It was really annoying because I put a lot of effort into my pieces. So, I stopped the gigs and decided to take LinkedIn seriously. I started reaching out to several people to position myself as someone who had something to offer them.
How did this go?
I became friends with a tech CEO, and we started talking about managing products. I didn’t have the experience, but I approached the conversation like someone who already had an interest and was learning about the field. That’s how I got a job at his startup as a product manager and social media manager in August 2020. My salary was ₦70k/month, an impressive jump from my previous income.
I worked at the startup for a year until I had issues with my boss. I forgot to complete a task, and she kept berating me, so I changed it for her. I shouldn’t have done that, and I apologised, but she also used the opportunity to express her annoyance at the fact that I called her by name. Mind you, everyone at the office called each other by name. It was messy, and I lost the job.
That’s tough. What did you do next?
That was my official entry into freelancing. I started pitching myself to brands and got social media management gigs. The first one was a ₦50k/month social media gig. Then, I got another ₦40k/month gig after a while.
In 2021, a virtual assistant friend opened my eyes to foreign currency-paying gigs. She sent me a screenshot of her payment partner app, which had $300 in it. I was shocked. I tried to get her to share her pitch template, but most people want to keep their secrets. She told me to just keep pitching people, and I could get lucky.
And did you get lucky?
Not at first. I was determined to also make foreign currency, so I went on Facebook and started messaging foreigners. That’s how I fell into the hands of scammers. They did a proper interview with me via Discord and said they’d pay me $1k/month. I was so happy. I even knelt to thank God that my life had changed. Only for us to do a video call, and I saw a shirtless Nigerian man on the street laughing at me. I feel like he didn’t even try to take money from me because I wasn’t his target audience, so I was just a comedy relief. Omo, I was frustrated.
But I didn’t stop pitching people. It was tough because when most of them heard “Nigerian”, they weren’t interested anymore. I moved to Instagram and started targetting businesses until I finally landed a social media management/virtual assistant gig with a UK business at the end of 2021.
How much did it pay?
$10 per hour — they paid in dollars, even though they were in the UK. At first, there wasn’t much for me to do, and I averaged $18/month in the first two months. I was quite fast with tasks and didn’t even know some people deliberately delayed tasks to get more hourly pay. I couldn’t even do that. It’s not me.
But I wanted to make more money, so I kept pitching my social media skills to my boss. I noticed she also did email marketing, and even though I wasn’t skilled in it, I kept telling her I could do it. In the end, she gradually gave me more tasks, and my income increased to $200/month.
The increase gave me the confidence to pitch to other prospective clients, and I got another virtual assistant gig with a US company. This one paid $500/month, and after converting to naira, my income was about ₦600k/month from the two gigs. I also had other on-and-off gigs. I made over ₦5m in total in 2022.
What did this mean for your financial habits?
I was still living from hand to mouth. Once I got paid, I’d take myself to Chinese restaurants or whatever tickled my fancy that month and eat all the food I could. My parents knew how much I was earning and were rightfully worried that I had nothing to show for it.
My parents tried to counsel me several times, but nothing changed. It’s not like I didn’t want to change; I even prayed for God to help me make better money decisions, but it was like immediately I saw money, I wouldn’t have peace until I spent it all.
In mid-2022, my uni called us back, and I did my master’s exams and finally graduated the following year. I also got married in 2022, and my husband noticed my terrible spending habits too. He also tried to encourage me to save and be better, but nothing he said moved me until February 2023, when he finally got through to me.
How did he get through to you?
He drew lines on our house’s wall and said, “This is where you are. When you make money, you go to this upper level, but when you blow it all, you come back to this lower level”. It was a simple diagram, but it was such a clear description of retrogression — something that most Africans reject strongly, and it struck me deeply.
It’s like I fully realised that I’ve been living a life without progress, and it scared me. This fear has helped to change my habits. My savings culture is even extreme now. I save 80% of my income. Sometimes, I only remove ₦5k and 20% tithe from whatever I make monthly and save the rest.
How much do you make in an average month now?
Between ₦800k – ₦1m from freelance social media marketing and web content management gigs with foreign companies. I currently have four retainer clients, and I’ve worked with three of them for over a year. Pitching is my major freelancing model, and it makes sure I’m never without at least one client.
When I take on too much work, I outsource social media management gigs to people with the client’s approval. So, most of the time, I still have a lot of free time because I’ve delegated certain tasks. I don’t hire on a retainer basis, and I typically pay ₦25k-₦50k per month depending on the length of the task, and how much work they need to do at the time.
What’s something that overcoming a spending problem has taught you?
Don’t waste your time trying to change people’s money habits. You don’t know exactly what’ll make them change. Maybe just pray for them from a distance. Looking back now, I feel bad that I caused my parents so much pain. They fasted and prayed, thinking it was a spiritual problem, but I just needed to be faced with the fear of retrogression to have a mindset change.
Let’s talk about your monthly expenses. How does that work?
I hardly spend money now. There’s no recurring personal expense except the ₦10k I spend on data, and it’s this low because I also use my husband’s data or the home MiFi. I’m on low-cut, so I only pay to trim my hair occasionally. The take-out expense is once in a blue moon. My parents are pastors too, so I pay my tithe to God through them or by helping someone in need.
Sometimes, I wonder what I was spending money on in the past because I don’t find anything interesting enough to spend money on anymore. I prefer to just save everything.
How much do you have saved up now?
I saved over ₦6m between February and December 2023. Past tense because something personal came up, and I just had to clear my savings to settle it. I’m back to saving from scratch, but I hope to take it a notch higher in 2024.
My short-term savings goal is japa. I finally have my Master’s degree, so I can start planning whenever I want.
Is there any other thing you wish you could be better at financially?
I’m already working on this, but I give too freely to people. Multiple times, I’ve given and loaned people money, but they either never paid back or ignored me when I was in need. I’ve encountered people who hid their own money but kept collecting from me. I need to be more disciplined — wicked even — so I know when to say no to certain people.
How would you rate your financial happiness on a scale of 1 – 10?
9. I’m happy with all God has helped me accomplish. I’m charging my worth and finally getting the hang of my finances. 2024 is looking very promising. God is good.
If you’re interested in talking about your Naira Life story, this is a good place to start.
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.
What’s your earliest memory of money?
I didn’t pay much attention to money until I graduated from secondary school and got my first job as a teacher. Prior to that, my parents provided everything I needed. It’s not like we were rich. My dad was a civil servant, and my mum was a petty trader, so things were average at best. But they did their best to make sure my siblings and I were comfortable in school. If we didn’t take homemade lunch with us, they’d give us lunch money. So thinking about where money came from wasn’t top of mind until I got that job.
Let’s talk about your first teaching job
I finished secondary school in 2009 and decided to do something while waiting for university admission. So, I got a job teaching primary four students all subjects for ₦4,500/month. My salary was increased to ₦5,500 three months later.
The first thing I did when I started earning a salary was to save up for a Nokia torchlight phone, which cost about ₦10k – ₦11k. Then, my dad took me to the bank to open an account so I could save my money there.
I didn’t save sha. When salary landed, I’d buy clothes and recharge cards for my phone and even my secondary school teachers. Sometimes, I’d give my mum money. I was quite generous because I had no expenses or responsibilities, so I gave it out freely.
I left the job after a year to teach at my former primary school because they were going to pay more.
How much?
₦7,500/month. But I only worked there for one month during summer lessons. The principal didn’t want to hire me when school resumed because he knew I was going to go to uni soon. So, I returned home until uni resumed in November 2010.
Did you do anything for money while in uni?
If you count scholarships, yes. I’d been hearing about them since my first year, but I didn’t pay any attention until my second year. I topped my class and was automatically shortlisted with one other person from my department. I did the assessment and got a full scholarship till my final year.
How much did the scholarship come with?
They paid ₦150k into my account every year. My tuition was only ₦50k, so I had ₦100k to do whatever I wanted. I had to maintain a particular CGPA yearly to remain on the scholarship, though. Another rule was that I couldn’t take another scholarship, but I did anyway.
The second scholarship was from an oil company and was worth ₦100k every year till graduation.
Baller
I only enjoyed the second scholarship twice before I was caught. Actually, I confessed. The people from the first scholarship had come for the usual review, and the person in charge was like, “I heard one of you is on another scholarship”. I think they just said that to scare us, but when they started asking us one by one, I said, “I am”, when it got to my turn.
They made sure I discontinued the other one. I had to write to the oil company asking them to stop the payments.
