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.
Your money deserves more. Grow it with Yield by Credit Direct and earn up to 21% p.a.
Visit us at the Naira Life Conference to learn more and sign up on the Credit Direct App using code NairaLife26. Download Now
What’s your earliest memory of money?
My first core money memory was in 2017. I was starting 100-level at a university seven hours away from home, and my dad gave me ₦20k to buy things in preparation.
I didn’t want to carry all the cash to the market, so I left ₦5k at home and left with ₦15k. I planned to buy what I needed and deposit some of the money into my new bank account.
On my way, a driver stopped to ask me for directions. Then he asked where I was heading and offered me a ride. That was how I entered a “one-chance” car. I don’t know how it happened, but by the time he dropped me off, the ₦15k was gone. Only my phone was left with me.
Yikes. Glad you weren’t hurt. Did you tell your dad?
I had to, even though I was really disappointed in myself. As the first child, I felt I should’ve made better decisions. It was the first time my parents gave me “big” money, so I should’ve managed it better. I also shouldn’t have been in a stranger’s car. It was a whole lot of things I didn’t do well.
My dad took it better than I did. He eventually gave me ₦10k, but that experience made me extremely careful with money. I never forgot it.
What was growing up like financially?
We were sort of average middle-class. My dad was a senior non-academic staff member at a university, and my mum was a primary school teacher. Between 2007 and 2012, my dad also ran a fish pond.
They were comfortable enough to send me to a good school and pay fees early. I didn’t always have everything I wanted, but I remember I had a laptop when my mates had phones. So, we never lacked the basics, and we could afford extras here and there. However, I didn’t handle money directly because I took food flasks to primary and secondary school.
Because I never had direct access to cash, I didn’t really know how to manage it until I got to university.
How did you handle money in uni?
I had a ₦20k/month allowance. My school was in a small village, and every five days, I’d go to the village market. I could buy a yam tuber for ₦1,000, split it with a roommate, and it would last a whole month. So ₦20k was sufficient as pocket money, but I started to want to make extra money for the things my parents wouldn’t buy for me.
In the second semester of 100 level, I started turning old jean trousers into denim skirts and distressing them to make them look cool. I started with my own jeans, then I became popular in the hostel. People brought their jeans to me, and I charged about ₦600 per skirt.
Where did the idea for the skirts come from?
I already knew how to sew. I’d learned during the long JSS 3 holiday. My mum wanted me to learn a skill rather than just stay at home. The first choice would’ve been to learn how to use the computer, but I already knew how. So, we decided on sewing.
As for how the idea for the skirts came about, I just wanted to make cool things for myself. People liked them too, and it became an unofficial business. Beyond the skirts, I also started sewing regular clothes for people. I didn’t make much — I think the most I charged was ₦9,000 throughout my time in uni — but I had at least three jobs each week.
By 200 level, I added makeup. I was self-taught and often practised on myself. When people started asking me to do theirs as well, I charged them ₦2,000 to do it. This, along with the sewing, was my main hustle in school.
I also tried Ponzi schemes. I invested ₦13k in Loom in 2019 and cashed out ₦109k, though I lost more than half of it trying to keep the scheme going. I think, at the end of the whole thing, I made only ₦50k from it.
But beyond that, my makeup and sewing hustles were really profitable. I don’t think I was ever broke in school.
What were you doing with all that money?
I had a strict savings and budget system in uni. Whenever my dad sent my ₦20k allowance, I’d immediately segment it: buy non-perishable provisions in bulk, budget feeding money for market runs (about ₦4,000 per trip), and pinch wherever possible so I’d never have to ask him for extra. In 300 level, my uncle started matching my dad’s allowance, which gave me even more room.
I discovered a savings app around that time and used it religiously. There were months when I’d manage to save ₦8,000 from my ₦20k allowance. By 2020, I had close to $100 in dollar savings and ₦50k in regular savings on the app. I saved so much that I could take ₦30k at the end of 100 level to buy a phone, and when it was stolen the next year, I bought another one. I even lived off-campus with a friend and easily paid my ₦50k half of the rent by myself.
I graduated from uni in 2021.
What came next?
NYSC. My school had some clearance delays, and I got called up to serve in late 2022.
My service year just flew by. I didn’t do anything financially remarkable, and I regret that. My Place of Primary Assignment (PPA) was at a clinic in Abuja, and they paid corps members a ₦30k stipend every three months. I also had the ₦33k monthly allawee from the government.
