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 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.

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?

When the 25-year-old content specialist in this #NairaLife started her professional career at 19, earning $1,200/week, she thought it’d only get better. She was wrong. Two years later, new immigration laws forced her to return to Nigeria and take up a ₦50k/month job. Her income has grown since then, but she still regrets some of her earlier financial decisions.

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.

This 20-year-old content creator struggled with impulse purchases for the first six months after she started making money from influencing. Now the phase has passed, she’s trying to live on ₦1k per day and saving aggressively while at it.

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.

For the 32-year-old partnership manager in this #Nairalife, the key to financial growth isn’t saving but making oneself a channel through which money flows. He’s grown his earnings by almost 3000% in a decade, and now, he wants $5m/month.