So, I was left with just ₦150k. After paying my tuition, I’d usually spend the rest carelessly on my girlfriend, food, friends and my parents. I got a laptop too.
At the end of my third year, I got another ₦50k scholarship.
What happened to not taking on more scholarships?
Technically, I didn’t process the scholarship myself. I wrote the exam on behalf of a friend. We agreed to use my name and some of his own details — his year and department — and if I got in, I’d give him some percentage of the money.
I gave him half of the first payment, but I didn’t give him a cut in the subsequent two payments.
Was he okay with that?
He complained, but the money was entering my account directly, and I basically did all the work, so he dropped it. I was now in my fourth year and needed money for my project and other off-campus accommodation expenses, so the extra income came in handy.
Final year came, and the scholarships ended. I failed one of my final exams and had an extra year.
Yikes. So sorry about that
Thanks. I didn’t want to take any risks, so I started going for night classes regularly. That was how I stumbled into a business opportunity. I noticed there were no snack or drink vendors at night in the building we studied in, so I started setting water and snacks on my table whenever I came to read. People would come to buy, and the demand became so high that I stopped reading for my class and focused on the business.
I moved my “stand” to the entrance of the hall. I’d regularly sell ten bags of pure water and several cartons of biscuits in one night. I even had to employ two part-time students to stand at my spot while I moved around to market my goods. I paid my staff in free biscuits and, sometimes, ₦1k per day. I made close to ₦30k daily, but I usually put most of it back into the business.
How long were you at it?
About two years. I started in 2015 and continued even after I sorted the extra year because I was still in school processing my NYSC and project.
By this time, some other people had noticed I was making money and decided to start their own night snacks and water business too. Then the school management became aware. Normally, businesses in school had to register through the authorities, but since I sold at night, they didn’t quickly catch on. I eventually stopped in 2017 because of the school’s wahala.
I really made money within those two years. At one point, I was sponsoring my younger sister at the polytechnic and regularly sending money home to my parents.
What did you do after?
I went for service in 2018 and taught maths and other science subjects at a government school. They didn’t pay an extra allowance, and I had just the NYSC ₦19,800 monthly stipend. So, I started looking for other income opportunities. I first tried after-school tutorial lessons for ₦100 daily, but it didn’t quite take off. I was serving in the north, where students hardly came to school during the normal hours. So, I just made the lessons free as a form of community service.
Six months later, I got a secondary place of assignment from NYSC. It was at a private school in town that paid ₦15k/month, bringing my total income to ₦34,800.
I also decided to try the tutorial business in town — that one worked better. Though, the parents always negotiated payment to the extreme. It was ₦5k per child, but they’d bring two other siblings and say the ₦5k should cover them too. I sha accepted it. I just wanted to make money.
What were your expenses like during this period?
It was mostly feeding and transportation. The school I worked at gave me a two-bedroom apartment, so I wasn’t spending on accommodation.
Remember the students I was giving free lessons? I also paid some of their school fees and bought books and math sets for some of them to encourage them to come to school and keep participating in my class.
Apart from these, I also sent money home and occasionally financially supported my pastor. I didn’t have any savings.
Interesting. What happened after NYSC?
Job applications. There was one that had five interview stages. I passed three and failed the fourth one. I was still in the north and was travelling down to Lagos for each of these interview stages. When it didn’t pull through, I decided to move to Lagos to focus on job hunting. This was late 2019.
But when nothing came after two months, I returned to teaching for ₦15k – ₦20k per month. When COVID lockdown happened in 2020, I used the opportunity to learn copywriting and social media marketing. All the money I made from teaching paid for my digital marketing classes. It was like a new world. I started offering services as a freelancer, even though I did a lot of free work in the beginning. Once in a while, I got social media management and digital marketing gigs and made the odd ₦10k – ₦20k.
In October 2021, I landed my first full-time job as a content writer and social media manager at a real estate company. My salary was ₦40k/month, and I got free accommodation in Ikeja.
I was also freelancing on the side: CV writing, LinkedIn optimisation, personal statements, social media management, and everything else that came. My goal was to save ₦100k per month, and I planned to do that with the side gigs.
How did you manage the side gigs with a full-time job?
My job required me to be online, and I had access to the office Wi-Fi and electricity, so I used the resources to work on my freelance gigs.
I didn’t keep a record of how much I made, but I met the ₦100k/month savings goal a couple of times. Then around the end of 2021, the office headquarters moved to Banana Island. The long commute from Ikeja was so expensive, and I couldn’t keep up, so I resigned in January 2022.
Did you have another job lined up?
I freelanced for a bit, taking up social media management gigs to stay afloat. But in March 2022, I got a digital marketing role at an agribusiness company in Abuja, so I had to move. My salary was ₦100k/month.
This one didn’t come with accommodation, and I initially squatted with a friend. But his place was far from the office, so I started living in the office to save transportation costs. There was always light and data, so I didn’t have to pay for those. It also meant I could save more. With my freelance gigs, I saved ₦150k in some months; other times, I saved ₦100k.
Was there a particular savings goal?
I wanted a new apartment in January 2023, so I was just locking the money — like fixed deposits — in a savings app until the new year.
But my savings plan derailed a bit when I left the job after four months. They could no longer afford to pay me, so they discontinued my contract, and I returned to Lagos.
Back to social media freelancing?
I decided to focus more on CV writing and LinkedIn optimisation training. I realised the demand for social media managers was far lower than the supply. Anyone can wake up and start managing pages for ₦50k. I’d rather train someone in social media management than manage their page.
Going freelance meant my monthly savings had to stop. I was living in a single room that my elder brother left after getting married, and my younger brother came to stay with me, increasing my monthly expenses. The fixed savings I had couldn’t mature faster.
When it matured in January 2023, I got paid ₦500k+, which went into renting and furnishing my one-bedroom apartment. I still freelance full-time, but my income has gotten better. Since January, I’ve been getting more gigs. I resumed my ₦100k monthly savings, and I’m now locking it till next year. My new goal is ₦1m by 2024.
How much do you make from freelancing in an average month?
I’m terrible at keeping track of my income. But I notice an inflow of at least ₦300k/month on my bank app, and I religiously save ₦100k.
You seem to take saving very seriously
If I don’t save, I have no option when I’m in need. It’s my safety net; I don’t have anyone else to run to. I even feel I should be saving more than I currently do. I’m not as prudent with my expenses as I want to be. I plan to take financial courses soon and explore long-term investment options like stocks and real estate.
Can you break down your monthly expenses?
Sometimes, I look at my income inflow on my bank app and wonder where all the money goes. The thing is, when I’m broke, I go on social media and aggressively market my services. When I get clients, and they pay, the money goes to solve any urgent need at that moment. I think that’s why it’s so difficult to track.
Do you ever worry about the unpredictability of freelancing?
All the time. If I see a community management role in a decent company willing to pay ₦350k – ₦400k/month now, I’ll take it.
I’m still actively job-hunting, but recruiters have just been ghosting me. I’ve gone through several interview stages with major companies. After creating three-month content strategy plans or visibility case studies as the final test, they go, “Unfortunately, you’re not qualified”. I’m not even interested in doing any case study again. It’s like free work.
Is there a backup plan in case both freelancing and the job search don’t work?
I’m currently taking a six-month software engineering program I started three weeks ago. A politician sponsored it, so I didn’t have to pay anything. There’s also the possibility of job placement at the end, so that’s my long-term career goal for now. At least, they say tech is where the money is.
Is there anything you wish you could be better at financially?
Definitely financial record-keeping. Maybe I’ll go and withdraw all my money so I can watch it physically leave my hand because, right now, I don’t know exactly how it moves.
How would you rate your financial happiness on a scale of 1-10?
5. I’m earning reasonably well, but it’s not stable. A full-time job would help me plan my finances better, and I’d then use my freelance income to augment it.
If you’re interested in talking about your Naira Life story, this is a good place to start.
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.
What’s your earliest memory of money?
As a child, I always thought money was just available. My dad was very generous, so all I had to do was ask. My mum, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. You had to beg, lie and cry to get anything from her.
What did your parents do for money?
My dad imported and exported cash crops, and was hardly home. My mum was a stay-at-home wife till I was about 14 years old. She basically took care of me and my younger siblings.
What was growing up like, financially?
It was very up and down. Since my dad dealt with seasonal crops, he made most of his money around harvest time, which was once a year. Other times, there’d be no money, and things would get really bad.
Our life was like that: Money today, no money tomorrow. But when there was money, there was really money. Like flying to meet your dad on vacation money.
