The 20-year-old in this #Nairalife dropped out of university and moved to Egypt to work as a house cleaner due to her family’s financial struggles. She also spent the last two years repaying a significant debt she owed her sponsor. But what’s her life like now?

This 29-year-old baker lost her life savings to a romance scam, dropped out of university and became homeless in one year. Over the years, she’s survived multiple depressive and suicidal episodes. Her friends have consistently picked her up, but she wants a life where she doesn’t need to depend on them. She hopes to get there by achieving her culinary school dreams.

The 41-year-old software developer in this #NairaLife had built considerable wealth over a 10-year career and was on his way to achieving his second-passport dreams when he lost his entire life savings to a botched crypto project and cryptocurrency exchange in 2022. Two years later, he’s rebuilding his savings and investment portfolio and chasing a $1m/month payday.

The couple in this week’s NairaLife previously broke up because of their different financial situations. But they found their way back and have now been married for three years. Francis* (32) earns ₦400k/month and Helen* (29) earns ₦365k/month. They’ve decided that the trick to navigating their very different money habits is by equally splitting their joint expenses. How’s it working out?

The #NairaLife of this 30-year-old sales operations specialist is a mixture of gratitude and guilt. With a ₦1.2m monthly salary and minimal responsibilities, she can afford a reasonably good life. But even though she closely tracks her expenses, her savings and investments are non-existent. She’s unsure if that’ll change soon.

The 28-year-old HR manager in this #NairaLife has navigated a fear of financial instability and insecurity all her life, thanks to her childhood. In 2021, she lost ₦1.4 million to fake investments and struggled with unemployment. It’s 2023, and she’s grown her income to ₦910k monthly, but she isn’t happy. Why? Heavy black taxes and the fear of losing her job.

Financial independence is a big deal for the 26-year-old front-end engineer in this #NairaLife. Despite receiving a ₦5m inheritance from his late dad in 2018, he left most of it untouched, determined to make it on his own. He has gone from having zero negotiation skills to earning $2,500/month, and has amassed ₦28.5m in savings in two years by living below his means. But even with his success, he has a lingering fear: poverty.

This #NairaLife is a grass to grace story. The 29-year-old subject went from hawking pure water to staying in university hostels for the less privileged to being owed ₦5k salaries. Now she’s the main breadwinner of her family. How did she do it? 

On #NairaLife today, the 21-year-old subject tells us about how her dad’s spending habits affected her relationship with money. To her, money is meant to be spent on people you love without hesitation, and she applies this rule to her romantic relationships — she currently has six partners. 

As much as the 24-year-old in this #NairaLife is a big fan of financial literacy, she's also made her fair share of money mistakes, culminating in a loss of more than ₦2m in 2020. If there's anything she'd like to hack, it's how to grow her wealth.