The 24-year-old sex worker in this #NairaLife left home at 18 in search of a better life. She’s achieved that goal. Now as her family’s breadwinner, her new focus is building an even better future for her siblings.

This 37-year-old’s adman's first job paid him ₦2,500/month. 19 years later, he’s earning ₦1.5m/month. One thing that changed as he earned more was his attitude towards being his family's highest earner. He’s gone from being at odds with his black tax responsibility to taking it in strides. Now his sights are set on earning ₦5m/month to make the lifestyle upgrades he wants.

This 28-year-old banker’s ₦165k/month salary isn’t what pays the bills. He’s a self-taught dog breeder and dealer who got into the dog business by chance in 2018. Now, he makes up to ₦1m monthly and doesn’t see himself ever going broke again. This is his #NairaLife.

A lot has happened since this 45-year-old lost her bank job in 2010. She started a fabrics and home decor business and navigated raising her kids on her own. She’s finally found stability in an unlikely source: Driving cabs. How’s it working out, and what does her >₦250k/week income do for her?

When this 27-year-old pharmacist took his first loan from a mobile app in 2019, he didn’t expect it’d lead to an addiction. Several new jobs and income bumps later, leaving the loan cycle proved impossible until his dad got involved in 2022. Now, he’s on the path to financial discipline, and it involves choosing to protect his mental health.

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 24-year-old medical student in this #NairaLife found herself in dentistry because of her parents, but she has an entrepreneurial calling. She’s tried several businesses and stuck to making shoes in 2017. By 2022, she was making ₦800k/month, had a workshop and employed staff. But she had to take a break from the business in 2023, which slowed things down. Now, she’s back to the drawing board.

Like most firstborns, growing up poor meant Daniel* was eager to change his family’s story. But when black tax and family expectations became too much, he decided to cut them off temporarily. And he’d do it again.

The 31-year-old subject of this #NairaLife tried a few things for money before realising freelance writing paid him more than his colleague’s bank jobs. He thought he’d reached his final bus stop, but that only lasted four years. Now, he’s down on his luck, sending 10 job applications weekly, and hoping that a structured job will provide him an escape.

After 27 years of barely getting by, this 34-year-old project manager’s finances started to turn around in 2017. The biggest game-changers so far, though, are her jobs. Between 2019 and 2021, she worked at a job that paid her in foreign currency. Now, her current job has given her a hack that’s allowed her to save more.