When there was no money, there was really no money. I remember returning to boarding secondary school one time, and my mum couldn’t afford the transport fare. We had to take soólè — a cheaper, but more dangerous alternative.
How did that shape your opinions about money growing up?
I had a fear of financial insecurity and instability, and it’s stayed with me till adulthood. I became very money-conscious early. It’s the reason I started working at 14 years old.
Your first job. Tell me about it
During the three-month break between SS 2 and SS 3, I worked as an attendant at a betting shop beside my mum’s provision store. My pay was ₦10k in the first month, then it increased to ₦12k.
What were you spending money on?
Data, snacks and those ₦50 Lantern storybooks. I also had a bank account my dad had created so he could send me money without my mum intercepting it, but I hardly saved.
Ushering was the next job I did. I started immediately after I entered the university in 2013, but my first gig was a scam.
What happened?
I applied to an ushering agency via WhatsApp and sent my pictures. They said I’d been accepted but needed to pay a ₦5k application fee.
Bank transfers weren’t popular then, so I made the deposit at the bank and sent the picture of the deposit slip together with my picture, name and details to an email address they provided. They sha blocked me, and I never heard back from them again.
Omo. Did you try another agency after that?
Yes. Thankfully, the next one was legit. I started working most weekends, earning between ₦5k to ₦8k per event. I did approximately three events a month and could make anything between ₦20k to ₦30k. The highest I ever got from ushering was ₦20k for a politician’s one-day event.
How long did you do the ushering jobs for?
Till 300 level. It was my major source of income because things were bad again at home, and my parents still had to look out for my siblings. While my parents handled my school fees and sent a ₦30k monthly allowance, I took responsibility for all my other needs.
Why did you stop ushering?
I started dating a generous man.
Now I need the details
We met in 2015. He was a doctor who worked not too far from my uni, and I typically spent my weekends with him. Since my ushering gigs were during weekends, the work just died a natural death.
He gave me money for the first time after we spent a weekend together. I got home and found an envelope with ₦50k inside in my bag. Subsequently, he just started giving me random money and buying me food. It made my life easier; I didn’t have to ask for money.
One time, I was with his debit card when I saw a ₦10k bag I liked and just paid for it. I remember asking myself why I thought it was okay to spend his money without his permission, but he didn’t even flinch when I told him. We dated for a year before our relationship ended in epic breakfast. But I don’t want to get into that.
Ouch
After I finished uni in 2017, I went for youth service and lived on the ₦19,800 allowance plus other small money I made for writing short articles for a German-based LMS.
How did you get into writing?
Heartbreak brought out my creative side. I wrote dark pieces about unrequited love, depression, family and all that jazz. I even had three journals at a point. My friend saw it and was like, “Why not make money with this thing?”
So, she linked me up with the LMS. She also worked there, and they sent my payments to her account as well. Payment was per word, and we had targets — usually 3k to 5k words. The amount I got at the end of the month depended on how well I met my targets. My very first salary was ₦73k. Subsequent months ranged between ₦20k to ₦70k.
₦20k?
It was a very unstable place. If you didn’t meet your targets, you could wake up to find that you’ve been logged out, and you have to beg for another account. When that happens, you lose any progress you’ve made up till that point, and your hours start counting again. I worked there till service ended in 2018. I think my last salary was ₦48k.
What did you do next?
I studied a medical course at uni, so I decided to try out a hospital internship. I got a year-long internship at a general hospital in early 2019. My monthly stipend was ₦91k/month, which was a relief coming from the unstable LMS job. However, the hospital was really the ghetto. It was the experience that helped me realise I didn’t want a medical career.
What made you come to that decision?
While interning, I happened to be part of a general meeting with senior medical professionals from all over. I remember looking down at all their worn-out shoes and deciding I didn’t want to wear those kinds of shoes. These were seasoned professionals who had been at it for over 10 years. That couldn’t be my life.
I feel you. Was it just the shoes, though?
It was mostly that. Then, I had a friend who joined the hospital’s human resources department. I’d hang out with her in the HR department and admire the work they did. I liked mathematics in school, and they handled a lot of data, which I loved.
Then, another friend introduced me to an HR/admin officer, and I started unofficially helping him with data entry and documentation. Around that time, the departmental secretary went on maternity leave, so I helped with documentation while she was away. At that point, I just liked the work and knew I didn’t want to do the course I studied. I didn’t have a clear career plan.
What did you do after the internship ended?
I’d started dating the friend who introduced me to the HR officer before my internship ended in June 2020. He was also generous, so when my salary stopped, he put me on a ₦50k monthly allowance. Sometimes, it was ₦150k, and after we’d been together for a year, it went up to ₦200k.
I spent most of my time with him, so I didn’t look for a job. However, I started a bedsheet business in November 2020.
What inspired that?
I loved buying bedsheets for my space. One day, I went sourcing fabrics for a new one. I put a poll up on WhatsApp to see which fabrics worked best for men and women, and my friends began to show interest. So, I just decided to start selling.
My boyfriend gave me ₦300k as initial capital, but I started with ₦150k and kept the rest. I bought 16 bedsheets for a start and sold the whole thing in eight days. I made a ₦2k profit on each. I also sold some duvets for a ₦3k profit.
But December was when I really made money. Someone contacted me to supply sheets and duvets for his mansion. The contract was worth ₦200k, and I made an ₦80k profit.
Love to hear it. So, the business was a hit?
Somewhat. Sales were mostly from my family and friends, so it wasn’t that regular. But the business was just so I could have something to do — my boyfriend regularly sent me money. Because of that, I could save most of the salary plus ₦198k COVID allowance I received from the hospital towards the end of my internship. By the end of 2020, I had almost ₦700k in savings. But then, I went to invest it.
It’s already sounding like it didn’t end well
Before then, I had made a smaller ₦200k investment with an agribusiness platform in October 2020. It was a year-long investment, and I was supposed to cash out ₦240k after maturity. There was no issue with that one.
But then, in 2021, I invested ₦800k in one popular forex company and was supposed to cash out ₦1.2m after nine months. They even had an app where you could see your money grow. But the time to cash out came, and I couldn’t click the “withdraw money” button. At one point, the app stopped working. I sent emails and tried customer support with no luck. It was when I went to social media and saw other people wailing that I knew it was gone. I cried ehn.
Omo. I’m so sorry
It was extra painful because I didn’t tell my boyfriend. I wanted my “financial wisdom” to be a surprise to him. It felt like I had nothing to show for the business capital he’d given me.
Also, I wasn’t sure of the future of the business. My boyfriend cheated earlier in April 2021, and while we were still together, things were going downhill. It made me start rethinking the business. He was my primary source of income, and I realised I needed something more sustainable. I was ready to leave, but I was also scared of not having money and being unable to feed— the age-long fear of financial insecurity. It prompted me to look for a job.
How —
Wait. Did I mention I made another stupid investment in 2021?
OMG
This one was with a family friend. He was the accountant and also quite religious, and I believed him when he assured me it was legit. So, I put in close to ₦600k. It was supposed to last six months, but the site crashed after the third month. 2021 was essentially my year of fake investments. I lost ₦1.4 million in total.
Yikes. How was the job search going, though?
I was applying for random jobs and living on online hiring platforms. I used the time to brush up on my CV and LinkedIn with stuff I learned from free recruitment and interview training sessions online.
I also read a lot about customer success, human resources, and even data analysis; practically anything that’d make the transition into related fields easy. I also did some HR courses on Coursera — it was free because I applied for financial aid. After taking the courses, I’d add them to my LinkedIn profile. But I was also depressed and was crying all the time.
Finally, in March 2022, I landed two offers: an HR data analyst role in Ibadan and a Talent acquisition specialist role in Lagos.
Which one did you go for?
I lived in Ibadan, and the HR data analyst role was going to pay ₦150k. The Lagos role was ₦50k. The Ibadan job was more reasonable, but I thought I needed a change of environment to beat the depression, so I took the Lagos job. It’s definitely one of the craziest things I’ve ever done in my life. By this time, I’d broken up with my boyfriend, but we remained friends.
I moved in with a friend at Gbagada — the office was at Surulere. I still had about ₦500k in savings (including the ₦240k cash-out from the agribusiness investment). So, as a soft babe, I used a cab from one of these ride-hailing apps on my first day. It cost ₦3,700. That’s when I knew Lagos wasn’t for the fainthearted. I saw people hustling for buses while returning home that day, and one lady’s skirt even tore. The ghetto.
