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.

This 27-year-old got into photography at university after his dad lost his job and could no longer pay him an allowance. Eight years later, he’s still at it. Add that to his 9-5 as a communications officer, and he earns an average monthly income of ₦1.4m. With things looking up, he’s confident about his finances hitting the next level — $10k/month — in the next four years.

The 32-year-old customer experience researcher in this #NairaLife was forced to start afresh in 2016 due to an unplanned pregnancy that led to her father cutting her off. Eight years later, she’s now a financially stable mother of two — thanks to her ₦1.5m/month salary. How did she get here and what’s next for her?

The 28-year-old mobile engineer in this #NairaLife has come a long way in his relationship with money. He’s gone from careless spending to building an impressive $80k safety net by living below his means. He’s now navigating the insecurity that comes with a tech career, after surviving two layoffs in seven months.

The 31-year-old artist in this #Nairalife has had her share of terrible luck in businesses and relationships. In 2015, she lost a lucrative detergent business after an ex-partner defaulted on a ₦450k loan. Then, in 2022, an agribusiness she co-owned with another partner went belly up after a series of bad decisions plunged her into a ₦13m debt, getting arrested and losing her apartment.

"We asked five people, each earning north of ₦700k/month, to talk about what they can do with their income."

The economy is touching everything.

In 2021, the 33-year-old admin officer in this #NairaLife was forced to leave her seven-year marriage with her two children. Years of financial abuse had begun to evolve into physical abuse. She also went from having zero income for years to juggling three jobs and then solely providing for her children on a ₦45k salary. Her life is much better now, and it started with one job change.

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.