I stayed with a friend, so I didn’t need to pay rent. But I completely lost my savings momentum that year. I was just existing and spending money in the moment. I remember waiting for allawee to drop a couple of times because I was already broke. I also wasn’t sewing as much because I was living with someone, so that income source dried up somewhat.
When service ended in October 2023, I was idle, with about ₦20k in my account, and feeling depressed about my trajectory. It felt like I’d lost all my edge from uni. My dad called and was like, “What are you doing there? Come home.”
Did you go?
I did. He also told me to apply for a graduate trainee role at a bank. I’d never heard about the bank, but I agreed. I sent my CV to the person he asked me to contact. I applied in March 2024.
While waiting to hear back from them, I applied to a few other jobs. That was my first introduction to the “labour market.” Before then, I didn’t think the 9-to-5 life was for me. I just assumed I’d do business and not use my degree at all.
Thankfully, I wasn’t in the market for long. I got the bank job and resumed in September 2024. Things started to look bright again.
What was the pay like?
₦280k/month. It almost felt too good to be true. Living at home in our small city, I didn’t even know what to do with that much money.
From my first salary, I spent ₦150k enrolling my younger sister in makeup school, buying her products, and setting her up. I also started dropping ₦30k at home for feeding every month.
In December 2024, we got 13th-month pay and welfare packages. By then, I was seriously asking myself what I could do with all that money. In the end, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to make up for lost time and reclaim the saving culture I’d abandoned during NYSC.
Did you have a plan?
Yes. I learnt my co-workers had a ₦200k/month ajo contribution group, and I decided to join. Since the amount was nearly my entire pay, I decided to partner with someone and contribute only ₦100k.
The next ajo group was to start in January 2025, and I planned to join that. That same month, my bank reviewed salaries and added ₦50k to my base salary, bringing it to ₦330k. They also introduced a cost-of-living allowance of ₦104k. Overnight, my monthly take-home jumped to ₦434k. I could now afford the full ₦200k ajo slot.
The group had five people (including me), and we did every two cycles in a year. So, every five months, I collected a ₦1 million lump sum. In 2025, I collected ₦2 million in total.
What did you do with the money?
Nothing. I was too scared to spend it, so I dumped everything in my savings app. I was satisfied to see over ₦30k in monthly interest drop into my account.
On top of the ajo, I was saving an extra ₦100k monthly in the app. So, in total, I was saving ₦300k every month while living on ₦134k.
In December 2025, I got promoted from Executive Trainee (ET) to Executive Assistant (EA). With salary reviews and my new level, my current monthly package is ₦700k net.
Since I earn more, I now run two ajo groups simultaneously. The first is my regular ₦200k month for a ₦1 million payout. The second is ₦250k monthly for a ₦1.250 million payout. Both groups operate the two-cycle-in-a-year system.
Plus, I put ₦50k directly into savings every month. That means out of my ₦700k salary, I save ₦500k monthly and live on ₦200k. I got into mutual funds this year, so now I reinvest the lump sum payouts into my mutual fund account. That gives me around 16.5% interest monthly. My direct monthly savings still go to my savings app.
Out of curiosity, is there a reason you don’t save directly into these channels monthly instead of waiting to gather lump sums from the ajo contributions?
It’s all about the lump sum effect and leverage.
If I put ₦250k into a savings app every month, it takes months to build up a substantial balance that earns real compound interest. But with the ajo group, I always position myself to collect my payout early in the cycle. For instance, I’ve taken the first slot twice this year.
Instead of waiting five months to save ₦1.250 million gradually, I get the full amount on day one. I take that entire block of cash and dump it straight into my mutual funds app immediately. That gives me a head start on compounding. The interest generated on ₦1.250 million, starting from month one, is significantly higher than if I were dropping ₦250k each month.
I see your point. What’s your portfolio like now?
Let me break it down:
- My regular savings app: ₦4.5 million (Including₦1.5 million in cash gifts I received from my boyfriend between last year and now).
- Mutual funds: ₦3.250 million (Was ₦3.5 million, but I withdrew ₦250k last month for my mum’s hospital care)
- Other micro-investments: ₦120k in two investment apps. Then another ₦50k in a savings app.
That’s approximately ₦7.9 million in total. Also, I should have mentioned this when talking about my income. In addition to my salary, I receive tips from bank customers ranging from ₦50k to ₦200k monthly. That’s how I even raised ₦260k in July to buy a laptop, without touching my main savings.