Not you slandering Lagos
I couldn’t keep up with cabs or hustle for buses, so I moved out of that friend’s house after two days and went to live with another friend in Surulere. The plan was to stay for two weeks while I looked for a house.
But within a week, the friend started asking about my plans to get a place. I was aggressively house hunting, but it was difficult doing that while doing a very stressful full-time job, coupled with Lagos agent’s wahala.
One week and five days into staying with her, the friend sent me a text on a Thursday evening, saying her mum was visiting over the weekend and I needed to leave.
Darn. What did you do?
I just started crying. I was at work, and my boss saw me and gave me the rest of the week off to sort out my house situation and resume work on Tuesday. Luckily, I found a mini flat in Surulere the very next day. It was supposed to cost ₦800k, and I only had ₦500k. So, I called my ex, and he sent me ₦500k.
I ended up paying just ₦500k — the landlord decided not to collect the agent and agreement fees. I then spent about ₦300k to furnish it. I was settling in pretty well until I lost my job in May 2022.
How come?
The job had crazy expectations. I was hired to do HR, but I also did customer service, sales and a little of everything. We also did recruitments and would be given extremely short deadlines to submit candidate profiles.
My boss had given me and one other colleague three days to submit some profiles. We couldn’t meet up, and by Monday morning, I opened my mail in the office to find a termination letter. No one said anything to me, and I stayed till 5 p.m. and left. The next morning, the HR had the audacity to call me to ask why I wasn’t at work because I had a “notice period”.
Mad o. So back to job hunting?
It was tougher this time around because my savings were depleting fast. By June, I had just ₦25k and decided to sell my laptop. I told a friend that I wanted to sell it, and she got so upset that things were that bad. The next thing I saw was her post on WhatsApp: “Isn’t there anyone who needs an HR officer in their company?”
Aww
That post landed me a ₦171k/month HR role. I resumed in July.
That must’ve been a relief
It was. I later discovered I was lowballed because I didn’t negotiate, but it was still life-changing money for me.
I’d started sending ₦20k home as black tax since my internship days — even when I was jobless. The needs from home were increasing because my dad was fully out of business, and it felt good to earn money that could take care of needs as they arose.
Were you spending on yourself at all?
I usually sent ₦70k home in a month, so I’d split the remaining ₦100k into two: ₦50k to my savings and ₦50k to take me through the month. It was tough, but I learned to manage.
In December 2022, I started getting HR gigs from someone on LinkedIn. Mostly payroll, CV, employee handbooks and others. The gigs gave me an additional ₦100k monthly, so I decided the whole thing would go straight into my savings account that I didn’t touch.
How was work going?
I resigned in March 2023. It was the period when transportation costs became too much to bear, and the company refused to go hybrid or give me a salary raise. My mental health couldn’t take it, and I could no longer function well. So, I left even though I had nothing else lined up. But I got another job six days after my notice period elapsed in April.
Impressive
It was a real lifesaver. It was an HR manager role for ₦350k/month — a 100% increase from my previous salary.
It gets crazier. In July, the company merged with a fintech company, and I got promoted to HR manager for the parent company, and my salary increased to ₦910k.
How did you react to learning about your new salary?
It’s a very dramatic story. When I saw the alert, I checked the payroll. The person whose name was next to mine had the same salary, so I thought it was a sorting mistake and I was paid another person’s salary.
The salary came in at midnight, as it usually does because my boss doesn’t live in Nigeria. When I saw ₦910k, I couldn’t touch the money. I sent a quick WhatsApp text to my boss explaining the error, and she just said, “It’s not an error. You’ll be briefed tomorrow. Goodnight”. Ah. How was I supposed to sleep that night?
LOL
I concluded it was probably a performance bonus, but it turned out to be a pay raise. It felt unreal.
What does this rapid income growth mean for your spending habits?
I still live the same lifestyle. A lot of my income goes into black tax. Two of my younger siblings are now in uni, and they’re sort of my responsibility since my dad went and married another wife.
Earning more has made my life a bit better. Dresses I used to think were too expensive don’t seem that costly now. But I’m being conscious about my spending. I want to sponsor my siblings’ education in a way that they don’t have to depend on me.
While that fear of financial insecurity has reduced, it’s still there. I work for a fintech after all, and anything can happen. But at least now, I can save better.
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How much do you currently have saved up?
₦2m. Since I started earning ₦910k, I have saved ₦600k every month. Right now, I have two savings goals: A car to beat my daily cab costs and an apartment on the Island for proximity to work.
But I’m also saving so I can have something to fall back on if I ever get laid off. I’m even still job hunting and wouldn’t mind a remote offer, so I can do both jobs together. I want to move to a job that’s more stable, so I don’t have to worry about being laid off and losing my source of income.
Have you considered how much the car and apartment would cost?
I want a luxury car which will cost about ₦8m. An apartment would likely cost me ₦2m, but it’s a secondary need. The car is more important.
Are you still considering investments these days?
I’ve sworn off them. I’m so scared now that I can’t even put money in these fintech savings and investment apps. I have about ₦40k in Nigerian stocks and $180 in US stocks, but that’s about it. I’ve not gotten to the point where I can put my money somewhere other than traditional banks. I prefer to see it every day.
What do your regular monthly expenses look like?
Curious. What amount monthly would cancel the financial instability fear?
My short-term goal is ₦1.5m/monthly. That way, I can save ₦1m monthly and live on ₦500k. I hope to get that by 2024.
Long-term, I’d like to earn in dollars. Preferably $2k/month and above. Of course, I know I need to constantly develop myself to remain relevant if I want to get there.
How would you describe your relationship with money?
It’s been very volatile, but it’s beginning to mature. I’m now very strict with savings. Even when I had my birthday recently, I drew up a budget to outline how much I could use to spoil myself. I still fear financial instability, but I’ve grown more confident in my skills. I know that as long as I have these skills, I can always still make money.
How would you rate your financial happiness on a scale of 1-10?
6. I’m earning good money now, but I haven’t saved enough. I want to get to ₦10m in savings. I also still have a lot of heavy black taxes, and I’ll only be really happy when my siblings are less dependent on me because they have jobs.
If I lose my job today, I’m not the only one who’ll go hungry; my siblings will too. So that knowledge means I never fully settle or have peace of mind. At least, until they’re independent.
If you’re interested in talking about your Naira Life story, this is a good place to start.
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.
What’s your earliest memory of money?
I don’t think I ever had an “aha” moment about what money could do. My parents were civil servants, and being the last born of eight children, I came when they’d finished hustling. I mostly had everything I needed, but I didn’t have access to money at all.
Like, they didn’t give you money?
Whenever I needed something for school, my parents would give my older siblings the money to get it for me. It pissed me off to no end. Was I too small to handle money?
In JSS 3, I noticed that my elder brother, who was in university, always returned from school with goodies for me and my siblings. For some reason, I concluded that once you entered university, you’d start making money. That became my plan. Go to uni and make money.
Did you follow the plan?
I followed passion first. After finishing secondary school in 2013, I did a three-month basic computer training course because the uni I applied to used computer-based tests for their post-UTME exam. But after I took the exam, ASUU went on strike. So, I was home for six months, waiting for admission.
While I waited, I took an interest in graphic design and volunteered to teach new cohorts at the training centre basic computer skills for free. A corps member noticed I was passionate about digital skills, so he taught me web design, HTML, CSS and PHP. When I finally got admitted into uni, my dad gave me his laptop as a gift, and it helped me practise my skills.
Did you monetise the skills in uni?
Sort of. In 200 level, a friend ran for a political post in the faculty, and I made designs for him. He paid me with food when he won the election. Another guy who was running for a departmental post saw my designs and asked me to do some for him as well. He squeezed ₦200 into my hand as payment when he won.
Ah!
The problem was, I wasn’t charging people for designs. Some other students also randomly came to me for designs, and I expected they’d compensate me. You’d think the ₦200 debacle would’ve given me sense and taught me how to charge for my skills. It didn’t.
It looks like the “make money in uni” plan wasn’t working
It wasn’t. To make things worse, I was surviving on a ₦1k weekly allowance. My parents had retired, and cash flow wasn’t as regular.
I didn’t care so much about money though; I was just hungry for knowledge and wanted to learn as many skills as possible. By the time I resumed 300 level, I’d learned to build web apps. I built a computer-based voting software for my department’s elections. With a friend’s help, the word got out, and a few other associations in school adopted the software for their elections. I got paid ₦20k for every association that used the software.
What was that like?
₦20k was a lot of money to me at the time. And I was just happy people were interacting with a project I created. My first big break came the following year.
How?
It was 2018 — the year of Ponzi websites — and everyone was building one. I charged between ₦80k and ₦100k for each website and built four that year.
How does someone even get a gig to build a ponzi website?
MMM had just crashed, and people were pissed they didn’t make enough from the scheme. They’d either lost money or wanted to use the trend as an opportunity to take people’s money, too. So they looked for anyone who could write code and gave them the job on the spot. The website would crash in weeks, but no one cared. They just wanted to make their own money.
Me, I liked the money and enjoyed spending it. But I soon felt bad about being part of something that was scamming people of their hard-earned money, so I stopped after the four gigs.
My next stop was an internship at a design agency for IT. They paid me ₦5k/month for three months.
That’s a sharp drop
The sapa was strong. I’d also lost both of my parents earlier in 2017. It was tough.
I’m so sorry to hear that
Thank you. Luckily, my dad wrote a will before he passed and allocated about ₦5m to me. It took a year to process and access the money, but even then, I needed my elder brother as a signatory to make withdrawals. The money helped as it was what I relied on during IT and the rest of my time at school.
However, I didn’t want to be too dependent on my inheritance. So, I limited my withdrawals to only essential expenses and school fees. I didn’t want to create a too-comfortable life for myself with that money and then struggle to keep up when it’s exhausted.
By the second semester of 500 level, I stopped withdrawing from the account entirely and haven’t touched it since then. I still have about ₦3m now.
All of this meant I had to make my own money. Fortunately, I got a motion designer role soon after I stopped withdrawing from the account.
How much?
We didn’t even discuss a salary. But anytime I worked on a project, my boss would just squeeze ₦15k or ₦20k in my hands.
Not the “squeezing money” stage again
I worked on about six video projects in total during my two-month stint with him.
Then, someone else offered me another motion design gig. It was a lot of work, and I wanted to be sure I negotiated properly. So, I contacted a professional to ask how much he’d charge for the same project. The professional mentioned a couple of millions, so I divided the figure into two and charged one-half of the value. In my mind, I’d blown. Only for the guy to price me down to ₦50k.
Screaming
Although we eventually agreed on ₦80k, the guy only paid me ₦60k when the project ended. I had a bit of a dry spell after that until NYSC in 2020. I survived on the ₦19,800 allowance plus ₦4,900 stipend from my PPA for a while.
A few web design gigs came here and there, where I made between ₦15k and ₦40k per gig. But I realised that I could make more if I was better at negotiating. So, I made it a point to upskill and read books to improve my negotiation skills.
I was prepared when the next gig came. I charged the client whom I’d worked with before ₦100k, and instead of just going “okay” after she priced it down to ₦50k, I asked her to clarify the components of the website. When she did, I focused on the complexities and used English to defend why the amount I quoted was the only option. Surprisingly, she agreed, and even returned later for another project. In my mind, I was like, “So it’s this English I didn’t know that’s been suffering me all this while?”
How often were the gigs coming generally?
Not often, but it was regular enough for me to put myself on a salary during the NYSC year. I didn’t want to finish service with nothing to fall back on. So, I kept everything I made from gigs in a separate account and only paid myself ₦20k/month.
What happened after your service year?
I returned home broke. I had to use most of the money to replace my laptop, which cost ₦120k. After removing the transport fare to return home, which was miles away from my PPA, I had just ₦10k left.
But I had a plan: move to Ibadan to look for work. I’d even paid a friend ₦20k to renew his rent so I could stay in his one-room apartment when he left for NYSC. Before that plan materialised, a company in Lagos I’d applied to intern with as a game developer invited me for an interview.
Also, someone from the design agency I’d previously interned with called and said they’d like to see me. The plan was to attend the interview and meet with the design agency during the same weekend. I ended up spending nine months in Lagos.
Why?
The design agency offered me a ₦120k/month job that included free accommodation. I didn’t even go for the other interview again.
What about your place in Ibadan?
I abandoned it. My job paid 4x what I spent on it, and I didn’t have to pay rent. I was in Lagos with just one shirt — remember I only planned to stay a weekend — but it didn’t matter because we soon entered the 2020 lockdown and worked remotely.
I moved back to Ibadan after the lockdown was lifted because remote work was now a thing. But this time, I rented a ₦250k/year three-bedroom apartment with two other friends. I also got a raise the following year, and my salary increased to ₦150k.
How were you feeling about your earnings?
It was good money. Plus, the agency also started a profit-sharing system where you could make extra money when you led a project. However, I wanted core programming and thought it was time to apply myself somewhere other than an agency.
So, I applied for several jobs, and got served breakfast just as often. I even started learning JavaScript for about six months after flopping a simple programming question at an interview. The hard work paid off. I landed a ₦400k/month front-end engineer role with a Nigerian fintech towards the end of 2021.
What was that like?
I didn’t have time to take it in because I got a contract role with an international company almost at the same time. It was in dollars, and I can’t remember the figure now, but it was equivalent to ₦400k/week — what I was supposed to make in a month at the fintech company. But I wasn’t eager to take it.
Why not?
I didn’t see career growth opportunities. Everyone I told thought I wasn’t okay. At the end of the day, I took both jobs. It was one of the most mentally draining periods of my life. I had to live with other members of the fintech’s team for a three-month hackathon, and still had to work in the evenings for the other company.
The work culture at the international company was terrible, and after three months, I decided I couldn’t do it again. So, I left. I didn’t touch the salary for the three months I worked, so I had the ₦6m in my account.
I also hardly spent the fintech’s salary because they accommodated and fed me during the three-month hackathon. This was an additional ₦1.2m in my savings.
You seem to have a thing for not touching money
I do. I’m very pro-savings. In January 2022, I got promoted to senior front-end engineer, and my salary doubled to ₦800k. The company allowed us to choose whether to receive the salary in naira or dollars, and I chose the latter. So, I started earning $1,500. I also began to leave all the money in my USD account because I still had over ₦6m in cash to spend. That’s what I spent for the whole of 2022.
What did you spend on?
I budgeted 20% monthly for tithe and offering, which was a recurring expense. Then I got a two-bedroom apartment for about ₦550k. I also got an inverter at ₦540k and a monitor at ₦80k. I was deliberate about keeping my expenses as low as possible.
My spending didn’t exactly increase with my earnings. When I was earning ₦150k, I’d be broke before the end of the month. But when my income increased, I noticed that I’d spend money, but the money wouldn’t finish.
I think that was the first time I realised I had money. I decided to take advantage of that by saving half of my salary. If I could survive on ₦150k, then I could surely survive on ₦200k.
What’s your perspective on money right now?
I don’t appear to have as much money as I do, and I think it’s a very good thing. I follow a principle with purchases: If an item costs close to 10% of my income, I start to seriously consider if it’s really worth it.
I read The Psychology of Money and The Millionaire Next Door recently, and they’ve further shaped how I think about money. I wanted an iPhone a while ago that cost ₦1m. In my mind, I’d saved up, and I deserved it. But when I was honest with myself, I realised it was just peer pressure to follow trends.
People who work in tech tend to have this problem the most. I watched a video of a designer asking how you could be earning ₦1m/month and also spending ₦1m/month. You’re already living above your means. Do you really need to change that laptop or phone? This position may also lead to you being stingy with yourself, but I’ve found the balance between the necessary and the unnecessary. For instance, I don’t play with my food. When I’m hungry, I buy food. I can’t be doing millionaire next door and starve.
LMAO
Oh, I should mention. I got another raise in 2023, and my salary is now $2,500.
Impressive. Let me guess: you’re saving most of it
I am. I leave $1,500 in the account and convert $1k to naira, which is about ₦900k, to spend monthly. Most times, I don’t even finish it all.
What does that look like, broken down?
I randomly stopped using ride-hailing apps this year because the app can say ₦1,200, but the drivers want you to pay ₦3,500. Now, I just take bikes, reducing my transportation costs by over 50%.
Food is my major expense, and recently, I realised I spend an average of ₦5k ordering food daily. It just takes too long to cook.
How much do you currently have saved up?
I save in dollars, so based on the current exchange rate, it’s about ₦28.5m.
Have you thought about what you want to use it for?
I actually had a savings goal of ₦10m for 2023, and I’ve exceeded it. I’m considering going for a master’s abroad to boost my career chances. My girlfriend is also actively talking about japa, so a lot of that money might go into that.
How about investment options?
One of the lessons I’ve learnt from The Richest Man in Babylon is to not invest in something you don’t understand. Investments tend to look attractive, but I’m very sceptical about them.