A ₦7.9 million portfolio in less than two years is pretty impressive. How does that feel?
It feels really good. Like I’ve been given a second chance to behave better with money, and I’m doing well. I mean, being able to do this with my salary is priceless. I just need to work, and the money is coming to me. My job really changed my life.
Also, I’ve done far more than I hoped to do when I started this ajo. My plan for 2025 was to save ₦1.5 million, but I ended the year with over ₦2.5 million. The salary increases helped, but I’m also saving far more than I thought I could. My goal for 2026 was ₦5 million, and I surpassed it in May. I felt so proud of myself.
Now, I want to see if I can get to ₦10 million by the end of the year. I have one more million to collect before ajo closes this year. So I’ll probably use November and December’s salaries, plus any allowances that come in, to try to reach my ₦10 million goal.
I believe it’s possible. I still live with my parents, so I’m able to manage costs. My job is about 10 minutes from my house, and I don’t spend up to ₦30k on transport monthly.
Speaking of, let’s break down your typical monthly expenses
How would you describe your relationship with money?
I think I’m frugal. My friends have said I am, so I guess that’s the truth. I’m trying to work on that, though. It’s crazy to be saving ₦500k out of ₦700k. I started because I wanted to make myself proud.
Plus, I really believe I let myself down. If I’d maintained the momentum I had from uni, I would have done a lot more for myself. I could have set up a fashion business or explored other things. So, I just wanted to lock in and save a lot of money. But I’m trying to come out of that frugal mindset.
Is there a reason why?
I need to live a little. I see people who earn less than me look a lot better, and I wonder if I’m doing too much. What if something happens and I don’t even get to use the money I’ve gathered?
However, when I think like that, I also remember another reason I need a safety net. I would like to leave this country one day, and I don’t have anywhere to borrow from to fund that. Since I can save now, I might as well do it.
Also, my parents are ageing, and as the firstborn, I want to be the safety net. When my mum fell ill recently, I moved her to one of the best private hospitals in our city without blinking because I knew I could just click withdraw on my savings app. I didn’t end up spending much, but if I needed to, I wouldn’t have had to run helter-skelter.
Another thing is that I want to build an emergency fund before actually investing properly to grow wealth. ₦10 million feels like a great number for an emergency fund. Once I hit that, I can comfortably invest without being too scared of losing money. I haven’t done enough research to know what investment channel to try yet, but I’m considering stocks.
I sense a struggle between wanting to live a little and growing wealth. Have you considered how to balance both?
Yeah. I’m considering dropping one of the ajo contributions next year. I’ll still save reasonably, but I plan to be a bit more flexible. So, instead of waiting all year to buy a wig, I can save for three months and buy a decent unit. Or be able to buy nice work clothes and buy food without overthinking it.
I would also like to travel to maybe Benin and Togo. I really want to go to Rwanda and Qatar, but that might be doing too much. Or maybe not. At least, I’ve surpassed my savings goals. Maybe I can treat myself a little.
Girl, yes. Is there an ideal amount of money you think you should be earning monthly?
Many of my friends earn over ₦1 million/month, and I’d like to earn that as well. I’m applying for other roles because in banking, when you change jobs, you get a step higher. So, I’d like to earn in the ₦1 million range as an Assistant Banking Officer (ABO).
Is there anything you want right now but can’t afford?
Nothing really. I live in a small city, so I don’t need a car right now. It also doesn’t make sense to live away from home at the moment. I’d like to upgrade my iPhone, but it’s not that deep. If I had the money, I probably wouldn’t buy it.
How would you rate your financial happiness on a scale of 1-10?
7. I’m not yet where I want to be globally. I’d like to leave Nigeria, but I can’t afford the experiences I want yet. Things like riding bikes in green parks or visiting big libraries aren’t accessible in my immediate environment. The most I can do for fun right now is go to the cinema once a month and spend ₦7k. Maybe that’s another reason I’m keeping so much money. Nothing else to spend it on.
That said, I’m proud of my discipline. My job genuinely changed my life, and I’m no longer moving by happenstance. I’ve locked in financially, and even when I decide to spend more tomorrow, it will be a deliberate, calculated choice.
If you’re interested in talking about your Naira Life story, this is a good place to start.
Find all the past Naira Life stories here.