I’ve experimented with investment platforms too. I put $350 in one of them, but now it’s down to $250. I’m just waiting for it to go back to $350 so I can remove my money.
I want to take a proper course on understanding investments before trying it again. I don’t want to invest just because everyone is doing it. I’ll just keep saving my money for now.
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Why do you think you save so much?
Honestly, I have a fear of going broke. If I lose my job now, do I have enough money to help me stay afloat for six months or a year?
How much is “financially stable” money to you?
My goal is $100k/year. But my idea isn’t for it to make me financially stable. It’s to show me how much I’m worth as an individual. For me, earning $100k means I have value people are willing to pay that much for.
What’s a recent unplanned expense you made?
I visited Ghana a few months ago. It wasn’t part of my budget, and it cost around ₦300k – ₦400k. I’m really considering doing more random stuff like that.
I’m curious. Do you think about the ₦3m inheritance at all?
Not really. It’s been in a bank all these years. I might go check what’s left at the bank one of these days. I like to think of it as a safety net; the very last option if it ever comes to it.
How would you rate your financial happiness on a scale of 1-10?
5. I still have this lingering fear that all the money can just disappear, and I’d be back to ground zero. I also feel I’m inconveniencing myself because I’m trying to create a safety net. Nonetheless, I know I need to up my game. I’m only a front-end engineer now, but I need to gather skills that will make me a more robust professional.
If you’re interested in talking about your Naira Life story, this is a good place to start.
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.
When did you first realise what money was?
I realised my family was rich when, as a five-year-old inquisitive child, I snooped through my dad’s briefcase in his room one day and found bank statements and letters from Barclays Bank. This was 1996, and the bank was offering my dad a £100k loan.
Now I want to know what he did for money
He was a major supplier for Michelin before the company left Nigeria, so he was a pretty big deal. But I never would’ve guessed it because he had a lot of financial discipline and was very low-key.
On a family vacation abroad when I was around 10 or 12 years old, I asked my dad to get me video games because all my friends had one. Instead, he bought an educational VTech computer game, even though he could afford a PlayStation, Xbox or Sega. He’d always say, “Getting money isn’t as easy as it seems.”
He taught me so many money lessons.
Do share
He made me understand the importance of working hard to get the kind of money I want. He also taught me that there’s a “wrong” way to spend money. His position was partly the reason why the first thing I did for money was washing our neighbours’ cars for money when I was 10 years old.
How did that work?
We lived in an estate, and it wasn’t strange to find young kids washing their neighbours’ cars for the random ₦10 or ₦20. My friends and I started with my dad’s car before moving on to pretty much the entire estate. I saved all I made in a kolo and had up to ₦1k at a point. I later spent it all on Enid Blyton books and Mama Put sha.
I didn’t try another money-making move till my second year in uni in 2008. I attended a private university and noticed students didn’t have many food options at night when the cafeteria had closed. So, I made arrangements with someone who made snacks close to my school to buy in bulk at discounted rates and sell in the hostel at a markup.
What kind of snacks?
Scotch eggs, sausages and meat pies. I brought in the snacks twice per week, and I typically made about ₦8k- ₦10k in profits weekly. I stopped after two months, though.
Why?
It was time-consuming and was already affecting my studies. Plus, other students in the hostel decided to copy the business when they saw how successful it was. There was a lot of competition.
I didn’t mind stopping because I got a regular allowance from my parents — about ₦40k/month, which later increased to ₦50k/month. I only started the business in the first place because I wanted to see if I had an entrepreneurial muscle.
Did you flex that muscle again while in uni?
I couldn’t. I changed departments in my second year, which eventually led to some result issues. The school didn’t update the change, and I had no academic records for the first two years. I had to have an extra year.
I finally graduated in 2013 and decided to take a job with a network company someone in church introduced me to while I was waiting for NYSC call-up.
What was the job like?
I was a project manager, but I did most of the CCTV and IP telephone installations and other network configurations for our hotel clients. I was paid per project, and it depended on how much work I had done during the month. For example, if I helped install about 50 CCTV cameras and Wi-Fi points, I could make ₦30k in commissions at the end of the month.
Was that the average amount you made monthly?
Yes. When NYSC came and posted me out of the state, I redeployed so I could keep working there. My commissions grew to about ₦50k- ₦100k/month after a couple of months. I worked there for about three years.
Were you still getting an allowance from home?
That stopped immediately after uni. In fact, the period I started earning money was when my family’s finances hit a bit of a downturn.
What happened?
My dad tried to get into politics and lost everything. My mum even had to start teaching at a school to make money. Of course, I had to help out with the bills, so that’s where most of my earnings went, apart from the occasional personal expense and love “sturvs” — I had a girlfriend.
What did you do after leaving the network company?
I took another job as the personal assistant to an oil company’s director.
Oshey, oil money
The salary was ₦100k/month, which wasn’t bad in 2017. I wasn’t really spending the salary because other perks came with the job. I was given a car, and they reimbursed every amount I spent on it. My boss also gave me many random ₦5ks for “transport”, but I was using the company’s car, so I didn’t have to spend anything.
So, what were you actually spending on?
I saved a lot because I was planning to get married and needed to get a new apartment. I was co-renting with someone at the time, and my part of the rent was ₦190k.
The wedding plans eventually didn’t work out, but I went ahead and rented my own place in 2018. The total package was ₦690k, but the rent was ₦450k per year. Interestingly, I hit a financial roadblock just after getting my place.
Oh no. What happened?
Someone from church scammed me into leaving my job to work for him. He convinced me he’d done business with the company I worked for and found out they were in a bad financial situation.
Coincidentally, the company was also in a court case at the time, so it looked like he was telling the truth. I left and started working with him as a project manager for offshore platforms. My salary was supposed to be ₦250k/month, but I only got paid once in the four months I worked there.
He couldn’t afford to pay?
He was using me as a front to defraud people. He told investors he had an oil block, and if they invested money with us, he’d refund it after six months with interest. But he used the money for himself and kept lying to me. I started to suspect things weren’t fine when some coworkers I met there left mysteriously. I reached out to some of them and heard things. I decided it wasn’t worth fighting for my unpaid salaries, so I just packed up and left.
I was unemployed for about two months after, and then my dad had a partial stroke. I had about ₦800k saved, which went down the drain quickly trying to settle his health bills and other expenses at home. I also went into about ₦400k debt.
Omo
Thankfully, in September 2013, I got a business development job at a medical sales company. It was ₦80k/month —a drop from my previous income, but beggars can’t be choosers.
Thankfully, through serious budgeting and miracle funds from two family members I never expected, I was about 80% debt-free by December. In January 2019, I got promoted to project manager, and it came with a ₦40k raise.
Nice
I left them in 2021 for a sales representative job at a bigger medical sales company, and my salary was ₦150k/month. It later increased to ₦200k in May 2022. I also got commissions of between 1.5% to 2% on every sale I made. It was a low percentage considering I brought in about ₦110m to the company in the one year I spent there.
Was it the same level of commissions they gave everyone?
Yes. At one point, we even fought them to increase it to at least 5%, but they refused to budge.
Anyway, I got a remote job with an international health technology company in September 2022 and started earning in dollars, so I’ve left naira wahala alone.
God, when? How much was the salary?
$960. I’m still earning that, but the naira equivalent has increased over time due to the naira devaluation. When I first started, I got about ₦780k/month, but now it shuffles between ₦870k to ₦920k.
Wiun. So, it’s sort of increased your purchasing power
In a way. But if you really look at it, purchasing value has pretty much stayed the same. For instance, I buy my groceries monthly, and I’ve constantly watched the prices increase, and I still buy the same things. The same things that used to cost me ₦50k now cost ₦60k.
So, while I can afford to buy these things, I’m not getting maximum value for the amount I have. It’s crazy because you can’t plan your expenses. It’s not about earning dollars; what can your dollars do?
But has your spending increased with your earnings?
Definitely. I can now afford to do small instant gratification here and there, but in an organised way. I’ve come to a point where money doesn’t control or get me unnecessarily excited.
If my financial situation had been like this in 2014/2015, it might’ve been a different story. But I’ve seen what money, or the lack of it, can do to people. I mean, I’ve seen my dad with and without money. So, let’s just say earning more has given me some wiggle room to afford my wants and needs.
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How has your income growth over time impacted your perspective on money?
I think saving money is fine, but it shouldn’t be key. You want to save for the rainy day, but when it comes, you’ll still spend the money. Right now, I see myself as a conduit for money; money flows through me to reach others. I don’t want to be the person who gets money, and their first thought is, “Oh, let me keep it.” Money is meant to be spent, and spending it helps the economy grow.
I’ve also realised that, by improving my skills, I’ve increased my earnings and made myself a larger channel through which money flows. I’m holding foreign currency now, like my dad did many years ago, but I don’t see it as a big deal. It’s still money, and it will be used to purchase stuff. So why not use it?
So, what do you use your money for in an average month?
What’s a purchase you made recently that significantly improved the quality of your life?
I bought some land in June for about ₦800k. I plan to develop it much later, though. It’s just an investment for now.
What’s one money lesson hill you’re willing to die on?
Money isn’t everything, and it’d be great if we all started seeing it that way. It’s a tool for getting good things done, but it’s not THE tool that defines you.
Curious, though. Do you think you’d be a quiet-rich person like your dad?
Somewhat. But my eye tear small. When the money balance well, you’d probably find me on a yacht somewhere, enjoying my life quietly without any apology.
What would you classify as “balance well” money?
At least, $5m/month.
Wawu
I’m aiming for more than that. I want to get to the point where I have a lot of assets bringing in passive income. I’m considering investments in agriculture, tech and real estate. Such that I can sleep for one year and be sure that something is coming into my account.
Is there anything you want right now but can’t afford?
A new TV and the newest Xbox console. I can afford it, but they’ll both cost about $1k, and it’s not a priority now.
How would you rate your financial happiness on a scale of 1-10?
4. That doesn’t mean it’s bad; it’s just growing. Plus, I still have the >$5m/month goal to reach.
If you’re interested in talking about your Naira Life story, this is a good place to start.
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.
The recurring theme in this #Nairalife is safety nets. The 32-year-old project manager in the story saved up ~₦21m in about five years. Now he lives in a country with free healthcare and earns $90k/year. He may have 101 problems right now, but being broke isn’t one.
Here’s how he got there.
What’s your oldest memory of money?
When I was six or seven, my allowance was ₦20. Every morning, I found the money on the table without fail. One day, I found two ₦20 notes and took both to school without thinking much about where the second note came from.
When I got home, my mum asked me why I took more than I usually did, and I had no good answer. It was at that moment I realised that I didn’t confirm if the extra money was meant for me. I’ll never forget the punishment I served. But it was a lesson in contentment and accountability. This event taught me not to touch any money that doesn’t belong to me.
What was it like growing up?
My dad was an insurance executive and my mum was a nurse. Both of them had thriving careers, so we were very comfortable. We were the typical working-class, upwardly mobile Nigerian family of the late-90s and early 2000s. My dad changed cars every three years because of where he worked. We had two drivers, and I was dropped off and picked up from school every day. I was pretty much a “get-inside” kid.
So when did you actively start thinking about money?
When I was 15 or 16. I’m the last of my parent’s four kids, and there’s a 12-year age gap between me and my eldest brother. Somehow, my brother convinced my parents to pay me for house chores and I was getting ₦500 – ₦1000 for this. However, it wasn’t set in stone. This was the first time I earned money.
Things changed at home around the same time.
What do you mean?
In 2007, my dad decided to run for political office. The people around him made him feel like he stood a chance, so he sunk his savings into his campaign.
He lost the election, and there was nothing to return to post-election. He’d resign from his job to focus on his campaign, even though his company’s board advised him not to.
Omo.
My mum retired from work in 2003, so she didn’t have a regular stream of income either. Things became a little shaky. The drivers were the first to go, followed by small adjustments.
What sort of adjustments?
The plan was for me to go to university in the UK. But when this happened, the plan changed to a private university in Nigeria.
In hindsight, things weren’t entirely rough – my parents had some financial structure we fell back on. We had houses, so we didn’t have to worry about rent. My parents also had some investments in stocks, which gave us some financial cushion. It was the first time I saw how safety nets worked. That event spurred my interest in keeping resources aside for rainy days.
How did that manifest?
When I got into university in 2007, my allowance was ₦15k. By the time I left in 2011, it’d increased to ₦20k. During my time in school, I made sure to save every month – ₦2k here, ₦3k there. It helped me build my savings muscle.
What happened after uni?
NYSC. I served in the south-south and worked at an architecture firm as a site supervisor. The pay was ₦10k/month and the federal government also paid ₦19800, which brought my monthly total to ₦29,800. My boss also tipped me between ₦1k and ₦2k every weekend.
The cost of living in the state was low and I could live comfortably on ₦500 per day. There were barely any additional expenses. I lived on my salary at the firm and saved most of my government allowance for the whole year. At the end of my service year, I had about ₦180k in savings.
Sweet.
I returned home, moved in with one of my siblings and started job hunting. Three months later, I got a job in a telecom serving firm. My salary was ₦60k.
However, the people that ran the place were unserious. Three months into the job, I hadn’t received an offer letter, which was a red flag for me. Fortunately, I found another job at a furniture company.
How much did they offer you?
₦60k. When I told the people at the telecoms servicing firm I was leaving, they finally sent me a proper offer letter, bumping my salary to ₦130k. But my heart wasn’t in the job anymore, so I did the next best thing.
You used their offer letter as leverage, didn’t you?
I did and renegotiated my salary with the furniture company. We settled for ₦90k, and I resumed work in July 2013. The most interesting thing about the job was the high-network individuals I met. It was eye-opening.
Tell me more.
The furniture company helped HNIs set up their homes. I could be called into a meeting to give a presentation and the client would be this wealthy person I’d seen on TV. It was a thrill watching them listen carefully to what I had to say about our plans for their spaces. Like, they were genuinely interested and asked questions. For a 22-year-old, this was a massive confidence booster.
I guess I also started thinking of how to unlock an extra means of income. A few months into the job, I found it.
What did you find?
I always cleaned up nicely and looked good. I usually wore trad outfits to work on Fridays, and people always asked me who made the outfits for me. Although I didn’t know how to sew clothes, I had relationships with the guys who did.
So, I started telling people that I could make attires for them if they wanted. Like that, I was in business. I’d take their measurements, and give them fabric samples to select from and a three-week timeline to deliver the clothes.
My 9-5 definitely helped pick things up. I was close to how the business ran, so I knew how sales were closed, and how to interact and manage people’s expectations. I took these lessons, scaled them down, and applied them to this fashion business I started.
What were the margins like?
They were pretty good. A yard of fabric was about ₦500, and I needed between three and four yards for each order. That was ₦2k. Then I paid the tailors between ₦2k and ₦2500.
When it was ready, I sold the trad for ₦12k to ₦13k. Sometimes, as high as ₦15k.
Man. You were making at least ₦8k in profit from each order
Yes. On average, my profit ran into ₦40l – ₦60k every month. By this time, my salary had also increased to ₦100k. That was pretty good money for me.
How good?
I didn’t need to spend what I earned from my 9-5. I saved my salary for the next three years without touching it and ran my life with whatever I made from my business.
Fascinating
In 2015, I was just turning 25 and was thinking about what to do next. My boss’s wife kind of gave me the clarity I needed.
She’d joined the business and was firing and hiring people at will. Then at one point, she queried me for taking two days off work. She claimed it wasn’t approved even though we had a conversation about it. The penalty was a salary deduction for that month.
I wasn’t even bothered.
Why not?
While I was away from work, I got an order and made about ₦200k in profit. I made 2x my salary in one day. It was enlightening, and I realised that the 9-5 might be taking too much of my time.
Ah. That point of no return.
I started looking for an exit, which came when I found another means of income — interior design. A friend referred me for my first job because of my experience at the furniture company. I made about ₦600k on that job alone. The following month, I got another project. Then the third one came. In a few months, I made about ₦1.3m doing what I did at my 9-5 for ₦100k.
I was like, mad o.
LMAO.
By the end of 2016, I quit my job. But I didn’t go straight into starting a business. I needed a break to map out my next steps. So I returned to school for my Masters. I spent the next two years there.
Did you do anything for money during this time?
Nah. I focused on school. It helped that I didn’t have to. My parents chipped in for my school fees, but I was in charge of my upkeep and accommodation. I had ₦3.5m in core savings and about ₦1m from my recent side gigs. I lived on this throughout my time in school.
Safety nets, eh?
Absolutely. I graduated in August 2018. A few days after my convocation, I got a call from someone I’d been referred to. They had a ₦375k project for me, and I got right to work. However, I didn’t use my usual guys for some reason. I went for cheaper labour, and it cost me. The guys messed up the job. Naturally, I wasn’t paid my ₦175k balance.
That wasn’t even the most painful part.
It wasn’t?
A few months later, I found out the guy I did the job for was a nephew of the state governor. I couldn’t help but think that I lost a plug there.
I took the lessons and moved on.
Sorry, man. But how easy was it to get jobs when you got out of school?
My referral network made sure I had projects to do — ₦80k here, ₦100k there. Then a big one came in November 2018. The first person I designed for in 2015 was expanding their space and commissioned me for the interior design. Because of my background in architecture, they also made me a project manager. The scope of the project ran into ₦6m. I executed the project and got paid.
Baller.
My payments were spread over a few months, which worked because I wasn’t sure when the next job would come. That said, I was now certain that I could make the business work.
What happened next?
Growth. In 2019, I was busy from one project to another. I did some work for some good brands that paid well. I moved into a mini-flat in March and the rent was ₦500k. I bought a Nigerian-used car in April for ₦750k and spent ₦400k on early mechanic work. By the end of the year, I had saved about ₦6m. It was a good year.
Also, I got into a new talking stage with an ex-girlfriend in the same year. She lived in Canada and we hung out when she came home for Detty December in 2018. That kicked things off again and we wanted to give the relationship another shot. However, she didn’t want to do long distance. This put japa on the table for me. In December 2019, I wrote IELTS and officially began plans to join her in Canada.
What did this mean for your business?
On some level, I stopped consciously trying to grow it. I thought it’d be selfish to grow the brand, hire people and let them go in the end. I just kept to the level I was.
Fair. What was your planned relocation route to Canada?
It was originally going to be via Express Entry. But Covid happened, and they stopped the draw. My girlfriend and I decided that I’d come in on a visitor’s visa and apply for permanent residency when we got married. I was set to leave in December 2021, but a new wave of Covid hit. As a result, flights were grounded and borders were closed. I didn’t leave until May 2022.
The months must have dragged slowly
Not really. In August 2021, I got a huge project and the cost came to about ₦53m. Since I’d planned to leave at the end of the year, I brought someone on board and agreed to a 60/40 split. My profit from the job was going to be ₦8m.
When I couldn’t leave in December, I focused on the job. However, the guys I was working for didn’t stick to their timelines. We were supposed to complete the project in January 2022, but it went on and on because they wouldn’t tidy up things on their end. Gradually, the relationship turned sour and they terminated the contract right after I left in May 2022. My business partner and I cut our losses and moved on. In the end, I made ₦6m from the project.
I’d started a new life in Canada anyway.
True. How’s it been going?
Pretty good. I got married in mid-2022, and my wife and I filed for Permanent Residency afterwards.
I became a permanent resident in January 2023.
Congratulations. What were the first few months in Canada like, financially?
I came to Canada with about ₦21m saved up from my efforts in the past few years. This was about C$40K, and it helped me settle in. My wife took care of the rent and I picked up groceries and other miscellaneous. My average spend was C$1200 – C$1300/month.
Also, I still got some jobs in Nigeria. But since I wasn’t on the ground, I found someone to execute and I supervised them from here. At the end of each project, we split the profits. This brought in a few million naira.
Once my permanent residency was approved in January 2023, it was time to transition back into construction and project management. I’d taken a course on project management the previous year. So I started job hunting.
How did that go?
A few rejections here and there, but I got a job in February.
In construction?
Yes. I’m not a project manager at a construction company. The pay is C$90k per annum. That’s C$7500/month.
This is my first salary job since 2016. Mostly, it’s to provide some financial security while I settle in here. In a few years, I’m hoping to start up my own thing. Fingers crossed.
Fingers crossed. What’s your current mindset about money?
Since 2018, I’ve been saving at least 70% of my income because I felt Nigeria could happen anytime. Now I feel like I’ve saved fairly enough, and I’m confident about my safety nets. Also, the possibility of things going awfully wrong is low because of where I now live. The government of Canada has our back. In addition, there is my pay, which is a miracle considering I don’t have any Canadian work experience.
The bottom line is that I’m in a safe space and can afford to take a foot off the pedal. Money is for spending right now. At least until I start thinking about starting my own business here. It’s why I’m excited about our wedding ceremony in Nigeria later this year.
Exciting. Speaking of spending, what do your monthly expenses look like?
What about your savings?
It’s distributed across Canadian Dollars, US dollars and Naira.
Canadian Dollars – ~ C$13K
U.S Dollars – $4k
Nigerian Naira – >₦2m
Love it for you. Is there anything you want but can’t afford?
To be fair, nothing at the moment. I’d have said a second passport but I’m already on the path to getting that. No rush.
God when. I have to ask, when was the last time you felt really broke?
Not since my adult life started. I started building a secure chest as soon as I could. And as the years progressed, I delayed instant gratification of giving in to it would put me in a vulnerable financial situation. I really don’t remember the last time I was broke.
Energy. Is there a part of your finances you wish you could have been better at though?
Maybe I should have started actively investing. Not just save money but get it to work. A primary goal in the next three years is to build an investment portfolio.
Let’s circle back in three years and see how that goes.
Haha. No worries. What’s your financial happiness on a scale of 0-10?
It’s a 7 or an 8. I’m just happy about where I am, man. I’m planning my wedding, and I have the finances for it. I have some travel plans in the works and I can afford them. Most of all, I have the safety net to cover my immediate needs. There’s definitely room for improvement, but am I doing badly? Nah.
If you’re interested in talking about your Naira Life story, this is a good place to start.
When this #NairaLife started a conversation online about savings culture, Gabriel* (28) saw himself in the subject. He talks about having millions saved but refusing to spend more than ₦20k per month, instead choosing to seek bailouts from friends.
I don’t know if I suffer from a chronic case of stinginess, but I have this chronic need to save money. I don’t have any issues with spending other people’s money, but I draw the line when it comes to mine.
I’m what my parents like to call a “miracle baby”. I have just one sibling, and he’s 13 years older than me. After my parents had my brother, they tried for years for another child, and eventually had me when they’d given up. By then, they’d spent so much on fertility treatments which really drained their finances. By the time I came around, they didn’t have money, but to them, I was an answered prayer.
I didn’t realise how bad the situation was until I was around eight or nine. If I ate twice a day, it meant my parents could only eat once that day. I watched as my brother worked crazy hard to support us financially. And it looked like he’d actually be the one to lift us from the depths of poverty. Around that time, he made enough to move us out of our one-room apartment in Bariga. But he decided to invest the rent money and the investment flopped. It was back to square one, and we never recovered.
I think that’s when my chronic need to save started. In my mind, if I don’t touch the money, nothing bad would happen to it. Anytime anyone dashed me money or asked me to keep the change after running an errand, I’d hide it inside a hole in the wall of our apartment. I preferred to beg my mates for sweets when they bought them with money they were given, rather than buy my own sweets.
Even when I managed to get into university, I kept feeling like I’d be made to drop out at any time over unpaid fees, so even though I helped my fellow students with assignments for a fee, I wouldn’t touch the money I made. I lived on handouts from my brother and squatted with friends. The few times I had to touch my savings for school expenses when my brother couldn’t afford it, it felt like I was physically hurting myself.
I work now and earn an average of ₦180k per month, but my mantra is, “I don’t have money”. My parents and friends think I earn ₦60k because I’m trying to avoid black tax. I live on around ₦20k every month only because I have to eat and take public transportation to get to work.
I’m a single homebody, so I never have to eat out or spend money on a girlfriend. My friends are amazing guys who make good money, and they’re always helping me with bailouts. I live with my best friend so rent isn’t a problem, though I try to handle our food expenses once in a while. The last time I bought myself clothes was three years ago. I still have a shirt I’ve been wearing since 2016.
I sometimes feel bad that I can’t be honest with my friends about how much I earn, but them knowing would only increase their expectations of me, and when I refuse to spend, they may call me stingy. But I honestly can’t bring myself to spend unless it’s absolutely necessary. Even then, I hate spending my own money.
My savings are running into millions now, but I try not to focus on it. In this country, you’re one sickness away from depleting your entire account. One medical emergency can have you spending ₦5 million like it’s ₦5k. So, it only makes sense to save for the rainy day.
I hope to japa one day, so I also save with that in mind, but the truth is, even if I don’t need money for proof of funds in the future, I’d still save like my life depends on it, because it does. There’s this assurance that seeing money in my bank account gives me. It tells me I’d never go back to that eight-year-old boy whose dream of leaving Bariga was unexpectedly cut short because of money.
